Lower Stress With Better Time Management

Why is it so stressful to have an irregular schedule? I don't know, but it's certainly the case. Perhaps it is because it gives us mental clutter. If you are feeling a lot of stress these days, here is one technique you can use for giving yourself less stress.

You want to make your schedule as regular as you can. Of course all of us will have things that come up that we have to just do when it comes up, but making it as regular as you can will be more calming and also save bits of time that get eaten up by an irregular schedule.

Plan for eight hours of sleep, even if you don't now sleep eight hours. People who sleep eight hours have longer life expectancy than those who sleep less. By scheduling particular hours, say, for example, 11 p.m. to 7 p.m., and save the last hour for relaxation, you will find you have less sleeplessness and less grogginess in the morning. Regular hours gets your body into a rhythm.

Some people have irregular work or class schedules, but you can often choose a block of time that includes the variation and fill in the block with other work. For example, if you had a class schedule where Mondays and Wednesdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Fridays had different class times, you could decide that Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. you will either be in class or studying.

Another trick is to choose one day a week for most of your errands, shopping, or appointments. Sometimes we need to take care of parents or children who have a number of medical appointments. Try to schedule the bulk of these appointments for one designated day a week. This way you will have larger chunks of time that you can use for your other needs. With an elderly parent, for example, Tuesdays or Tuesdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. might be the day you spend with them, and when you don't have doctors appointments you do something more enjoyable instead, like lunch and shopping.

Predictability helps us to reduce our stress, and a regular schedule goes a long way in helping us to feel more in control.

By: CD Mohatta

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