A strategy that I often recommend for stress and time management for my clients, and use myself, is time blocking. Sometimes I create my own stress by being guilty of “one-more-thing-it is”. Thinking that I have time to do one more thing before I leave the house means that I’m often panting as I race out the door. The solution is to divide my time into blocks to organize my day.
Here’s an example of a typical day:
- a trip into town for a doctor’s appointment,
- followed by a quick drive back to my house to throw casseroles into the oven to heat for a luncheon my daughter was giving 30 miles away (yes, I did cheat by raising the oven temp higher than required),
- then I made the trip to the luncheon, helped my daughter serve the food, and collapsed in a chair to enjoy what I must say was a delicious meal.
If I hadn’t time-blocked on paper my needs for the day, I would have never been able to meet these deadlines!
In the ADHD Time Management class I taught recently, this was an “AHA!” moment for several – learning to time-block what it will take to get out of the house in the morning.
Stress management is a part of most work days. Today I watched the horses roll outside the window of my country office. And I was able to breathe and relieve some stress.
When speaking to a group of high stress medical professionals, I reminded them that 60 to 90% of visits to the doctor are stress-related. A workable solution? Short breaks to be used for deep breathing. This brief break can change your perspective – mental and physical!
Look at a photo of people you love, imagine a paradise vacation, or, in my case, watch the horses rolling in the field…and breathe!
Organizing Tip 1: Use time blocks to schedule your day.
Organizing Tip 2: Write out the time blocks on paper.
Organizing Tip 3: Schedule in time to breath and de-stress.
Check my website for more strategies for stress and time management.