Life as a landlord can be challenging at times. You have to deal with a problem tenant, property maintenance, repairs, and bills. All of these can be stressful and you might’ve found yourself at one point on the brink of going off. Let’s not wait for that to happen. We're going to learn how you can stay sane as a landlord with these 7 helpful strategies.

1. Spend time with your family

Being with the people you trust and care about dearly is therapeutic. True, sometimes your partner, kid, or a family member can irk you but that’s just that. Go on a vacation with them and spend time sharing love and some giggles. You can also play games with them. It can be some board games, card games, or an educational game in an electronic medium.

2. Eat healthily

When you’re stressed, eating your comfort food can be the thing that you’ll ever want. But the problem is, not all comfort foods are healthy. I’m going to tell you to stop resorting to such a coping mechanism now. Unhealthy food you eat will worsen your stress. Eat healthy foods such as veggies, fruits, unprocessed meat on a regular basis. This way, you can fight and manage stress by enjoying a much more relaxed and healthy lifestyle.

3. Avoid stimulants and inhibitors at night

Caffeine and nicotine are addicting and some people resort to them as default stress relievers. Take note that both are stimulants that can prevent you from sleeping at night. It’s time to ditch them and get through your day using your body’s natural chemical balance. Seek help if you’re facing an addiction. The same goes for liquor or alcohol. While it can help in knocking you out, it can also ruin your sleep quality at night by waking you up either from thirst, hangover, or a trip to the restroom.

4. Hire a property manager

To avoid getting stressed from managing your property, get someone else to do it instead. Hire a property manager and let them deal with enforcing property rules, repairs, maintenance, and collecting rent. All you have to do is give precise instructions and leave your contact number as well as repair funds. It would be common sense to hire someone whom you can truly trust, so screen carefully some applicants for the property management position.

5. Join a local recreational group or exercise

Doing sports or physical activities induce the release of endorphins in your brain. These hormones will make you feel good and will help improve your daily mood, making your stress tank bigger. Make sure to exercise or do some recreational activities regularly so you won’t get stressed easily.

6. Detach from the news or toxic social media

Seeing a lot of bad news and something negative on social media greatly impacts our mental health. These types of things are anxiety-inducing, depressive, or divisive (especially politics). Avoid these things. Turn the TV off, delete some apps or unfollow toxic social media accounts and get updated on the latest news of charity organizations locally and internationally. You might as well follow social media accounts of influencers who are actually doing good works and things that matter.

7. Manage hobbies

Aside from sports, your simple hobbies can also effectively manage your stress. It can be gardening, music, photography or fishing. Whatever hobby you have, always make time for it and enjoy some quality time alone or with co-hobbyists.

Pro-tip: To avoid getting stressed in the first place, screen your tenants carefully and identify the ones who are likely to cause you problems in the future. Turn them down so you can live a happy life as a landlord. Remember, prevention is better than cure.

If you’re ready, make Landlord Prep your go-to resource for landlording education. Here, we offer a complete DIY landlording course to get you on the right track. Join our academy today. If you want, you can check out Flavia’s real estate investing webinar first!