Posts tagged Stress Levels
The Perils of Multi-Tasking
Oct 4th
Do you tend to do so many things at once that you are confused and very tired at the end of the day? Do you find you frequently make mistakes when you multi-task? Do you find you are distracted when you are always trying to do more than one thing simultaneously?
If you answered any of the above questions in the affirmative, believe me, you’re not alone. Our culture pushes us to continuously be listening to our ipod while driving or reading. Currently, kids are even allowed to bring their cell phones into the classroom. So, it isn’t completely our fault if we get into the habit of multi-tasking. However, you do have to step back from it so that you aren’t ALWAYS multi-tasking.
Multi-tasking is not only self-destructive but it is bad for your health as well as it increases your stress levels over time. It can also be dangerous to multi-task. For instance, if you text and drive or talk on your cell phone and drive, you are likely to get into a car accident. Multi-tasking can be detrimental to you for the following reasons:
1. Your concentration will be scattered and this can cause a lack of concentration over time. After a while, you’ll find it difficult to focus on any one thing for any length of time.
2. You’ll feel overwhelmed and unable to complete tasks. This can really result in a lack of success in different areas of your life. This can also have a detrimental impact on your self-esteem and self-confidence as well.
3. Your loyalties to particular projects may be skewed because you will be frantically going from one activity to another. After a while, you will feel completely fatigued and stressed out. This kind of exhaustion, over time, can really be detrimental to your overall well being.
4. You won’t be able to relax nor unwind at the end of the day because you will keep doing more and more. Multi-tasking can become an obsession if you’re not careful. This can have a lot of deleterious physical and psychological affects to your health.
5. You’ll always be preoccupied. You’ll never do anything well and to your own satisfaction. This, over time, can make you feel overwhelmed and unhappy with how things are going in your life.
So, try not to multi-task. Take some time to exhale and breathe often during the day. If you are in the habit of multi-tasking, try to get into the habit of doing one thing at a time. And remember, you can only do ONE thing well at a time. If you do two or more things simultaneously, you won’t be doing any of them well.
Time Management Tip – Use Deadlines
Sep 22nd
What is a deadline?
A deadline is a time limit that you set for the task to be accomplished. In reaching your goals, deadlines must be taken seriously to be able to finish the tasks on time or ahead of time. Setting a deadline is highly important in achieving your goal.
Just like a to-do list, a deadline will help you be on track by reminding you not to swerve and go to a different direction. A deadline will help you know that the task should be finish within the specified time and should not be beyond that. Knowing that you have a deadline to meet, it will also help your body produce more energy. The more closer you are to your deadline, the more you produce energy and would likely want to finish your task.
Now, without a deadline for every assignment or task you have, it would take you forever to finish it. It would make things seem to be unimportant to your life, which, in reality the tasks are really important. Like for example you have an exam and you didn’t set a deadline on when to finish studying and be prepared, you’re most likely be cramming on the night of the exam.
Cramming would then let you spend the entire night studying and jotting down notes and when you wake up in the morning, you lack sleep and eventually forget the things you’ve studied last night. Whereas if you have set a deadline like by Thursday all you have to do is review your notes and sleep early, then, take the exam Friday morning, you can be more relaxed and have a high chance that you’ll pass the test. See how important setting a deadline is?
If you are the type of person that do not have an organized life and always cram when tasks are to be met or things need to be done, then setting a deadline can be very useful for you. It can make your life easier and more harmonious. You can even have more time to relax and have time to unwind thus, lowering your stress levels.
Time Management Tip: Use Deadlines
However, if you are the type of person who knows how to set deadlines to the tasks yet do not know how to meet it, you need to have discipline to yourself and take deadlines seriously. Also, avoid procrastinating and have the sense of urgency to finish the tasks. Do not slack and be a couch potato for nothing is going to happen to you. Always find time to work on your tasks and rest later. By doing this, you will be surprised of the outcome in meeting the deadlines.
It still holds true that deadlines really do help in reaching your goals. It sets your mind to finish the tasks that you have for yourself. It can even inspire you to finish it on time by knowing the urgency of it.
Also, when setting yourself a deadline and you think you really need an inspiration to meet it, it is better that you tell other people about it. Let the other people know as this would help you concentrate more on your goal and will force you to manage your time and act accordingly.
