Managing your time effectively and sticking to a plan can have a hugely beneficial impact on your mental health and reduce stress levels significantly. By setting realistic targets for yourself that are achievable and constructive, you will gain greater confidence with what you are doing – whether it be at school, college, work or at home.
An important part of this is factoring in time to relax and take the pressure off yourself. Just like with physical exercise, we tire out mentally too so it is important to rest and get into a different head space for a while. This can be particularly important if you are in the middle of an exam period or working to a deadline at work and it is tempting to carry on!
Stress and pressure can impact your sleep too. Get in the habit of making a list before going to bed so that you don’t have to worry about remembering things for the next day. Linking with this, staying organised and planning ahead will help you to have a clearer head and worry less about forgetting something, for example. Keeping an up to date calendar or diary, writing notes on a board and putting reminders in your phone are good ways to do this.
Learn to PRIORITISE!
Using emails as an example...
DELETE the emails that are spam or not needed – DO answer it if its urgent or quick to address - DELEGATE emails that someone else can deal with more effectively – DEFER emails that you need to put more time aside for on another day.
By practicing this method after first viewing emails, they should become much more manageable and create less pressure.
Give it a go! Cut yourself some slack, make sure you take those breaks and remember that your mental well being is so much more important than putting yourself under extreme pressure to accomplish something.