Do you ever feel like time is not on your side? The feeling of running out of time can create stress in our lives that makes us feel like we're running around like chickens without their heads. Stress triggers our fight-or-flight response and puts our bodies on high alert. Stress can make us forget things. And people who experience chronic stress may be quick to lose their temper. And more seriously, stress may speed up one's heart rate and is linked to high blood pressure.
Lack of time management is just one stress trigger in life but it is one that is manageable, which makes it important. Here are some tips for successful time management:
- Use a calendar to keep track of commitments, whether you have a medical appointment scheduled or you are meeting a friend for lunch. Keep your calendar uncluttered, and when looking at your commitments, know when to say no to new commitments.
- Prioritize. Consider scenarios when you felt like you lost control of time. Did you, perhaps, over commit to people? Think about what is most important to you and truly necessary.
- When planning out your day, make sure to add extra time for things like driving across town to an event. Traffic can be unusually high, and we all know that getting stuck in traffic and running late to an event can create big stress.
- At work, do you have any responsibilities that you can pass on to someone else? Sometimes we take on too much, which can tighten up time.
- Create time management goals for yourself. Create a vision board that shows how you would like your days, weeks, or months to look like. Write down life priorities in order of importance, and learn how to accept only what you can truly take on.
Throughout life, it's inevitable that time will get away from us, but for the most part, we can adjust our thinking and schedules so that we can keep time-related stress at bay. Good luck!