6 Ways to Gain More Time in Your Day (Article from Rider's Digest)
6 Ways to Gain More Time in Your Day
By Edward A. Taub | M.D. from Managing Your Stress in Today's World
The stress that we experience from rushing through our lives has a definite negative effect on our health, while making us less resilient when other stressful events occur. Here are 6 ways to take back your time.
1. Take on Tasks One at a Time
We think we are reducing stress by accomplishing more than one thing at a time, when in fact, we are causing ourselves more stress than ever. Stress-busting tip: leave multitasking to your personal computer. Do one thing at a time, do it well, and move on to the next item on your list. That's the best way to regain a sense of control over time.
2. Make an Effort to Do Less
Think for a moment about where in your life you are spending valuable time on something that you could possibly live without. Think about getting away from the TV and computer screens that are mental vampires, sucking the life out of us by stealing our time and attention.By doing less and by carefully choosing which activities give you the least amount of benefit for the time commitment they require, you'll actually end up creating more time in your day.
3. Scale Down Your Priorities
Make a list of four things that you would like to accomplish today. Keep the list with you and stay with each item until you have completed it. Then go to the next item on your list and repeat the process. Keep doing this until you've gotten to the end of your list. Most of us place overwhelming demands on ourselves, or we expect far too little of ourselves. The goal is to hit the 'sweet spot,' where our expectations of what we can accomplish in any given 24-hour period are in line with reality. If you're afraid that you won't accomplish all four things, well, that's why they invented tomorrow!
4. Clear Out the Clutter
When our homes, our workplaces, and our vehicles have a sense of orderliness to them, we actually feel more peaceful and less
By Edward A. Taub | M.D. from Managing Your Stress in Today's World
The stress that we experience from rushing through our lives has a definite negative effect on our health, while making us less resilient when other stressful events occur. Here are 6 ways to take back your time.
1. Take on Tasks One at a Time
We think we are reducing stress by accomplishing more than one thing at a time, when in fact, we are causing ourselves more stress than ever. Stress-busting tip: leave multitasking to your personal computer. Do one thing at a time, do it well, and move on to the next item on your list. That's the best way to regain a sense of control over time.
2. Make an Effort to Do Less
Think for a moment about where in your life you are spending valuable time on something that you could possibly live without. Think about getting away from the TV and computer screens that are mental vampires, sucking the life out of us by stealing our time and attention.By doing less and by carefully choosing which activities give you the least amount of benefit for the time commitment they require, you'll actually end up creating more time in your day.
3. Scale Down Your Priorities
Make a list of four things that you would like to accomplish today. Keep the list with you and stay with each item until you have completed it. Then go to the next item on your list and repeat the process. Keep doing this until you've gotten to the end of your list. Most of us place overwhelming demands on ourselves, or we expect far too little of ourselves. The goal is to hit the 'sweet spot,' where our expectations of what we can accomplish in any given 24-hour period are in line with reality. If you're afraid that you won't accomplish all four things, well, that's why they invented tomorrow!
4. Clear Out the Clutter
When our homes, our workplaces, and our vehicles have a sense of orderliness to them, we actually feel more peaceful and less