STRESSED OUT?!

Burntham.com Rewind--Originally posted 2/10/11

In today’s modern world, more than perhaps any other period in time, we are overburden, over bombarded, and over whelmed with things to do. This constant avalanche of items on our to-do-lists causes us unnecessary stress, fatigue, and often feelings of hopelessness which greatly reduces our ability to be effective and productive. In fact, according to some studies, over 1/3 of Americans report living with “extreme stress”. So here are a few ideas to help us relieve the stress, and maximize our potential.

#1 Focus on Today

Too often we worry about yesterday, or tomorrow causing us to fail to focus on today. It is impossible to change yesterdays’ worries. Thus carrying them around day to day is a heavy burden. Equally difficult and unproductive is to dwell on tomorrows’ concerns. The most important day for each of us is today because it is the only day we have some control over. Putting aside the worries of yesterday and tomorrow will allow us to more fully maximize today’s opportunities. If we can learn to live for today, we will experience much more success in life.

#2 Cut the Fat

Too many of us, often without realizing it, waste too much time. Whether watching our favorite TV shows, participating in social networking sites, or simply surfing the internet, too many of us waste our precious time on things that do not matter most to us. Now you may be thinking, this is not me. However, do you know how much time a week you spend watching TV, or cruising the internet? Really, do you know for sure? If not, keep track of it. Time yourself each time you begin watching TV or “facebooking” to see how much time you spend each day. I promise you that most of us will be surprised when we do this exercise. And only by knowing the time we spend on less important items in our life can we effectively determine if and how much fat we can cut. In the end, I believe each of us has some fat to cut that will allow us to better utilize our time and energy on what matters most to us.

#3 What is the Worst that can Happen

For most of us we can get caught up worrying about all the little things that can or may go wrong that really are not that big of deal. In order to overcome this, we must think in worst case scenario. For example, I may stress all day that I won’t have enough time to get the laundry done. Looking at worst case scenario though if I don’t get the laundry done tonight it does mean I won’t get to wear my favorite shirt tomorrow (which is what I’d prefer to do) and instead will have to wear my green one but is that really a big deal? Sure not wearing my favorite shirt may not be ideal but hey, the worst case scenario is something I can handle and live with. Many of us spend our lives worrying about minor items that when truth be told, the worst case scenario is something we can effectively deal with and is not worth stressing over. And in the end, we will realize that even the worst case scenarios happen less often than not.

#4 Prioritize and Plan

Planning and prioritizing is important. We do not have time to do it all. Very few of us have Superman like capabilities thus trying to take on the world is an impossibility. Therefore, prioritizing what is most important to you then doing that first will result in a happier and more satisfying life and will reduce the stress. Additionally, just because something is “urgent” does not mean it is important. For example, I may feel it is urgent that I clean the kitchen because I have guests coming over tonight however though not seemingly urgent I may feel that my daughter is down and that I should probably talk to her. Thus in this situation I may forego my need to clean the kitchen to impress my guests and instead spend some extra time with my daughter which is a higher priority to me.

#5 Be Flexible

Once we’ve come up with a plan we must be flexible. Things are constantly changing and that is part of the fun in life if we learn to embrace it. When you plan, it cannot become so restrictive that again we fail to do what is most important. Having a plan is important and will help us maximize our time and energy however also being flexible when necessary with the plan will help us reduce stress in our lives.

#6 Do the Best you Can

Finally we do not need to try and be perfect but we should try and do the best we can. We will make mistakes. We will be stressed out at times. We will waste time, forget to plan and prioritize, dwell on non-consequential worries, and live in the past or future at times and that is ok. If we can follow these suggestions to the best of our ability however and continuously strive to improve, our stress levels will go down, our feelings of being over-whelmed will lessen, and our satisfaction and success in life will increase.