Tip for Better Time Management and Stress Reduction

Poor time management can cause stress. I should know as I tend to be high energy and have too many things on my daily to-do list.

Just this morning I went to a yoga class to get some relaxing exercise but kept thinking of everything I had to do. This just caused me to feel more stressed and defeat the purpose of the activity.

I went back to my drawing board and realized I would feel better and more productive if I initiated a proven tactic. The idea is to take your most important project task and schedule time in your agenda to work on it.

I know this is not a new idea, but it must become a daily habit for it to improve time management and reduce stress.

Here is what to do.

Use any tool you like to list and track your tasks that need to be done each day. Make sure to start and end your workday by looking at the list and ticking off whatever you have completed. I use Google Keep as my to-do list app as I can have it up in a column next to my Gmail emails. Any productivity app or software will do.

At the beginning of the day, take one highly important task that may not be urgent and schedule time in your calendar to work on it. When a task is scheduled as an appointment, even if you do not get it done, it is starring you in the face and thus you can reschedule it to the next day.

Do this everyday for at least three weeks to make it a habit. This is actually the hardest part as new habit development takes work, but the payoff should be well worth it.