August 15, 2008
Feeling Stressed? Here are 5 things you can do!
Hi
Feeling Stressed? What with a slowing economy, increasing gas prices, poor property values, and too much to do, it wouldn’t be surprising if you were!
While there is not a lot you can do to control these world events, there is something you can do about having too much to do and not enough time.
Re-seize your day with these simple strategies.
Prioritize and Focus
As best-selling author and productivity expert David Allen says in “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
If you don’t have enough time to do all the things that you have to do, then you need to make some choices about what is most important to you.
Time management involves your personal choice about what to do, when to do it, and how much time you want to allocate to the task.
Making that choice about what is important is often a hard thing to do. We recommend to our clients to try our goal setting course, or otherwise, simply write down what you want to do and prioritize them.
What you will find is that not all tasks are not created equal and proactive time management can improve your focus and get you off the treadmill of putting out fires.
Know how you really spend your time
If you are not sure how you spend your time, then try writing out a detailed diary for a couple of days.
How much time are you spending on what is really important to you? You may be surprised. Are you are spending the right amount of time on the right things? Are timewasters stealing your time?
A free time log and clear instructions on how to do this can be found here.
Master your delegation skills
If you want to see how much your time is worth and whether delegating is cost effective. Timothy Ferris, author of “The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
So if it takes you two hours to mow your lawn, that's $50 worth of your time. Is it worth paying somebody else to do it?
Take a look at the list of things that are crammed into your diary. What can you delegate? What can you outsource?
Many people know that delegation is important, but often I here “Yes but my case is different”.
Put your “Yes Buts” under the microscope, as delegation is something that you will need to master to get things done and reduce your stress.
Plan your work and work your plan.
If you have freed up some precious time, it is time to reshape your day.
Time spent planning is worth it. Research shows that for each hour spent planning that 3 hours are saved in execution and that the task is done to better quality.
Planning involves setting priorities. It gives time for important matters, and even saves time for future. What tasks are important to you to do today? Consult your goals or your wish list of things that are important to you.
Often people can have 100’s of tasks on their to-do list, which is not really suitable. So I recommend that people at least try time management software, which can help with overlapping tasks and multiple projects.
Deal with stress appropriately
Everyday we cope with stress, whether it be a traffic jam, an annoying co-worker or the person who jumps the queue. There are a couple of things that you can do each day to reduce your stress.- Exercise regularly. Scientists think that there is a strong link between depression, insufficient exercise and fatigue. If you dislike jogging or going to the gym, then try some yoga or go for a brisk walk.
- Ensure that you get adequate sleep. If you are getting adequate sleep you will be able to concentrate better and work more efficiently. If you aren’t getting enough sleep you will feel more scattered (which increases your feelings of not having enough time). Use stress management techniques such as breathing exercises or progressive muscle relaxation.
Summary
People are feeling stressed and pressured by time. Today we have given you 5 tips to "re-seize your day".
Our surveys have shown that people want to know how to deal with procrastination. So you guessed it....in the next issue, sent to you on the 1st September, we will give you tips to beat procrastination.
If you have any comments, then please do not hesitate to contact us at Effective Time Management Strategies.
All the best
Kell and the team at Effective Time Management Strategies