When you’re working from home and trying to balance every part of your life, it’s easy to focus more on what you have to do rather than what you don’t have to do. Stop it! At some point you have to put your foot down and realize that you don’t have to do everything including:

Work with difficult clients.
Instead: Decide how much stress, aggravation and anxiety you can take from one client. Is the emotional and physical toll this client is putting on you, worth the money you’re making? If so, suffer through your working relationship. If not, put your efforts towards finding a different client that will make you happy, not hopeless. (This applies to personal relationships too!)

Bend when you think someone is being inflexible and insensitive to your needs.
Instead: Tell the other person how you feel and either compromise or stand your ground.  Just don’t bend to the pressure. Nobody likes a wus.

Limit your dreams.
Instead: Most folks working naked are taking today off, making this the ideal day to start dreaming. Make a list of everything you want to accomplish and the steps you’ll need to take to accomplish each item. When you see your dreams on paper and take steps to reach them (trust me, it’s scary), you’ll be closer to achieving them.  I remember reading an advice column about a woman who wanted to go back to school at 40 years old.  She wrote that she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea because when she graduated in four years, she’d be 44 years old. The columnist’s response was, “In four years you’ll still be 44, so what’s the difference?” Love that line!

Hurry through life.
Instead: Plan time for yourself and your family.  Don’t just wait for free time, schedule it.  Whether you take a long weekend vacation or set aside one Saturday each month, spend that time with your family.