Self-Employed Stress |
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Being your own boss offers unique opportunities for genuine job satisfaction, and for many people a blessed release from hassle from the boss, and office politics. But self-employment can create its own set of stress factors, and it is wise to be aware of these before taking the step to self-employment, to be sure that your stress levels are going to be able to cope. To be successfully self-employed, you have to be self-sufficient, and extra-disciplined and well-organized.
Working for yourself can be an isolating business, and feelings of isolation can be notoriously stressful. There is always the temptation to overwork, in itself another of the major stressors - saying no to work is one of the most difficult decisions for any self-employed person - and if you are a one-man firm you will have no one to whom you can delegate.
It helps to have a reasonably buoyant personality, to be optimistic and positive, not too much of a worrier. You need to take extra steps to be strict with yourself: if you work at home, to make sure that you keep your own 'office hours'; and to keep your home and work lives as separate as reasonably possible.
Illness, often itself a major cause of stress, can be especially stressful to the self-employed. You will not benefit from sick pay unless you have taken out insurance to cover the possibility of extended periods off work through illness, and it is worth investigating these.
Cash flow problems are often a bugbear for self-employed people, and one of the best ways of all of avoiding financial stress is to get yourself a really good accountant with a genuine interest in the type of work you will be asking him to do for you.
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