Stress Reduction Through Time Management

Stress can be a result of inability to handle your commitments with the limited time and resources available. If you have more work than what you can handle, pressure of deadlines, sudden meetings, disruptions caused due to emergencies or unforeseen contingencies, stress may build up.

Managing your time efficiently can be helpful in reducing stress level. By planning your time, proper prioritization of work, not procrastinating and sticking to time schedule, the level of stress, tension and anxiety due to the load of work you have to complete can be reduced.

Plan your day in advance. Maintain a small diary stating the work you have to do the next day. If possible write the time when you expect to begin and complete each work. Decide the work on the basis of priority. Do not keep important work for the last moment. Last moment struggling can create lot of panic and stress.

Paste it on your work desk or your cubicle, and as you proceed through the day cut off items from the list that you have finished executing. The striking out act will reduce the feeling of burden and will motivate you to carry on with the rest. It also gives confidence and assurance that you can carry out all the work within the time limit. This mental assurance can reduce the anxiety and tension.

Do not pile up all the work for a single day. Consider your deadline and distribute work through each day so that you do not take the entire load at one go and stress yourself out. Do not procrastinate work that you find dull or too challenging. Rather fix a suitable time of the day when you will be more comfortable to work on that matter, and stick to it.

Keep a free slot or frequent gaps as a buffer time, rather than keeping back-to-back schedules. This will give you some breathing space, some time to relax and recharge your mind and stamina.