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By Brian Schaeffer, HTWFH Publisher
No doubt about it! Stress is a disabler, a killer and a terminator of home based businesses.
This malefactor can be lurking somewhere in your home office, in your business, or even online just waiting to blindside you if you're not aware of its presence.
It can cause your stomach to do flip-flops, make it difficult to concentrate, wreak havoc with your usual eating patterns, and sentence you to sleepless nights. In fact, stress can be such a problem that 60-90% of office visits to health care professionals are for stress-related situations.
'Stress' is defined as how our bodies react to external happenings known as stressors, but is really more about how we view those happenings instead of the actual events themselves.
It's natural to feel some amount of stress when encountering a stressor, but the main difference to our well being is how we respond to it. Notice I said "respond" not "react". Reaction is usually a thoughtless instant instinct; response is a thought-out plan of action.
Stress works this way: you become aware of a threat of some kind (stressors such as: your helpful four-year-old decided to clean Mommy and Daddy's computer screen with half of a bucket of warm water and soap suds, or someone is dastardly trying to hack your site, or you realize on April 14th that you've "misplaced" all of your business receipts), your nervous system then releases hormones (natural biological chemicals) such as adrenaline and noradrenalin. These hormones raise your heart and breathing rates, blood pressure and muscle tension (this bodily condition is known as fight-or-flight).
Now that's okay if you're a hunter-gatherer in the jungles of the Amazon suddenly facing a jaguar in a tree with nothing but a small stone knife, but if you're stressing out over a slow internet connection, downed server, or hot coffee spilled on your big toe, then you may have a problem.
You see, those hormonal chemicals stay around in your body for awhile, and can cause some serious side effects in the long run. Things like worry, depression, anger, irritability, anxiety, high blood pressure, heart problems and rapid, prolonged weight gain.
And much of that can be detected by others in your business dealings and your web site simply by the way you say or write things and how you react to simple requests or unexpected situations.
Given the seriousness of stress, we work-at-homers need to be able to identify some of the business-related stressors we are likely to encounter, and develop some responses before they happen. Let's talk about some generalities at first, and then we'll get down to specifics.
The best all around response to any stressor is to immediately start a Relaxation Exercise. (This can be just about any relaxing routine; specific tips recommended by the Mind/Body Medical Institute are listed at the end of this article.)
Basically a Relaxation Exercise consists of getting quiet, willfully relaxing your muscles, deliberately slowing your breathing, and focusing your mind and attention on a special word, short phrase, or prayer such as "calm", "God is Good", or "it's OK" - to shut out the stressing situation.
Obviously you don't want to do this during a hold-up or a house fire, but for around a home office it's the thing to do.
While Relaxation Exercises won't negate the effects of stress, they can lessen the amount of hormones dumped into your system and reduce their ill effects and also lower your blood pressure.
What are some of the specific stressors, besides the ones mentioned above, that work-at-homers might face? I've listed some common ones below, big and not so big, and some possible responses you might make to them.
Before we start in on them though, let me first say that the best thing you can do for yourself, your loved ones and your business is to sit down and identify specific stressors YOU might face and decide beforehand how you are going to respond to them. Just having a plan for a stressful situation helps you handle it so much better when it does occur! And it will occur, because everybody faces stressful situations while living their daily lives.
For business sites, the first really huge stressor would be no sales, a severe slump in sales, or no/few site visitors. Should this happen to you, don't panic! Analyze!
There might be some real good reasons for it.
Is it summertime? Sales traditionally go down during the summer months, even online sales. Why? Most people are outside playing or working as much as possible.
Did you start a new line of products? If so, perhaps you should keep looking for another new line or revert to your previous products.
Did you change the look or navigation of your web site? Is it more difficult to make a purchase? Look at these things as if you were a newbie visitor to your site. What do they really see? How easy is it really to make a purchase? You may have to do some rearranging.
Decide on a number of courses of action should you experience this stressor. Don't get stressed, get busy analyzing!
If you are a business information site, newsletter, or eZine the main stressor will be not being able to attract large numbers of subscribers, or having large numbers of subscribers unsubscribe.
If this is happening, first check to make sure that your content is still the same kind for which your subscriber base signed up! If you changed something. DON'T. Go back to the original content or format and send an apology letter to your readers; most of them will come back.
Second, check your advertising. Did a rip-off artist slip one by you? Did he steal your readers blind? Again, apologize and make double sure you try everything you recommend before you recommend it. It's easy enough to set up an anonymous email to test an advertiser if you suspect him.
Third, send out a survey to your entire subscriber base (including the newly unsubscribed) asking what they want, what they think and what would bring them back/keep them reading.
Along these lines, publishing comes with its own little stressful events. Deadlines, advertising, articles, etc. If you are experiencing these stressors, try to work out a prepublishing schedule. Something that will allow you to space out the tasks and devote as much undivided attention as possible to them.
Don't stress! Plan and overcome!
How about business budgets? Do they cause you to stress?
It seems like we never have enough money in our operating or advertising budgets, doesn't it? Actually you probably do.
Online and Ezine/Newsletter advertising isn't that expensive anymore and you get the biggest bang for your buck with them. There are literally thousands of free and low cost places to advertise. These are a great way to get to a targeted audience for the "free" price of an ad or banner exchange.
In addition, joint ventures give tremendous returns for the effort. Many ezines and web sites allow you to post a joint venture offer for free or a negligible percentage.
Send an email to me at HTWFH JV Notice if you have a great JV for HTWFH and our subscribers! Most of us are always up for a good joint venture! If your offer is well organized and gives a potential profitable return for your partners, I might even put it into a future issue of the HTWFH Ezine.
There are many things you can do with a small budget. There are hundreds of eZines with free or affordable advertising. Work within your means and forget about the ol' budget blues (and stress)! You'll do fine if your efforts are consistent and targeted, no matter how small they are!
The point is that even with a small or no budget, there is no point to stress over advertising.
Other work-at-home stressors include:
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Feelings of isolation - schedule regular outings with friends or family
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Lack of support for your business efforts by a spouse or other family member - try sitting down with them and calmly explaining what you are doing and why – look for ways they can get involved with your activities
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Disorganization - set aside a certain amount of time to do office/business housekeeping chores. I spend the first fifteen minutes of my work time straightening my desk, filing papers, getting things ready for the workday, and another fifteen to thirty minutes answering and clearing my email accounts, checking sales, etc.
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Lack of new ideas and/or products - subscribe to a few new, targeted newsletters and ezines. After all, these things are written to provide readers with fresh content and information.
However you do it, DO make a Plan to Respond to stress factors in your business. Knowing how to respond when something comes up is half the battle already won. Identify the ones you might face. Determine a plan of action and a response for each. Discuss your planned responses with a loved one or confidant. They might be able to suggest additional responses that you have overlooked.
Having a Relaxation Exercise on hand (already practiced) will help you handle the unexpected stressors you are bound to encounter. I know that this sounds to some like I'm advocating a "contemplate your navel" type of activity, and in a way, I am.
If you are purposely thinking a word, good thought, or prayer, and you are purposely relaxing your muscles and breathing and lowering your blood pressure, then you are purposely fighting stress in the best way possible! That is, you are destressing and not allowing it to take a hold of you and harm your life and business.
Here are some tips for letting go of stress recommended by the Mind/Body Medical Institute:
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Pick a focus (word, prayer, etc.)
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Sit quietly in a comfortable position
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Close your eyes
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Relax your muscles, starting at your feet and progressing toward your head
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Breathe slowly, and as you exhale, say your focus word or phrase
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When other thoughts come into your mind, give them up and gently return to your focus
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Keep it up for 10-20 minutes
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Don't stand or move immediately afterward. Take a minute to unfold and open your eyes, and another to move and rise
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Practice your exercise once or twice a day
Practicing your Relaxation Exercise will be the best 10-20 minute investment of your time you can ever make for yourself, your family and your business!
Not only are you doing a preemptive strike against stress, but you are also teaching your mind and body how to lessen that toxic overload of stress hormones.
In addition, your new relaxed attitude will percolate throughout your personal and business relationships, as well as your actual business dealings! Because of the percolation process, people - web visitors, customers, subscribers - will sense your relaxed atmosphere and the results of it and be more readily accepting of your products, services, or business. Really. It works!
Good luck, and don't worry about it!
The article copyright is held by the author
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