How To Manage Work Stress As A Self-employed Worker?
Work stress is one of the main mental health problems suffered daily by millions of workers around the world, especially those who face high-pressure professional fields where competitiveness is emphasized.
However, this does not mean that large companies and multinationals are the stressful work context par excellence; It is worth remembering that what is stressful is not the simple fact of having a boss or having to coordinate with many co-workers, but the constant search for a profit margin in an increasingly globalized and changing world due to technological innovations. That’s why freelancers, even those who work from home, can also suffer high amounts of work stress.
In this article you will find a brief summary of some psychological tips and principles that help you face and manage work stress if you are self-employed taking into account the particularities of this professional profile.
Tips for managing work stress as a self-employed worker
We can define work stress as a natural psychophysiological reaction of discomfort and tension that is experienced in the work environment when faced with a high level of daily demands or workload. In addition to that, work stress can also develop when the person is unable to adapt or successfully manage the productivity and efficiency objectives of their job.
Sometimes, relatively small amounts of work stress can contribute to better performance, since they give a sense of prioritization of activities and urgency that helps not waste time. However, when stress increases, the opposite dynamic may even appear: Discomfort and tension make the worker not dare to face his responsibilities and finds it necessary to escape, thus letting his problems accumulate as the hours go by.
This type of stress can have multiple causes, and currently affects self-employed workers in a particularly prevalent way, subject to heavy workloads, the lack of differentiation between leisure and work hours, and the need to face tasks. very different: customer service, billing, implementation of marketing plans, etc.
For all these reasons, psychology professionals have been studying the phenomenon of work stress for decades, and based on this work they have established a series of strategies that we can apply to prevent this problem or manage it in the best possible way where it already exists. Let’s see what are some of the most useful general tips in this regard.
1. Adapt the workspace
The first step you should follow to manage work stress is ensure that your workspace is comfortable and does not expose you to noise that can be a distraction when working.
This is especially important in cases where we telework from home, since often one can forget to clearly establish the boundaries between home and work and carry out their work activity in an unsuitable environment.
The psychological wear and tear of feeling uncomfortable or having many distractions while trying to concentrate increases work stress, so even if you work from home or have your own small office, worry about making it adapt to your needs since there is no great Human Resources department to do it for you.
2. Distribute strategic breaks
Distribute small breaks throughout the entire working day that allow you to recover energy and rest on a physical and psychological level from sustained attention.
In addition to that, avoid long uninterrupted work sessions, since the longer we work, the more likely it is that we will have attention problems, tiredness or intense fatigue in the long run.
Instead of pushing the machine and continuing to work for hours, it is better to break up the work period into sessions of 30 or 40 minutes with breaks of 5 minutes combined with longer breaks of 30 – 50 minutes every 4 short breaks.
3. Apply the Pomodoro Technique
Apply the Pomodoro technique, one of the time management strategies most used by professionals, it serves as a reference to learn how to optimize the time we have to work.
This technique helps us manage time optimally using a timing system and sound signals for the start and end of each concentration session at work preventing you from wasting time and piling up responsibilities.
In short, the Pomodoro technique proposes working for 25 or 30 minutes and resting for 5, taking longer breaks every 4 sessions of 25-30 minutes of work. There are applications and browser extensions that make it easier to use, such as Marinara in Google Chrome.
4. Use apps to avoid distractions
Some mobile applications allow us to improve our relationship with this electronic device, as well as any other device that can act as an element of destruction.
These applications help us block the use of the mobile phone for reasons other than work, or even momentarily deactivate the sound signals and/or the colors on the screen.
5. Do physical exercise
Regular physical exercise helps us improve both our physical and mental health, It allows us to disconnect from intrusive thoughts and also increases our levels of self-esteem something essential to not succumb to anguish, work stress or suffering.
To improve mental health, psychology professionals recommend doing physical exercise three or four times a week at some point during the first two-thirds of the day to release stress and disconnect from work.
6. Apply relaxation techniques
Relaxation techniques are another strategy that you can incorporate into your daily life to help you achieve states of balance and connection between mind and body, which allow you to live with greater happiness and calm.
These techniques are used by professionals of all kinds as well as in organizations and companies so that their employees live better and more relaxed, with greater ability to connect with the present. The latter is very useful to avoid getting carried away by the tendency towards catastrophic thoughts, very common when dealing with stress and anxiety problems.
Some of these techniques are yoga, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, conscious breathing techniques and Mindfulness.
7. Sleep properly
Sleep enough hours to perform at your best the next day, since if you don’t get the necessary rest you can have problems that become more complicated over time.
People who sleep properly feel more rested the next day and are able to perform better during their workday, concentrating at all times on their work responsibilities.
On the contrary, those who do not sleep well at night can develop other psychological disorders such as anxiety, stress or depression and also physical back, muscle problems or headaches.
8. Clearly distinguish the work space from the rest space
If you work at home, use that space only for work (and don’t stay there during breaks so you can really disconnect and rest your eyes if you’ve been staring at a screen),
In addition to that, it is important not to work in pajamas and above all not to work in the same room in which we will sleep at night. It is important to perfectly differentiate work from personal and family life so as not to overwhelm or stress us out.
9. Distinguish the beginning from the end of work
Define very well the beginning and end of your working hours so as not to mix personal life and work life, which in the long run generates cases of work stress.
The daily organization of the hours of the working day, that is, follow a fixed schedule Every day helps us develop organizational dynamics without moments when we don’t know what to do, which in turn prevents the appearance of any type of work stress.
10. Maintain an active social life
Maintaining an active social life will allow you to increase your levels of self-esteem and avoid being locked up at home all day distressingly through a sedentary life.
Being in contact with other people and meeting new people helps us maintain good mental health, improve self-esteem, intervention skills and general well-being that will allow us to overcome any type of stress.
Do you want to learn the theory and practice of work stress management?
If you are considering training in the field of managing emotions at work and coping with work stress, you will be interested the Self-Help Course for the Resolution of Labor Conflicts offered by the Mediterranean School of Psychology. This training program is offered 100% online and is designed especially for professionals who work in high-pressure work environments; Furthermore, it is developed by experts in the field of Work and Organizational Psychology. Its duration is 15 hours.
To learn more about the Mediterranean School of Psychology courses, visit this page.
