Progress is better than perfection

Resist the urge to be perfect. Sometimes we become stressed because we are seeking to make the perfect proposal, the perfect report, or the perfect article which can lead to procrastination. It’s better to complete a project the best way you can, share it and accept feedback that comes from it. This will also prevent you from pushing the deadline any longer - in the end, done is better than perfect.

Sleep more

Stress can result from a lack of enough sleep. The notion that you will sleep when you are dead is quite toxic. Our bodies need rest as much as it needs food. Go to bed early if you must wake up early. Practice being off the screen at night which will encourage sleep throughout the night. If you must, turn your phone on silent or vibration at night if calls might disrupt your sleep.

Ask for help

You don’t need to do everything by yourself. As a consultant, you may stumble on a problem that you want to solve and need to reach out to your client or other consultants in the same niche as you. The fact is, you don’t know everything. Every day we learn and develop our skills. Someone else could help you with the problem you have only if you ask. Not everything can be solved by you alone.

Try to focus on one task at a time

Sometimes we tend to do everything at the same time. Writing an invoice while at the same time writing a report. Focus on accomplishing one task at a time. Open a few tabs or segment your tabs on your browser to accomplish one task at a time. This will also prevent you from doing two clients' work at the same time - you might end up mixing up the content which our clients definitely don’t need. It’s also crucial to break your projects into small steps making it much simpler to focus on the task.

Introduce relaxing and healthy activities throughout the day

Maybe the reason you are experiencing stress is not prioritising yourself. You may be so focused on your work and the numerous clients you have that and forgetting to do the things you like or enjoy. This could be as simple as scheduling time to read a book, watch a movie, exercise, play a game - whatever you like doing. Hobbies are important and help us do things we enjoy especially in high-functioning environments such as work and school.