Home Business Work Burnout - Get a Grip!

I used to feel I could conquer the world until I got my first several business rejections. Here's my life story: My husband isn't pleased the house looks the same way it did a week ago. My kids need me to attend games, drop them off and pick them up. The dogs are begging for my attention. My business deadline has passed-now I need to explain to my clients about-MY LIFE! Of course these problems are somewhat over-exaggerated, but is it over-exaggerated for you? Does it feel like you have become overwhelmed overnight? Didn't expect your home business work to make you feel worse than what you did before you quit that job-did you? It doesn't have to feel worse. Let me tell you what you can do better.

Get Organized

First things first-CALM DOWN. Find the source of your troubles. Could be your organizational skills. Is everything in your office setup to where you can find it? Have you made out a "prioritized to do list" that comes before any interruptions, such as, emails or phone calls? If not-you need to organize your life. Since you have a home business work-flow, you have more of a responsibility now than ever to get organized.

Create a TO DO list that prioritizes everything that must be done for home as well as your business. Detail it out from the day of the week to the hour and exact time of the day. This will help to help keep you on track. Of course, make it somewhat flexible enough for any unforeseen emergencies (which doesn't mean answering an email that just popped up). Schedule yourself a time to look at emails and answer them. Let the phone go to voicemail. You will be better prepared to answer questions or deal with a client when you have done your tasks FIRST!

Cleanup your clutter. Have you ever heard these sayings? "I work better in chaos." "Don't move anything! This is my organized mess..." Yeah, yeah, yeah...excuses. Excuses to NOT get organized or clean up. Take some time to go ahead and fix things up a bit. Create labels and learn how to be proficient with spreadsheets. A spreadsheet helps me to keep all of my business information organized. Cleanout and organize your emails and erase voicemail messages you don't need.

Seek an Outlet

Now that you have potentially found the source of your stress-how are you going to manage it? Oh-I forgot to tell you a small secret-stress doesn't go away just because you get your life organized. Stress will always be there-you have just ridden yourself from its negative impact on you. Now we're going to briefly list some outlets:

Schedule yourself multiple breaks. It's really easy to get caught up and forget to do this. Where are you throughout the day and night if you have a work from home job? HOME! So get out the house. Join a local moms at home club or a fitness/sports group. You need to find a way to "Get-Away". Schedule a massage. Sometimes the best tension relieving comes from a good deep body tissue massage. Go on vacation. And when you actually arrive to your destination-don't pull out your laptop or your cell phone. Take a break!

Boy-have I made some foolish mistakes when it came to trying to working from home, which has always led me to more stress. Save yourself some time, money and your hair from being pulled out by visiting my work from home blog for advice, home business reviews, and what you must never do when working for yourself! - "Life is too short--so LIVE it then WRITE about it!" - Loren Jaslyn