STRESS AND TIME MANAGEMENT
INTRODUCTION TO PRIORITIZING
We all have many things to do, and we never have time and energy to do them all, let alone do them all equally well. There are nearly always tasks left undone at the end of any given day and, understandably, this reality can be frustrating and stress-inducing for many people. Prioritizing helps us think about what tasks are most important at any moment and give those tasks more of our attention, energy, and time. In other words, when we prioritize, we focus on what is important at the expense of less important activities. One key reason why prioritizing works can be explained by “80/20 Rule,” which states that 80 percent of our typical activities contribute less than 20 percent to the value of our work. So, if we do only the most important 20 percent of our tasks, we still get most of the value. Importantly, effective prioritization requires that be we recognize what is important, as well as understand the difference between urgent and important.
The “important,” or high priority tasks, are the tasks that help us achieve our long-term goals or can have other meaningful and significant long-term consequences. Urgent activities are those that must be completed right away in order to avoid crisis or trouble. Though it may not seem this way at first, many of the urgent activities we are involved in are not equally important in the long run. At the same time, things that are most important to us, like improving ourselves, building our skills, and spending time with family, often are not urgent. With good prioritizing skills, we finish as soon as possible all the important AND urgent tasks, thus reducing our stress. It’s also important to have many different ways to manage our time, depending on the situation.
1. Prioritize
Prioritizing involves focusing on the highest value tasks at the expense of lower value tasks. Begin with a list of the tasks you want to accomplish, and then designate tasks as either "A", "B", or "C" priority, depending on their importance. “A” tasks are the most important and urgent tasks, “B” tasks are important but not urgent, and “C” tasks are least important. Once the tasks are designated, complete the list one item at a time beginning with “A” tasks, then “B,” and finally “C.”
2. Make a plan
Create a daily schedule that includes lists of goals and tasks for that day. Planning helps us prepare for the day, carry out our prioritization of tasks, and become aware of potential scheduling conflicts.
3. Break large tasks into smaller tasks
Procrastination often occurs when a task feels overwhelming, either because there are many steps involved or because we expect the task to take a long time to complete. If we give ourselves smaller goals, completing each of the pieces one at a time, the overall task will likely feel more manageable. If needed, practice the 10-minute rule: work on that dreaded task each day for 10 minutes until it is completed.
4. Learn to say “no”
Learning to say no is a challenging, but crucial part of time management. To determine whether it will be effective to say no to a particular task, first consider your overall list of tasks tasks – both the number of tasks and estimated amount of time and effort required to complete those tasks. From there, determine whether you can take on extra duties, and decline additional work when appropriate.
5. Delegate
Delegation involves evaluating your list of tasks to determine if there are any that can be passed on to someone else. Often, others are willing to help if asked.
6. Spend the necessary time to do a quality job
Although it may take more time upfront to complete quality work on a task, being thorough and careful (and not rushed) will reduce mistakes that could take more time to address later.
7. Learn the signs of procrastination
The signs of procrastination are often specific to the individual. For instance, some of us may wait until we are in the right mood to start working. Or we may be waiting for the perfect time. In these instances, it can be helpful to set a deadline for ourselves – for example, “if the perfect mood doesn’t occur naturally before the end of next week, I will start the task anyway.” Or perhaps the task is too ambiguous? It can help to spend 5 minutes to write an outline of what the task will involve and, specifically, what it will produce.