Stress

Work at Home: Don’t Get Overwhelmed

When working on a big project, it’s easy to look at it and think “there’s just no way I can do that”. But a big project becomes a lot more manageable if you break it down into smaller pieces – you just have to know how to divide it up.

Before you dive into breaking up your project and making a plan, you need to figure out exactly what needs to be done and when the project needs to be done by. This may be very easy if your client has a clear idea of what they want and a solid deadline, but they may be more flexible and want you to fill in the blanks, it which case this might take a bit longer.

Either during or after figuring out your full goal and deadline, break the job down into exactly what needs to be done. Break the job into small pieces. Don’t worry about the order yet, just make sure you have a list of all the tasks involved. Also make sure to put next to each tasks who needs to be involved and what tools and equipment will be needed to complete it.

The next step is to organize all the pieces into an order. You can do this based on several criteria including:

* Client needs. No matter what your preferences, to run a successful business, you need to put the client first. If your client needs certain parts by certain dates, then that’s going to be the first determinant of your schedule. Once that is decided, you can fill in the other blanks from there.

* Chronological considerations. While certain parts of projects can be done in any order, some activities require other portions to be done before they can be finished, or sometimes even started. Once you are done organizing things by firm deadlines, they can be ordered in this way.

* Availability of people and tools. Generally, you’re going to need certain employees, outside contractors, specific equipment, and other items. These are likely going to be different for each part of the project. Organize your timeline based on who is needed for each part. For example, if you need a certain contractor for several steps, it’s easier to do those steps one after the other instead of spreading them apart. And if a person is working on a part of the project that will take up all their time, they obviously can’t work on another project at the same time.

Once you have a general order set up, you’re ready to set up a more specific timeline with dates that specific parts of the project need to be done. Unlike the previous step, this one may be more difficult (and you may have to redo the last step). For your timeline, you need to take into account not only when things are due, but when people and equipment you need will be available.

Once you have your final plan, you’re ready to get started. But, don’t let you’re planning be done there. We all know that nothing goes exactly as planned. Re-evaluate your plan every so often to make sure it still lines up with client expectations and how things are going. That way there won’t be any surprises later on.

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Work at home burnout is something most of us face from time to time, even if we absolutely love our work at home jobs and life. It happens for a number of reasons and those reasons are often the answer for how to recover from burnout. Here are a few reasons for work at home burnout and how to recover from the burnout.

#1 Gratitude. Sometimes we lose sight of what we do enjoy about our career, job and life. We get busy, we become bogged down with work and demands and we lose the joy. How on earth can you feel inspired and motivated when you’ve lost the joy? You cannot, so the answer to recover from this type of burnout is to find the joy again. Remember why you love to do what you do and why you’re grateful to be doing it.

For example, if you’re a writer then perhaps you are writing 24/7 and you have some demanding clients. Maybe you’re even writing on some topics you don’t enjoy. We’ll it’s time to do some more writing…it’s time to start a gratitude journal. If you’re really burnt out on writing you could simply establish a mental habit of listing at least five things you’re grateful for each day.

#2 Escape. Sometimes we just feel overwhelmed by our career. We feel the pressure to perform, particularly if it is a creative job and can feel overwhelmed. Escape is the answer to recovering from burnout caused by feeling overwhelmed. Set time aside each and every day to take a break and if possible, take a full day off each week or at the minimum, each month.

It’s easy, particularly when you’re working from home, to work 24/7. However, everyone needs an escape from their job, even if they love it. When you escape, don’t think about work or the clients, don’t be readily available to your email or phone – make sure it really is an escape.

#3 Change of pace. Sometimes our job can begin to feel stifling and uncreative, even if it is a creative job. If you’re a writer, for example, then you might be writing every day on the same subject matter. Your job can become rote, habitual, and the result is burnout. Recover from this type of burnout by mixing it up a bit. Change your routine, add a new element to your job or make some significant changes to your life to add the spice back to it.

#4 Stress. Chronic stress is difficult to recover from and it is quite likely the single biggest cause of burnout. If stress is causing your burnout, evaluate what it is about your working from home job that is causing the stress. If possible, simply eliminate that element. The joy you feel from eliminating a cause of stress is a sure cure to burnout. However, if you cannot eliminate the stress then spend some time doing two things: reducing the stress as much as possible, perhaps by hiring or seeking assistance, and adopting some stress reduction habits like meditation, exercise and biofeedback.

Burnout happens to the best of us and the key to recovering from it is to first understand its cause. Once you understand what is causing you to feel unenthused about your work or your life, then you can begin to recover from it. Working from home can be fulfilling and fun!