How Good Time Management Can Reduce Stress
Think of five people in your personal or professional network and you would be hard pressed to find any of them who have not experienced some form of stress in their lives recently. Stress has many negative connotations, yet it is often misunderstood.
As an example, imagine yourself pouring a glass of water for somebody. You would most likely fill the glass so it is almost full, allowing a small amount of space to prevent spillages. The water in the glass represents the good stuff, in other words the stress we all need in our lives which gives us the impetus to get out of bed in the morning and face whatever the world throws out of us.
Now imagine you carried on filling the glass with water. Almost immediately the water would start to spill over the sides of the glass as it overreaches its capacity. This represents the not so good stuff, essentially ‘distress’ which is what we commonly associate with the word stress.
For many of us, the balance between good stress and negative stress is marginal and we leave ourselves very little wriggle room between the two. If our car requires more fuel or charge, a light appears on the dashboard and we respond. Yet if the light goes on in our head, we often ignore it and carry on regardless.
This distress can negatively impact our mental health, productivity, and overall well-being, so it is really important that we learn how to recognise when the light goes on in our head and how to respond accordingly before we run out of our own fuel or charge.
In this article we explain with practical examples how mastering essential time management skills can significantly reduce stress and enhance our quality of life. Whilst we focus on stress related time management in this article, you might also want to check out our article on time management techniques to help you improve your wider skillset.
What Are the Main Symptoms of Stress?
Recognising when the warning light goes on is the first step towards managing stress effectively. So, what are the symptoms we should be looking out for?
As you might imagine, some symptoms are more common and easy to recognise than others. They include, albeit not exhaustively:
- Fatigue
- Inability to focus
- Increased anxiety
- Irritability
- Disturbed sleep
- Physical ailments such as headaches and stomach issues
- Reduced motivation
Why Is Stress Damaging In the Workplace?
The symptoms described above can on an individual basis be debilitating at best. When combined however, the impact can be devastating and if not managed well, can even lead to longer term issues.
From an employers or people leaders perspective, stress in the workplace can lead to decreased productivity, increased absenteeism and a rise in workplace burnout. This will often mean higher turnover rates and lower overall performance. For employees, it can cause mental health issues and reduced job satisfaction.
Addressing stress is therefore crucial to all concerned for maintaining a healthy, efficient work environment.
How Does Good Time Management Reduce Stress?
Good time management can play a pivotal role in reducing stress. Here are just a few examples:
Improved Focus and Clarity: Prioritising tasks helps in reducing indecision and confusion, leading to a more focused approach.
Reduced Procrastination: Efficient time usage minimises the habit of delaying tasks, which often causes stress.
Minimised Distractions: By managing your time well, you can identify and eliminate distractions, enhancing your efficiency.
Increased Control and Autonomy: Managing your time gives you a sense of control over your tasks, reducing feelings of helplessness.
Better Work-Life Balance: Effective time management allows for quality downtime, improving overall well-being and reducing fatigue.
7 Actionable Tips to Help Reduce Your Stress Levels
Here are some time management tips to help you regain control and reduce stress once that light goes on, or ideally before it goes on to prevent negative stress from occurring:
Identify what is important to you and prioritise:
Many of us like a list as it gives us a sense of focus and tells us what lies ahead and how much time is needed to complete the tasks.
Now ask yourself how many times the item at the top of today’s list will appear at the top of tomorrow's list until eventually we run out of time. Instead, we tend to tick off as many items as possible lower down the list, giving us the false sense of achievement when really, we are delaying the inevitable and putting off until tomorrow what should be done today.
One way around this is to set yourself some 90-day goals. While this is equally applicable to work based goals, let’s stick with personal goals for now. Looking at your diary for the next 90 days, can you identify 5 things you are looking forward to which will be fun and relieve stress? This may be in the form of exercise, going to a concert or simply meeting up with a friend who makes you laugh and smile.
If you don’t currently have 5 things in your diary, if you do nothing else to alleviate stress, please make this your next priority and the next thing you tick off your list.
Try out the Pomodoro method:
The word ‘pomodoro’ means tomato in Italian. This fun fact won’t alleviate stress or help you with your time management but applying the methodology behind it just might.
In simple terms, this habit involves working for 25-minute intervals and then having a five-minute break. These breaks during more intensive periods of work can help reduce physical and mental strain, as well as serving as a useful reminder to recharge and remain hydrated, especially in hot weather.
It is also suggested that after four 25-minute intervals, it is sensible to take a 30-minute break to rest and recharge. This doesn’t mean 30 minutes of scrolling or feeling guilty but should ideally involve being in a different space or environment, with bonus points awarded if you are able to incorporate fresh air.
Still distracted by the tomato link? It turns out that the name comes from a popular kitchen timer that is shaped like a tomato. The creator of this method learned that 25 minutes is the perfect burst of time to be productive without feeling mentally overtaxed.
Practise good sleep hygiene:
There are numerous apps, mostly very good by the way, which can help us with our sleep hygiene but the irony is that many of them require access to our screens to utilise them.
The first tip around sleep hygiene is to create the habit of switching your screens off a minimum of one hour before you go to bed. If you use your phone as your alarm, you can still set it an hour before you go to bed and then leave your screen in another room. Try this for one week and you will be amazed at the difference it will make to the amount of sleep you get.
In the words of Simon Sinek, if you reach for your phone before saying good morning to the person lying next to you or find yourself taking your phone from one room to the other, you have a problem!
Secondly, try to create a habit of going to bed at a regular time. This will help your body regulate and it will naturally prepare itself for the routine of sleep.
Thirdly, where possible be conscious of the temperature and light in your room and adapt to suit your needs. This includes having the appropriate tog and weight of duvet to enable you to sleep well.
Manage your commitments:
Committing to things that are not relevant or important to you can lead to unnecessary stress and resentment. Learning how to confidently say no without it becoming a career limiting conversation can be liberating and empowering in equal measure, both of which conveniently reduce the levels of stress.
Work with your circadian rhythm:
You may be more than forgiven for assuming that the circadian rhythm is a complicated breathing technique but in fact, it actually refers to when our energy is high and our concentration levels are at their most alert.
For some, this is first thing in the morning and for others it is late at night. There is no rhyme or reason to this except to say that it pays to listen to our bodies and play to our own individual strengths.
Establishing when you concentrate best and when your energy is high will mean you can make the most of the time that best suits your body and brain. Fitting in things like exercise at the right time will help ensure that you don’t end up riding a wide-awake, post-exercise endorphin wave when you should be trying to nod off to sleep.
Focus on one task at a time:
For years, many of us have been led to believe that having the ability to multitask is a good thing. However, studies have shown that multitasking does more harm than good. This isn’t new thinking either. If you’re familiar with the “Kanban” process which was introduced by Taiichi Ohno in the late 1940’s to improve Toyota’s productivity, you may know that it includes WIP (Work in progress) limits with the optimum number being one task per resource at any one time. If a “blocker” happens, rather than switch to another task, Kanban encourages all stakeholders to help remove the blocker as swiftly as possible (although somewhat ironically, in order to achieve that, someone else in the team generally has to multi-task.) The key principle is that we’re at our most efficient when focused solely on one task at a time.
With countless distractions vying for our attention at any one time, what on the face of it is a relatively manageable workload can suddenly seem overwhelming and lead to exaggerated levels of negative stress.
As well as being realistic with yourself about what can be achieved in a day, creating the habit of focusing on one task at a time, however small, can lead to a sense of achievement and satisfaction. Conversely, creating a habit of starting and then leaving before something is finished will only lead to unrest and a sense of not having achieved much.
If a task is too big to complete in one sitting, consider carving it into manageable pieces and commit to completing one piece before moving on.
We cannot always have control of our working environment but switching off notifications at certain times is well within our control and can be very liberating, leading to an easing of negative stress.
Avoid perfectionism:
Here is a small but perfectly formed tip to finish with, but just because it is small doesn’t mean it should be underestimated.
If you demand perfection, you might not even start a task because you will be worried it won't be perfect. Doing your best is fine. Honestly! Allowing yourself enough time to do your best however will also reduce stress and give you the best chance of succeeding.
How Can Donovan Training Associates Help You?
At Donovan Training, we understand the impact of stress on both employees and employers. Our tailored time management training services are designed to help you develop the skills needed to manage your time effectively, reduce stressors, and improve overall workplace efficiency.
It is no coincidence that one of the most popular requests we have is for our time management training. If you can relate to any of the challenges discussed in this article, rest assured you are far from alone.
If you would like to learn more about how to delegate or improve your time management skills, click here or give us a call on 01295 675506 for more information and a friendly no obligation consultation.
