Stress management

By: Elisabeth Kuhn
Are you stressed about time? Do you never seem to have enough time for the things you need to get done? Read on to discover why you may be struggling with getting control of your time -- and some time management exercises that help you do something about it.

You have heard about the 80/20 principle, right? It seems to be the secret to managing time more effectively. Simply do more of the 20 percent of the things that bring the best results, and dump the rest. There's a big problem, though.

How do you know which ones are the things that bring the best results. That's where people get stuck. It's a matter of deciding what to do next. And in the meantime, they're either paralyzed or too busy to think hacking away at the 80 percent that don't really bring much in results.

This is especially vexing if you need to make a living, or would like to, with something as complex as internet marketing. Okay, so maybe internet marketing doesn't have to be complex, but if you're in the middle of it, you get inundated with emails and the next best thing on a daily basis. So it's hard to know what to do next. Or even stick with something until it's completed. And if you have a long to do list, the mere thought of it might make you too tired to even get started.

So what can you do about it? There are a few stress management exercises that can help you:

1) Ask yourself what you really want to accomplish

Spend some time figuring out what you actually want to accomplish. Then sort your to do list into things that fit with your goals and things that do not. Focus on the ones that fit your goal.

2) Make doing the things on your list appealing

Find a way to make knocking off the things on your to do list more appealing. Give yourself rewards for having done a certain number of them. Difficult ones deserve their own reward. Or focus on how good you'll feel when you've accomplished them.

3) Get rid of distractions

Set aside times during which you're not to be interrupted. And then just hunker down and do the things you need to do, one after the other. And about all those distracting emails? Either drop the subscriptions or create a new Gmail account and have them sent over there.

4) Eliminate decision-making dilemmas

Remember that your gut probably knows the answer, so let your gut decide. How? Heck, you could flip a coin. Seriously. Here's why it works: If it comes up the "wrong way" you'll feel so bad you'll know that the other one was the correct decision. You do not have to do what the coin says, but to listen to your gut's response to what the coin says... and then follow its lead.