Time management is a skill that a lot of people are lacking. With poor time management comes a pile of work too big to easily take care of and deadlines racing towards you faster than you can complete tasks. This can increase your stress and make your workload overwhelming. There are some things that you can do to develop your time management skills so that you have the time to complete your work without it leaking into your personal time.
Let’s look at some tips that can help your time management so that you can eliminate your high stress levels and boost your well-being. But first, let’s look at some of the negative effects that stress caused by poor time management can have.
Impact of Work-Related Stress
Work related stress can actually be good. Sure, you may scoff at that statement, but it is true. Stress can cause us to stay focused and energetic. It can help us rise to the occasion and complete tasks. However, too much stress has an overall negative affect on your health and productivity.
Too much work stress can make us worry about work constantly. This can be distracting at work, which can lower productivity. Then, more work continues to build up putting us farther behind and adding to your stress. This is a vicious cycle.
Stress can also cause you to lose sleep, cause feelings of apathy, and contribute to muscle tension, headaches, and gastrointestinal issues. Surely you do not want any of those things.
Time management can help you reduce your stress by keeping you on top of things at work and home. You may also find it helpful to read through time management advice from therapists at www.betterhelp.com/ca/time%20management/. They offer information about focus, mood, routines and more as it related to time management.
Now, let’s look at some of the things that may help you manage your time wisely, which, in turn, may help you reduce your stress levels and improve your well-being.
Prioritize
Sometimes out time management is bad because we do not know how to prioritize our workload. In fact, it is good to prioritize your personal life as well because there are only 24 hours in a day.
You can even try to make a list each morning of the things that you need to get done. Then you can number them in order of urgency and importance. The things that are urgent and important are the things you should prioritize the most. Things that are neither urgent nor important can wait until the end of the day or even longer. This can help you do the things you need to do first and put aside things that will just keep you from completing the most important things.
Think about each task on your list and how urgent and important it is. This can help you decide the order of priority that you can number on your list. Then, just follow the tasks in order through the day. Doing this everyday can be helpful and help you see the things that you need to get done. It can also provide you with a sense of accomplishment as your mark each task off of your list.
Limit Procrastination
Procrastination is good time management’s worst enemy. While it can be good to take breaks and doing so may even help you work harder the rest of the time, procrastinating too much can increase workload and stress levels. It may even put you on a one-way track to burnout.
One thing that can help is to break large tasks and projects into smaller components. When we look at a large task it can seem overwhelming. This can lead to procrastination because we are looking for a way to escape the stress that a large project can cause. Breaking down the large tasks can make it much easier to get started and lead to more satisfaction because you see the progress you are making.
You can also try to structure your time in a better way. This may mean that you need to set alarms every so often that determine your break start times and end times. Building these breaks into your schedule can keep you on task the rest of the time because it allows you to know a break is coming so you need to continue working before that alarm rings.
Manage Workload
Managing your workload and commitments is important for time management as well. Taking on too much can make it hard to do any of it in a timely manner and can make it more difficult to prioritize and structure your day.
Learn to say no when you do not have the time or resources to complete a task. You should also not commit to things that are not important to you. While it may be tempting to say yes to a social event, if you care more about other things during your free time, you shouldn’t put your valuable activities aside just to say yes. The same goes for work commitments that excessively condense your work or free time.
Being an adult also means that you should be honest with yourself and others about your commitments. If you end up taking on too much work, tell your boss you underestimated the time it would take to complete the tasks. The sooner you tell them, the sooner they can make other accommodations. This can free up your time to spend wisely on other activities or tasks.
Organize
Everyone doesn’t have great organizational skills. However, everybody can put effort into organizing schedules and materials. This can go a long way towards better time management. This may mean that you need to keep a calendar by your desk and stick with using it for more than two days at the start of the year. This can allow you to see when you are making too many appointments or taking on too much work. It can help you keep track of your days better as well.
You should also organize your desk area. Clutter can impact productivity, which can lead to work piling up. This contributes to higher stress levels that you want to eliminate. Keeping your work area and your home organized, clean, and clutter free can help to remove the clutter of stress in your mind as well.
Conclusion
Poor time management can compound stress and more stress can make it harder to prioritize your schedule and manage your time. This starts a vicious cycle that can impact your well-being. It is important to take action to improve your time management to ensure that you have the time to complete your work while leaving personal time to do the things that you enjoy.
Author:
Marie Miguel has been a writing and research expert for nearly a decade, covering a variety of health- related topics. Currently, she is contributing to the expansion and growth of a free online mental health resource with BetterHelp.com. With an interest and dedication to addressing stigmas associated with mental health, she continues to specifically target subjects related to anxiety and depression.
