Paul and Sarah Edwards, in their book Working From Home, cite a survey that says heavy traffic is the number one cause of stress in daily life. Number two is frustration from interruptions at the office. Working from home reduces or eliminates these major causes of stress.

While not experiencing the interruptions common to a corporate office, the home-based business owner may, in fact, feel some stress because of the lack of interruption. This is often referred to as isolation. Some techniques to overcome "isolation" are:

• Playing a radio softly in the background.
• Setting up a fish tank in the office (the gurgling of the filter can be soothing).
• Purchasing a "white noise" generator.
• Playing tapes of nature sounds.

Living and working under the same roof has many advantages—a 30 second commute, more casual work attire, low overhead. But balancing your work and personal life under the same roof can lead to workaholism, family squabbles, and time pressures. Here are some ways to create a less stressful home business environment.

• Remember why you wanted to be home-based: more time for family flexibility of work schedule, etc.
• Sit down with your family and get their input about the working arrangements and the amount of time they want with you.
• Use good time management techniques. Keep a list of tasks by order of important. Check off items as you complete them and spend a few minutes at the end of your workday to reflect on how much you achieved; then make the next day’s schedule.
• Take time off for yourself. If it’s a nice day and you’re not on a tight deadline, take a half-hour walk around the block and stop to smell the roses.
• Schedule days off for special events—lunch with your spouse at a local restaurant, a matinee movie, or a special event at your child’s (or grandchild’s) school.
• If you are under pressure to finish a project, monitor your phone calls by letting your answering machine or answer call service pick up the calls. If you find it hard to ignore a ringing phone, turn off the ringer!
• Forgive yourself when you don’t accomplish everything you think you should. We are harder on ourselves than anyone else would be.
• Mark Chamber or association meeting dates on your calendar and commit to going!

Networking with other home-based and small business owners not only brings referrals and new clients, but also provides an opportunity to connect with others who may be experiencing the same stress you are. Sharing stressful issues with someone else in the same situation can relieve your stress and may bring you good advice from a different point of view.