Do you find yourself overwhelmed with deadlines?
Good time management is essential if you are to handle a heavy workload without excessive stress. Time management helps you to reduce long-term stress by giving you direction when you have too much work to do.
It puts you in control of where you are going and helps you to increase your productivity. By being efficient in your use of time, you should enjoy your current work more, and should find that you able to maximise the time outside work to relax and enjoy life.
Poor time management is a major cause of stress. I’m sure we have all had the feeling that there is too much to do and not enough time. We can start to feel panicky and anxious and lose focus. It’s important to note that you can have this feeling even if there’s hardly anything to do at all.
Symptoms of stress caused by poor time management:
Irritability and mood swings
Tiredness and fatigue
Inability to focus or concentrate. Do you ever feel like you are just trying to get yourself through the day?
Mental block, memory lapses and forgetfulness.
Lack of, or loss of, sleep
At worst, withdrawal and depression
Also, when you have failed to manage your time you may be unclear about what is important and end up working on the things that are put in front of you or reacting to demands made by others rather than doing the work that needs to be done.
Manage your time more effectively
As long as you commit to taking action time management is easy. Simple steps can result in more effective management of your time.
These can include:
Better planning
Better prioritising
Delegating tasks to others
Controlling your environment
Neil Shah, Chief De-stressing Officer, The Stress Management Society