By Jamie Jamieson
Life is busy and let’s face it, life is often a juggle with family and work commitments pulling on your resources. Add an unstable economy that puts businesses in a position where working smart is the only option and keeping overheads to a minimum an essential, it can often seem that as an individual you are doing the work of several. In this fast moving high octane world, how do you manage to live with and eventually relieve the build-up of stress and pressure? You need to put systems in place to ensure efficiency in the workplace and organisation at home with coping mechanisms to help improve your overall health and happiness.
Delegate
Use the resources around you. Remember you have junior members in your team for a reason. If you don’t delegate easily then ask yourself why. There may be issues of trust that you need to deal with, or perhaps there is a need for training to ensure you have the skills you need to support your role. You also need look at the balance of work at home too. Is everyone doing their bit? Even very young children can be enlisted to do small tasks which will help them learn vital life skills for the future.
Become a Time Management Expert
The more efficient we become the more we will achieve. This may sound obvious however in this digital age, but it’s so easy to get distracted by email and social media and often we feel we need to react to immediately. Classic time management strategies suggest we assign a certain part of the day to deal with emails and phone calls and avoid taking them outside of this time. That way you can focus 100% on the job at hand without constant disruption, you will be amazed at how much time you save. Ending the day with a priority list for the next will keep you centred on what is important and what jobs can wait. The time you will save will mean you can actually leave work at a reasonable hour which will in turn relieve pressure at home.
Use Technology
Are you using technology to your advantage? Technology allows you to work any time, any place which lends itself to flexible working. It depends on the type of job you do and how flexible your employers are, however, many are seeing the benefits of keeping their skilled workforce happy and stress free and are therefore more willing to consider requests for flexibility. From online banking to Facetime and Skype the options to make your personal and work life a bit less pressured are vast. Technology can also take the stress out of worrying about your family when you are at work. The rise of the sandwich generation means there are many with children and elderly parents to look after. Advances in GPS technology however can help you keep an eye on their location via an app on your mobile phone.
Clear the Clutter
Whether at home or at the office, clutter can make you feel like you are drowning. It definitely adds to your stress levels, especially if can’t find what you are looking for. In the workplace a messy office can reflect badly on the way you do business giving the impression that you are a disorganised individual, even when you are not. Clutter can build online too so archive items in your Inbox that are important and delete the rubbish! You need to be ruthless with your trays and filing cabinets, too. The same goes for your home. We gather so much junk over the years, it seems the more cupboards we have, the more we fill. Make a point of having a couple of clear out days a year where the whole family can go through their own junk and downsize their domain! Clearing clutter, clears your mind and in turn reduces stress. A clear-out weekend can feel as good as a holiday, as it does the same thing, makes you feel more relaxed and less stressed!
It may take work and organisation but when you get you get some stress-busting strategies in place you will reap the benefits long beyond the time it has taken to put them in place. As a result life will seem a lot less stressful and you will find you really will begin to stop and smell the roses.
