How To Manage Stress
With Time Management At
Home and Work

How to manage stress is a question many people ask themselves everyday. If there was one simple answer to that question, I think stress would have been a thing of the past by now.

However of all the stress reduction techniques available there is one which is often over looked, time management. After all if you use your time badly i.e. spend most of it at work and not enjoying life or making time to relax, then stress is bound to be a major part of your life.

Remember the old saying:

Work to live, not live to work.

Time and stress go hand in hand

picture by John Morgan flickr.com

Time is the one thing we all have and is one of our most valuable resources in our life. How we choose to spend that time however can also effect the way our lives are, stressed or relaxed. It’s as simple as that.

There are two main factors in how we spend our time.

Our priorities and our Goals

If these two things have not been properly thought through and managed then it is bound to follow that our life balance will be off centre and that brings stresses and strains into our lives unnecessarily

So when asking the question “How to manage stress on a daily basis”? Your first answer should be:

With effective time management via our priorities and goals.

How’s Your Life balance?

Do you spend your time on your priorities in life?
What is the majority of your time taken up with and does this work towards your life goals?
What proportion of your time is spent, working, relaxing, socialising?
Do you have the right balance between work and leisure time?

If you answer in the negative most of the time then perhaps taking control of your time and making sure you have the right balance of priorities and goals in your life should be on the top of your list of to do’s.

Let’s start answering the question “How to manage stress with time management?”

Let’s start with your list of priorities and goals

First make a list of your priorities or to do’s in the next few weeks. This is a good habit to get into.
Now put them in order of importance, be honest here
Now give each task a completion date. This date has to be stuck to; otherwise some things will constantly get bumped down the list and never get done.
Keep your list up to date, tick off done items and add new to do’s as they arise.
Using a list will help you realise if some things actually need to be on your list or not. I.e. is this item necessary or am I doing it out of habit or could it be delegated to someone else?
Now sit down and write your list of life goals. These need some thinking about so don’t rush it, put a lot of thought into this and ask yourself:

Why you want to do this?

Is it achievable?

What do I need to do to achieve this?

By asking these questions you will be able to make your life goals something that you will be able to achieve, rather than just making them one more thing to stress about.

Good time management skills

There are 12 skills to good time management which you should always adhere to when answering how to manage stress effectively:

Know your Life goals
Prioritize your tasks and keep to them
Make written plans and refer to them daily.
Learn to delegate tasks
Organise your tasks so that little time is wasted doing them
Never put off till tomorrow what can be done today
Make time for relaxation in your day
Learn to say “No” sometimes
Focus on one thing at a time
Do your hardest tasks when you are at your best during the day.
Understand that not everything can be done perfectly every time, don’t get bogged down.
Make sure your work and leisure times are balanced.

These 12 time management skills need to be practiced every day. At first it will be difficult but once you have put the hard work into organising your time in this way, your days will become easier and less stressful as a consequence.

How to manage stress on a day to day basis? Easy organise, prioritise and find time to relax. It really does make a huge difference.