Minnesota
Stress is just an unhealthy emotion. Some people think stress actually helps them get things done—at least, faster, although maybe not better. In reality, instead of boosting your productivity, stress reduces it by causing you to waste energy on being worried and afraid. When you cut your stress, your productivity soars because you can focus all your energy on getting the work done. Here’s how to start getting that stress out of your life right now.
Understand where stress comes from.
People think stress comes from outside forces putting pressure on them. But behavioral experts say the opposite is true—that stress is self-imagined and wholly self-imposed! Once you realize that you’re the one creating the stress, you also realize that you’re the one who can control it. In other words, stress is only as big a deal as you let it be. So, you can allow stress to undermine your work. Or, when stress appears, you can focus on getting rid of it. You’ll wind up spending your days getting things done, instead of stressing out over how much there is to do.
When you feel stressed, write down the reason you feel that way.
Then write down the worst outcome that could happen. Later, look at what you wrote and determine if what you were stressing over was all that important.
Wrap up yesterday.
Are you stressing today over something you didn’t accomplish yesterday? Instead of worrying about it, finish the job now. Also, don’t go nuts over your whole to-do list. Prioritize the tasks and only accomplish the ones that definitely need to get done.
Make sure your deadlines are realistic.
Avoid giving yourself tight deadlines. If someone else is determining the deadline, work with them to establish a deadline that gives you the time you need to give them your best effort. Crazy deadlines speed up the work, but make it difficult to deliver a quality product.
Ask for help.
Don’t hesitate to ask for help when you need it. A second person could make you twice as productive, as well as help you get over any feelings of stress you may have. The important thing is to figure out as soon as possible that you can’t do the job alone. This will prevent you from putting out unnecessary effort and possibly hurting the quality of your work.
Take a break.
If you get all worked up about getting something done, step away from it for a while—take a short break of five or ten minutes. Settle down, put your feet up; meditate, pray, or close your eyes and think happy thoughts; or simply go out for some fresh air. These things clear your head, letting you get back to work on the task at hand a lot more efficiently.
Focus on the big picture.
It’s easy to get stressed out over things that aren’t that important. Certainly, do all the things that need to be done, but instead of stressing out over them, remember how important they are in the big picture. Unless you’re in a situation where you’re in physical danger, it’s probably not worth getting stressed over whatever you’re dealing with.