My “to do” list grows each day. My completed list seems to stay the same. I call that stress. Mild amounts of stress appear to motivate most of us to accomplish some tasks. Crossing items off the list feels good. However, when the list incoming keeps getting bigger and the outgoing doesn’t go down, we often move into a state of stress that works against us. Stress can come from too much to do, not understanding our role or job, conflict between our roles such as home and work (source). The consequences of stress include health problems, workplace accidents (80% of attributed to stress) and employee turnover (40% attributed to stress) (Richardson, & Rothstein, 2008).
Okay. You already knew this was a problem. What can you do? Different strategies work for different people. Some use therapy. Some use relaxation techniques. Some turn to exercise (that just increases my stress thinking about it). Some try eating better. Some use medication. Some use health remedies. Some write in a journal. Some use meditation. Some join a support group. Others rely on time management. I have tried them all and depending on the situation different strategies work for me.
One of the strategies that consistently helps is time management. Several key elements of time management are sense of purpose, goal setting and prioritizing (Bridgette, et al., 2007). The idea on sense of purpose is that work that we consider “worthy” of completing helps us schedule time. For example, if I take the time to give specific feedback prior to a student turning in a final project, that students learn more. This is a time intensive project. Putting a grade on a paper or speech after the project is completed is much faster. However, I don’t think that is effective teaching. In direct selling or MLM companies, they often have a reason for developing a product. For example, Nu Skin started because they felt that skincare products had too many additives. Many herbal companies started because they have a product that will help others. MaryKay started because the glass ceiling in traditional business was too thick to break. Joining a company that you believe in the purpose makes setting aside time to do that business easier.
Goal setting creates a plan with an end in mind. If I need to get this article written by a Friday, then I should set a series of steps in place to see that the goal gets completed. I need research time. I need writing time when other goals are not in the way. For me this means a set aside time to write each week. If I let other goals get in the way of that time, then I feel stressed and rushed every day that the writing is not completed.
In the research on time management, the last common technique is prioritizing. I think most of us can find worthy work and set goals, the problem comes when competing goals with worthy work get in the way. (Some of us may need assertiveness training, so we can learn to say “no”). The trick comes in being able to prioritize. This last step is where I often get stuck. This is where I have to take time to make time. I have to set out specific goals. I also find that I have to reward myself when I have conflicting goals so that I do the one that I harder. For example, writing is not easy for me. I prefer to do almost anything (including cleaning my bathroom) than write. Consequently, if writing is on the plan, I have to reward myself each time I set a short term goal and achieve that goal.
In times of stress, I hope you find a solution that fits you. The solutions range from eating right, to exercising, to writing in a journal. They key to all of the stress reduction techniques takes a little of our precious time to help us create more time.