A common habit many people have is thinking they have less time during the week than they actually have. This leads to unnecessary stress because we feel we have to hurry, which makes us more likely to make mistakes, further compounding our anxiety.
A good way to get a handle on the actual time you have is to objectively track it for a week and keep a notebook or spreadsheet of where you are spending your time. Track your time without actively attempting to change your behavior. Your behavior will naturally shift in positive directions due to monitoring, so there’s no need to force it, at least initially.
Limit brief work-related activities during non-work time, like checking your phone or firing off a quick email. These activities may only take a few minutes, but this pattern can feel like it consumes more time than it actually does, so try to curb these behaviors. Ultimately, you want to see how much time you really are spending, not what your mind thinks you are spending when you are stressed about time.1
The insight that you gain from this activity will help you objectively see whether your brain jumped to conclusions based on your emotions about feeling overworked versus what actually might be true. And with this clarity about your time you can help yourself fend off unnecessary stress in the future.
Please note that there is no guarantee a particular stress relief tool will work for you. Thus you must take complete responsibility for using them and for your own physical and emotional wellbeing. Further, Professor Pete Alexander is not a licensed health professional. Please consult qualified health practitioners regarding your use of any stress relief technique. Medical advice must only be obtained from a physician or qualified health practitioner.
