A win-win solution for holiday stress

Have you ever had that feeling where there is too much to do and not enough time? Then you start to feel panicky and anxious and lose focus?

Well, the holiday season is when a lot of these feelings are elevated in fact packed schedules and often poor time management is a major cause of stress.  

“What??... poor time management? I use every waking hour to get things done. I do not have any more time.”

Let’s start here … We live in a culture where busyness is a badge of honor. Too many of us place value on cramming “just one more thing” into our already jam-packed schedule. This has a deep impact on how we move through our days and also how we manage our time.

Each of us has our own way to manage our time through a structured system that helps organize projects and various tasks in life. Some of us use calendars and diaries, while others depend on desktop and mobile apps to track their tasks.

How can you tell if you are managing your time well?

There is no one size fits all to determine if you are managing your time well. But Dr. Philip G. Levendusky has a couple questions to ask yourself to shed some light on whether you might need to re assess how you manage your time.

• Do you ever have time to have fun or do activities that you enjoy?
• Are you always in a rush to get somewhere? Are you often late for engagements?
• Are you too busy to have a social life?
• Do you always feel pressure and are impatient?
• Are 24 hours not enough to do all the things you’d like to accomplish?

If you answered ‘YES’ to any of these questions, you might need to think about how you’re managing your time and ask whether it is starting to impact your mental well-being.

If you are looking to manage your time better, here are a couple ways how:

• Set parameters for yourself. Do not get bogged down in the feeling of having to accomplish everything immediately.
• Prioritize tasks based on importance and urgency. What is truly urgent vs what is important and not that important.
• Be realistic about your timeline for completing your tasks (I have often struggled with this one)
• Plan ahead

When we start to manage our time well, we are better equipped to handle the stress that comes with the busy time of year. It's a win-win!

Quote of the Week:
“What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.”
– Dwight Eisenhower

Take a moment to take a nice big breath in... and exhale slowly. Enjoy your day and incase no one has told you this lately, you're amazing!

Melissa