9 Quick Stress Relieving Tips for Freelancer

“Stress is poison.” For freelancers stress can destroy the entire process of working, spoiling the fruits of their labor. The life of a freelancer is known to be an unhealthy and highly stressful way of earning a living. Though freelancers have the liberty to choose and decide their working hours and schedule, it never implies that they are free from stress. To keep the process of freelancing as rewarding as possible freelancers require some quick and effective remedies. If you wish to avoid the potential failure of your freelancing career you should know how to master the skill of stress management.

Here are some effective ways that can be adopted to keep stress at bay:

1. Identify the source of stress and eliminate it

You have not slept for the past week and you feel like a zombie. Your ears are buzzing from the regular late night phone calls from clients. Your eyes are straining by looking at the screen for long hours. These are few of the factors responsible for causing stress. The key to a stress-free life is recognizing the source of these stresses and managing them before they drive you completely crazy.

2. Take a 5-minute break every hour

Do you now realize the reason why most classes in your high school lasted for an hour? It is because the attention span of human beings tends to drop after hitting more than an hour. Set a reminder on your smart phone every 60 minutes and divide your work hours accordingly. When the reminder goes off, leave the work, stand up and take a small walk around the house. Drinking a glass of water will also help you stay hydrated and rejuvenated.

3. Practice breathing, praying or meditating

One of the most effective ways to unwind is to breathe, pray or meditate. While breathing is an automatic activity for everyone, many people forget to breathe deeply. When you find yourself fretting about something, heave deep breaths to calm yourself down. You can also meditate and perform yoga by inhaling and exhaling through your nose. Focus on the third eye while keeping your eyes closed. Slowly relax your muscles and your mind. You can do this for 2 minutes every day before you start working. During extra stressful days you can do it for 5-10 minutes. Praying will also keep you rejuvenated.

4. Exercise is great

One of the best ways to relieve oneself from stress is by breaking some sweat which will instantly release some happy hormones. This will make you feel light-headed, refreshed and peaceful. You will see how you can take on challenges in just a few strides. You can only fight against stress when you are healthy and fit.

5. “All time management begins with planning”

Any freelance gigs involve stressful situations that can be avoided by allocating time properly. If your workload is complicated you should create a detailed schedule and plan. You can then use this as a guide and perform accordingly. You need to become an excellent time manager, having the self-awareness and organization to set up a schedule and the self-discipline to follow it religiously.

6. Variety is the spice of life!

Freelancing on a particular subject or genre for too long can become monotonous. You can pursue different genres when you start feeling bored. You can also seek for constructive ways to distract yourself or take a small break. You need to have realistic expectations from yourself and change your activity. This will help to give you a boost of new creativity and remove all the ill effects of stress on your work.

7. “Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you”

8. Turn down projects that are not your cup of tea

Sometimes merely investigating a project makes you realize that it will turn out to be a horror show. It may conflict with your working time, skills and your access to materials from online database or clients. If you face such a situation please be reasonable with yourself and drop down the project immediately. If you fail to meet the deadline you may end up damaging your reputation. Take up projects being sober-minded as it will not only make you successful but also reduce your stress.

9. Other quick stress relievers

• Imagine yourself taking bath in a warm bubble tub or a Jacuzzi. You can dim the lights and light some scented candles.
• Cooking is one of the best therapeutic jobs in the world. It can help you get distressed in a few minutes. Why not try it out?
• Music has healing and relaxing properties that will help you calm down.
• Take a small coffee break and treat yourself to a brewing cup of cappuccino or latte.
• A person has the most special relationship with his dog. If you have one you can take it out on a small walk.

If you are reading this article it certainly implies that you are looking for some much-needed tips to rejuvenate your mind. “Stress is not what happens to us. It is our response to what happens. And response is something we can choose.” So choose what you want to do to relieve your stress!