If you have ever worked for yourself before, then the reality isn’t all it is cracked up to be. Being able to schedule your own workday can be great, and not having to answer to anyone but yourself. But in reality, there can be a lot of stress and panic that come with it as you try to get work and clients, and can’t take a day sickness as you won’t earn anything. So the whole thing can be a bit of swings and roundabouts; there is plenty that is good and enjoyable, but it isn’t all plain sailing.
The best thing about working for yourself is the flexibility, and it is easy to see why many parents choose to go down this route. It can mean that you can work around your children and commitments, and not have the expense of childcare. So from that point of view it can really make a difference. But that is still going to mean a lot of juggling things and being super organised. So the key question is, how can you help to get through self-employment and working from home, without burn out? Here are some solutions.
Cash Flow
One of the tricky things about self-employment is that cash flow can be an issue. You will be waiting for people to pay your invoices, rather than having a set pay day each week or month. Luckily, there can be things to help. Even PayPal has a cash flow system to help you to borrow before invoices are paid (and if you’re paid through PayPal then it can make things really easy to pay back). You could look to get an instant cash loan too, providing that you know you have certain money coming in soon so that it can be paid off. The best thing is to stick to a budget, and not overspend unless the cash is in the bank.
Stress
As has been said, even if you are working to be there for your family, it can mean working at all different hours of the day, and dealing with stress to meet deadlines, while meeting family commitments. So stress can be very real as someone working from home. The good news is that you can do things about stress. One of the best ways to beat stress naturally is to exercise and to make sure that you are getting enough sleep. It can seem like a contradiction with children, but it will really help.
Meetups
While a lot of your work is going to be online, if there is the chance to meet a client in person, take that opportunity. Being social is going to help your days to be more varied and enjoyable, and it can help from a business point of view too; face to face interaction is important. Look for self-employed groups local to you and join in with them if you feel that you’re missing the office interaction that you may have had before you started being self-employed.