Self-management can relieve stress

You know a day has 24 hours. You know your work day should be around eight or nine hours. But if you find it is growing longer every month, you never seem to get through and you feel the need to work just a little longer to get caught up…

Did you realize that good self-management can actually mean working fewer hours? Did you know that good self-management can mean that you are getting more done in less time?

You can work on self-management and improve your workday by making it only a part of your whole day.

• The planning should begin the day before. Make a list of all you hope to accomplish tomorrow. One of the best secretaries I have ever known made it a daily task to list all the work completed for that day and to list all the work to be done the next day before she ever left the office. It was a way, she said, to let her mind rest, to leave mentally refreshed because she had taken inventory.

• Keep a log. Find out exactly how you spend your day. Even 15 to 30 minutes saved every day amounts to hours every week. If you are a homemaker, you may be spending more time than you realize on routine cleaning tasks. If you are a volunteer, you may need to reschedule your activities, decreasing travel time by rerouting your targeted areas. If you are an executive you may find that your day is filled with wasted time on interruptions, routine tasks that could be delegated. Keeping a log will train you in learning to say “no” to requests that will not help obtain your goals for the day.

• Get organized. Keep a file of upcoming events. Besides a calendar that lists your engagements, get a file box with a divider for each day of the month. Slip in correspondence or reports, always filing in a slot before their deadline.

• Do solicit and utilize the help of co-workers. And if you believe the old saying, two heads are better than one, or many hands make light work, follow the rule. Don’t duplicate work that can be shared. Make a commitment to your fellow workers and expect one from them.

• Know your daily rhythm. If you are a morning person, then tackle the hardest job first thing in the morning. If you are an evening person, use the morning for less demanding tasks and wait until you are mentally alert and ready to demand the best of yourself.

• Search for ways to speed up or break through the minutiae of daily life. Try a computer for storing information, solving mathematical problems, for analyzing statistics, reports. Learn to use a Dictaphone because you can talk and think faster than you can move a pencil. Have someone else transcribe your correspondence, or delay the information until you have time to do it yourself. Learn to expedite.

• Above all, leave your work behind when the allotted time is up. You need to disassociate yourself from the work day and devote the remaining hours to your family or friends, to your hobby, to recreation. You will achieve more and be better balanced, all of which will lead toward less stress and better mental and physical health.

Copyright c 1990 Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D.