Lower Your Stress With Time Management
Need to lower your stress level? Do you feel like you don’t have time to do the things you want to do? Laura Vanderkam, time management expert and author of What the Most Successful People Do before Breakfast has developed tips to start each day stress-free. She says, before you can make changes to improve your time management, you must first take a realistic look at how you spend your time now. She suggests keeping a time journal for a full week, much like people beginning changes to dietary habits keep a food journal. Note what you do and when you do it. At the end of the week, divide your activities into categories such as work, sleeping, family time, housework, commuting, personal calls and emails, computer games, TV, exercise, eating, etc. Then tally the time you spent in each category. Be honest with yourself! Do your totals reflect your desires and values? What categories do you want to spend more time in? Which ones would you like to reduce?
Vanderkam says the easiest place to make changes is in the morning. (Events and interactions of the day often affect afternoon and evening plans.) Make a morning schedule that you would like to have and then start altering your life to match that plan. Do not make drastic changes all at once. Instead, make small, progressive changes until you have reached your goal. Allow a week or two for new activities to become habit before moving on to the next change. Continue to track your time so you can monitor what changes are working and what needs additional adjustment. Set milestones for yourself and reward yourself for them. ‘
Vanderkam advises to include “like to do” activities in the morning rather than the “hate to do” tasks. This helps you start the day in a more positive frame of mind. By starting each day with joy and optimism, you are setting a precedent for the rest of the day. An increased awareness of how you spend time and the positive changes made in the morning schedule will spill over into the day and help you keep your stress levels under control.
Talk to your doctor of chiropractic for more tips on achieving a healthier lifestyle.
Taken from: ACA’s Get Healthy With Chiropractic – “Track Your Time: One Key to Stress Reduction” written by Carol Marleigh Kline, JACA Online editor