Working Under Fire — Do You Like Stress, or Not?
Posted August 19, 2009 in Lifestyle, Productivity 26 Comments »
Some freelancers insist that stress helps them get their work done. I’ve heard freelancers claim that they actually work better and have more creativity when they are stressed. Not only do they survive, but they seem to thrive when they are stressed.
Other freelancers see stress as something to be avoided. They go to great lengths to avoid people or projects that could be considered stressful. If asked, they’ll tell you that they do their best work when calm. They may have even left a traditional work environment to get away from stress.
Whichever category you fall into, it’s good to take a step back and examine your situation. Too much stress can be harmful to your health; but, on the other hand, it’s very difficult to avoid stress entirely. Here are a few ways to manage your stress and stay healthy and productive:
Stress — The Extra Boost
There’s no doubt that, in the short term, moderate amounts of stress can provide some physical and psychological benefits for freelancers. Nearly everyone has read about the amazing effects of adrenaline, a chemical usually released only when we are under stress.
Stress can also provide an extra incentive to those of us who might have problems with procrastination. When I was in school there were many students who waited until the day before a test to read the material. Then they would stay up all night memorizing facts and figures. These students just couldn’t bring themselves to do the work until they absolutely had to.
Harmful Effects of Too Much Stress
The harmful effects of too much stress over a prolonged period are also well known. Chronic stress can result in burnout, or worse, lead to any number of health problems. Serious health problems like diabetes and heart disease have been linked to high stress levels. Too much stress can lead to psychological problems as well.
Some Stress Is Inevitable
The fact is that some stress in life is inevitable. This is true whether you freelance for a living, or not. For a freelancer there are nagging questions like:
- Where will I get my next gig?
- Will this client pay me?
- Is my work really good enough?
Many non-freelancers have similar worries:
- Will I lose my job?
- How will I manage to pay my bills on my income?
- How can I get along with X individual at work?
During tough economic times these nagging questions become even more stressful for the freelancer and non-freelancer alike. That’s why it’s important to learn to manage your stress.
Know Your Stress Limitations
You can whittle your stress down to a manageable level if you understand your own limitations.
Here are some steps to take:
- Understand how you, as an individual, react to stress. Ask yourself whether stress energizes you and gets you going, or whether you shut down when under stress.
- Acknowledge any underlying life issues that may be affecting your current stress level.
- Take steps to keep your stress within a manageable level. This may require negotiating better project terms as well as learning some stress reduction techniques.
(Important note: If you have stress problems that you cannot manage on your own, it may be necessary to see a medical professional.)
How Do You Feel About Working Under Stress?
Are you one of those who like a bit of stress to keep things going, or do you prefer to minimize stress?
Describe how stress affects your work in the comments. Also, feel free to share any stress management techniques that work for you.
About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 19 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts
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26 Comments
Shevonne
August 19th, 2009 at 10:56 amI do enjoy some stress if because it feels like an adrenaline rush. However, there is a limit because when it’s too much, I get really high strung. Therefore, these tips are great because you do have to become self aware to know how to deal with stress.
Laura Spencer
August 19th, 2009 at 11:00 amThanks Shevonne!
I think that adrenaline rush feeling can become almost addictive for some people.
In my opinion you’re wise to suggest limits.
Stefan
August 19th, 2009 at 11:06 amBy waiting till the last minute we often find the time to finish. The problem is often that there’s a lack of quality, we get a bit frustrated and we also spend a lot of time feeling bad because we are procrastinating. If more people would begin creating a task list and cross of the tasks they would never face this situation.
For some reason we were encourage by our schoolmates to study as little as possible and never begin with big projects until the last day. When you grow older it’s difficult to get out of this habit.
Laura Spencer
August 19th, 2009 at 11:16 amGreat comment Stefan (especially the part about quality suffering)!
That has been my experience too. If I get too rushed and too stressed it’s quality that often suffers.
Michael Wilson
August 19th, 2009 at 11:20 amDifferent kinds of stress affect me differently.
Time pressure gets the adrenaline flowing and really ups my work rate. I love that rushing feeling when you only have an hour or so to hit a very tight deadline.
However, I’m an extremely organised person (maybe slightly OCD) and when I’m working on projects that require loads of resources open at the same time I find that stresses me out and causes me to hurry, which unlike the adrenaline boost I get when under time pressure, can lead to mistakes.
I wouldn’t want to be working under stressed conditions too often but on the odd occassion it can be refreshing to see exactly what you can achieve when pushed.
Mahmud Ahsan
August 19th, 2009 at 11:30 amnice article. keep it up.
Matt Keegan
August 19th, 2009 at 11:42 amI don’t mind some pressure, but I do mind a full-scale panic session!
Most of the panic which occurs comes from customers who either don’t plan correctly (shame on them) or underestimate the scale of the project (shame on them again). When their problem becomes my problem, then the pressure is on. But within reason — if I have other projects lined up, then some things will have to wait. If I’m lucky, I may be able to juggle my priorities, but I don’t always come through if the problem is exclusively on their end.
Laura Spencer
August 19th, 2009 at 11:44 amHi Matt!
Well, I think you’re half right about the cause of stress. Stress is definitely sometimes caused by the customer.
I do also think sometimes the stress is our own fault if we fail to plan or estimate a project properly.
James Chartrand - Men with Pens
August 19th, 2009 at 11:54 amHaaa, health-related stress symptoms. I have a bunch of those – and used them for what they were. Signals to me that it’s time to shed some stress.
For example, two years ago I developed Burning Tongue Syndrome. Basically, your tongue feels like you stuck it against a hot iron. Being the researcher I am, I discovered that it’s a lovely psychosomatic issue.
Stress.
So, every time I felt my tongue burn, I stopped what I was doing, did some deep breathing, went for a walk and relaxed.
And, for about a year until I could truly eliminate all the stress causing that burning tongue, I would get it off and on, which allowed me to figure out what situations were making it burn. Eliminate the situations, and now my tongue’s nicely happy again.
*sticks it out* See?
Chesley Maldonado
August 19th, 2009 at 12:01 pmStress tends to shut me down at times. If I procrastinate and don’t believe that I can finish something on time I just give up. I just feel hopeless if I have more than I can handle to do. Once I realize that no matter what I won’t meet a set deadline, I shut down until I can work out a new one to shoot for.
On the other hand, if I need to get something done quickly, I can normally buckle down and take care of it. When my schedule is busy it can be stressful and that can be a motivation to get things done faster. I hate being late, so I try to avoid it as much as possible.
Mihaela Lica
August 19th, 2009 at 12:13 pmOh, there is enough stress in my life already – I would like to keep it out of my work, but unfortunately the world does not always comply with my plans. Advice is always good, nothing bullet-proof though. When I am too stressed I stop work and go in my garden. I have the most beautiful roses you can imagine – nature certainly helps. I don’t spend a long time, just enough to ponder and reboot. In the end the only way to eliminate stress is to find the cause and to figure out a solution. If you “run” you will never be free.
Laura Spencer
August 19th, 2009 at 12:22 pmThanks for the comments Chesley and Mihaela!
Mihaela – I envy you your beautiful roses. We just a got a place with roses last year, but they aren’t doing so well – black patches on the leaves.
Craig
August 19th, 2009 at 1:06 pmA little extra stress can be a helpful boost toward getting things done once in a while.
Jason Stanley
August 19th, 2009 at 1:09 pmI find that stress can fall into 2 categories, the manageable, motivating stress. i.e. approaching deadline, an unbooked week approaching etc.
Then there is the negative, demotivating stress. i.e. nightmare client requesting infinite changes, big clients quibbling over contracts and quotes etc.
An approaching deadline spurs me on. I work harder and better when I can see a deadline approaching. Recently I had a week to design a website. I messed up my time keeping and had 6 hours to do it. This tight deadline gave me a massive motivation to get it right first time. I produced a design that I was very happy with and the client loved.
On the other side, quibbling clients. In the past I have had clients send me lists of changes when I consider a site to be completed. ‘Move this up a tiny bit. Make this bigger, make this smaller. I sent you some copy earlier.. this has now changed to..’ A few of these lists add stress to a project and demotivate.
I like stress in moderation. No stress at all makes me lethargic.
Laura Spencer
August 19th, 2009 at 2:49 pmThanks everybody for sharing your thoughts on stress.
Jason Stanley — I like your categories of stress!
Lexi Rodrigo
August 19th, 2009 at 4:06 pmAll I can is this: whatever stress I do experience now that I’m freelancing is NOTHING compared to when I was employed full-time.
So… what stress? ;-)
Web Developer
August 19th, 2009 at 6:22 pmStress only effects people who believe in it.
Alex Lim
August 19th, 2009 at 10:02 pmStress helps me to finish my work in a short period of time which I barely can’t imagine.
Stress stretches my limit until I realize I’m out of my comfort zone. It gives me a push to try new things letting me forget my hesitations and doubts to complete a task.
Stress narrows my focus to the task, putting my full attention which helps me to eliminate distractions.
I guess this kind of stress is something beneficial to me. However if you are experiencing “fear of the unknown” which badly affects your level of functioning better unwind a bit cause that’s very unhealthy. ss
Dave Bull
August 20th, 2009 at 6:44 amLike many of your respondents, my personality type leans more towards deadlining rather than scheduling! I struggle to find the motivation and energy to do stuff no that isn’t due until mid September and tend to agree short turnarounds with clients to exploit that preference and avoid leaving too many things until the can’t all be dealt with together.
On the other hand, the work I do does require far more that I am able to respond directly to the second-by-second flow of conversation in a training workshop or teambuilding event than spend ages working out a rational sequenced lesson plan, so it works for me very well in what I’m doing.
(Web Developer: given that we can measure the effects of sustained levels of stress on people’s physical health, I’d be interested to know if you have a deeper explanation behind your one liner? As Dumbledore says, of course it’s all in your mind but why should that mean it’s not real?)
Laura Spencer
August 20th, 2009 at 10:34 amThis is a great conversation!
I definitely appreciate everyone who shared their opinion about stress and also those who shared their tips for relieving stress.
This is what I love about the Freelance Folder community!
Igor Kheifets
August 20th, 2009 at 10:44 amThere are 2 kinds of Stress.
There’s a negative stress which is cause by negative emotions and only drains you of energy and there’s positive stress which is caused by productivity, wanting to get more done, doing it faster, efficiently, etc.
I love positive stress and avoid the negative one.
Igor
Jeremy
August 20th, 2009 at 8:14 pmI think being a bit under the gun is definitely a good motivator when I’ve been procrastinating, but I tend to try to go day to day as stress free as possible.
I would agree with Igor in the way he describes the two types of stress. Nothing wrong with feeling a little stressed over productivity or goals, again I think it’s a good motivator and usually self induced. On the other side, the negative stress is going to creep in from time to time. As long as you learn to limit the instances of and prepare yourself to deal with it when it comes your way, you are in good shape.
4MIN
August 25th, 2009 at 2:33 amI do not have worry so much as before, and all thanks to my wife. It inspired me all the time, that if now is a black strip, then after it will be necessarily white.
Nikhil
August 25th, 2009 at 4:49 pmThanks Laura, for the insightful information.
Yes, it’s a tough question. Do I like stress? Personally, no. Not in a million years.
For the people who like stress, I would say, you’re quite lucky! You don’t have to research things like “stress management techniques” and keep looking for stress solutions.
However, for the people like me, who crumble under stress, it’s important that we know how to control our stress. That’s why I would like to share a couple of my favorite tips, so you can relieve your stress too.
I love listening to soothing, calm music. Specifically, Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major. I think it’s such a serene song, and it immediately calms my mind and gives me stress relief. Any soothing music works.
What is my other favorite stress relief tip?
Yoga.
Yoga involves breathing and posing. I find both to be very effective. Deep breathing helps me calm my tense nerves, and it empties my mind of all those “stressful thoughts”. Posing helps stretch and relax my muscles. And a relaxed body is the best way to supplement a relaxed mind. As a result, you get stress relief.
Well, I hope you find these techniques as helpful as I do.
For more information on stress relief, feel free to visit http://www.stress-relief-for-you.com
Best Regards,
Nikhil
Jan Middleton
October 19th, 2009 at 10:56 amStress is a creativity killer! I don’t work well with it.
I like lists made the day before to keep me on target for accomplishing my goals for that day. I try to abide by it but it is not stressful. There are days that not many items get done, so I carry them over to the next day or reassess if they were really that important.
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