Work at home moms have such stressful days, filled with work, work and more work! When does mom have a chance to play? The answer is not often, the average work at home mom can become so over loaded with work, it’s sometimes necessary to calm down, walk away from everything for a few minutes and put things back into perspective. If you’re a work at home mom with tons of stress and no way to relieve it, listen up.
Stress can be a tricky monster for the work at home mom, mothers who work outside of the home can usually take time off for family emergencies, doctors appointments or related events but they do have one luxury a work at home mom doesn’t. Most of these moms can walk away from their job without worrying, knowing the job will be taken care of but a work at home mom can’t. Okay, admitted it is part of the ball game, work at home moms choose to work from home and I suppose “having it all” does come with some sort of a price but it’s one that can leave a work at home mom literally finding ways not to pull her hair out.
The next time you run into a stressful situation, try a few of these exercises to rid yourself of this unwanted form of anxiety:
* Take a short walk
* Take long, deep breaths.
* Lie down and elevate your feet slightly higher than your head and just relax.
* Call a friend, vent a little about the situation.
* Drink a tall glass of ice water.
* Write down your thoughts, limit yourself to about fifty words.
* Take an early lunch with a friend.
* Play a game with your children.
* Play ball with a pet.
* Take a shower or soak in a hot bubble bath.
There are many ways to stomp out the stress monster, remember you are at home! It only takes about twenty minutes to enjoy a nice bubble bath or any of the exercises listed above. Just take a break, read a book or anything that will take your mind off of work for a few minutes to refresh you so you can have the mental clearness to finish what you’ve started.
There are plenty of stress producers too. Some work at home moms may be stressed with the children, even though they are a big reason most moms choose to work from home. they can still be stressful. I can remember once when my son put a peanut butter sandwich in my printer, of course I didn’t know it was there and boy oh boy, did it ever stress me out! You can’t necessarily walk out on your children and my son was only three years old, I worked out my stress by taking him outside. I sprayed him with the water hose! He loved it, I felt revenge was served adequately and the both of us took a break to have some fun.
When dealing with the stress from the children, works at home moms really need a sense of humor. If I had a penny for every tiny thing one of my children did that resulted in adding more work to my plate, I would have my own private island by now. I’m not saying that children don’t need a little discipline, of course they do but there are those times when they want attention so badly and mom is working hard without a minute to spare. Those are the times when a little hug can mean more than the latest fad toy on the market.
It’s relatively easier to deal with a child, than other related work at home mom stressors. A good friend of mine, who’s an “auction mom”, had a problem with a customer. The customer often bid and paid on items quite well but the problem was the feedback the customer was leaving for the auction mom. If you’re familiar with auction moms, you know that a feedback rating given by a customer can both boost and decline an overall rating for the person selling goods on an Internet auction site. Good feedback can make a difference when a buyer is considering purchasing an item from a seller, so it’s important to gain and keep a high rating.
The buyer often complained about the shipping of items saying, “items arrived ok but rather messy”, and the buyer chose a negative rating. My friend believed her shipping standards were just that, standard and if someone requested special shipping instructions she was always happy to oblige, this customer never requested special instructions. My friend suffered a good bit of stress, constantly seeing the same feedback being left as she watched her score begin to drop.
My friend e-mailed the customer, the customer wouldn’t reply so I knew my friend had the customer’s phone number and I suggested that she call the customer. The customer turned out to be a sweet little old lady, new to Internet auctions and the shipping was so “standard” that she just didn’t like it. After my friend spoke with her, she knew the little old lady was lonely and she began including cards with all of her shipments, which in turn gained even higher feedback from all customers.
Before something stresses you out, give it a closer look. If you have customers that are upset, no matter how you operate your business your customers are important so take the time to pick up the phone to call them because they will appreciate your attention.
If you contract work out on a per project basis for services, you should be accustomed to stress as well.
Sometimes deadlines are unexpectedly moved up and needed earlier than proposed but if the company contracts a lot of work to you. You need them and I understand this situation because it happens to me quite often, which stresses me out. There’s not really a whole lot you can do in a case like this except plug up the coffee pot and get to work. If you think positively, your day or night will go much smoother rather than filling your thoughts with negativity. Music can be a valuable soother while you work opposed to a quiet area or one filled with child activity.
There are other natural ways to alleviate stress that focus more on our lifestyle more than anything else. Experts agree that a balanced diet, regular sleep and exercise all contribute to a healthier body both physically and mentally. Stress affects work at home moms of different ages, differently. If you believe that stress is taking a physical toll on you, visit your doctor. If you suffer from normal everyday stress, then try some natural methods to get you back into the swing of things. Work at home moms need every piece of advice they can get on stress alternatives, so no matter how bad your day is going don’t feel alone but learn from the advice of another work at home mom.
