Reduce Stress and Gain Back Time. Ideas and gift suggestions for busy individuals.

I was reading that people, in general, have less time and more stress than ever?

Well, I can agree with that!  Certainly from my perspective.  Running a business, a home and being mum, grandma, wife, daughter.....no matter whether it's fun or not it all takes time and energy.

I've just come back from a fabulous holiday in Vietnam, we met new people, enjoyed fabulous tours, delicious food and delightfully cheap beer!  It was wonderful, but just two days back at the office and those glorious weeks away seem a distant memory!

So, how do we find that work/life balance and sustain it so that we make time for us, reduce stress and find our inner peace?

Time Management:

Be organised. Keep a diary so that important events and deadlines are easily accessible. This helps avoid the stressful "Oh, I'm so sorry I forgot" moments.

Create lists so that tasks can be prioritised and ticked off as you go.  This in itself is a stress buster, as your list becomes shorter so a calm mind becomes a reality.

Set goals and communicate them to your colleagues or family.  Ask for help achieving them to share the load or delegate some tasks in order to free you up for more important projects.

Manage stress by taking breaks throughout the day.  Go for a walk, make a cuppa, listen to some music, anything that makes you feel better.

Learn how to say "No"!  Agreeing to every meeting, lunch date, play date can leave you frazzled and with no time to accomplish the things you want to achieve.  Equally in work, saying yes and taking on more than you can manage is a sure fire route to stress and burn out.

Don't procrastinate!  It's one thing to prioritise your list, but don't fall into to the trap of constantly push back those unsavoury tasks!  They'll still be there and they'll start to "peck at you", creating the stress that you are trying to avoid.

Journaling.  Keep a journal of what you need to do, what you want to do, how you plan to achieve it and by when.  There are no rules to journaling.  Be free, be artistic and suit yourself!  If you work better with bullet points or spider graphs then do what works for you.  Add post its, coloured pens, cut out photos, draw - make it your own that you can look back on and see how far you've come and what you have achieved.

So, you've done a bit of streamlining.  Now what do you do with the time saved?

A home spa, a baking day, TV binge, gardening, walking, meeting friends.......

Whatever You Want! You've earned it x