Stress Relief Technique for Work: Getting Organized, It’s Not Just Writing A To Do List

Discovering what I consider my best stress relief technique probably helped me improve on my temper. I have a very short temper, which thankfully I have been able to improve on over the years. This is feedback from long time friends and colleagues, of course. And I am glad it has improved.

Short fused, I get angry when the work piles on at work. This is especially true when one task is not completed and another gets added to the list. Before long, one could hear me raise my voice and on a bad day yelling at the top my lungs. Needless to say, this is bad for my professional image and is utterly unprofessional to say the least.

Like anyone else, I blamed it on stress. But I failed to realize that this was self-inflicted stress. It took me awhile, to discover my best stress relief technique is to – Get Organized. What follows is what has worked for some of my colleagues and I. The technique seems obvious but implementing it can be a challenge for some.

This maybe a surprise to you but I still observe young executives that ‘carry’ their “To Do List” in their minds. In my opinion, this just creates more stress by trying to remember what you need to do next. So, the first thing to do in my best stress relief technique is to write down a to do list.

2. It Says To DO, Doesn’t it?
Now, you may say – I have a “To Do List”. Why is it that I still feel stressed? The next time you feel like this, try taking 5 minutes at the end of the day to take a look at your list. What is it that you have truly DONE?

Once you have listed down the tasks at hand the day before, make plans to attack it the next day. A “To Do List” isn’t a for show only item. It is meant as a guide for you to follow through. Again, I stress – no pun intended. It is a “To Do List”, not a “for show list”.

3. Start Early
Start early means starting your day 30 minutes earlier than you normally would. If it can be an hour before, that would be best. I know this is tough for many of us. Start with 30 minutes, as you begin to see the benefits of this stress relief technique you would gradually start earlier on your own.

When you start early, you can clear a lot of the minute things that gets in the way when the day really starts. I like to clear the emails from the previous day, sign on documents that needs my endorsements and read up on short documents that needed my attention. When you start early you get to attend to things that would have got in the way when everyone starts coming into the office.

4. Prioritize
For this stress relief technique to work, you would also need to prioritize your work.

Now that you have a “To Do List” you need to make sure you tackle the urgent and important work first. Giving attention and attacking these crucial tasks first naturally takes stress off your day.

5. Cliché As It May Sound
Do not procrastinate. We all like to be sucked into pleasurable activities. Whether it is to just chat or spend too much time on a task we particularly like at the cost of other task. In fact, some may even use a task that they are more comfortable doing with in order to delay starting on a less ‘pleasurable’ one.

Whatever it is, stick to the “To Do List”. Do the work as you promised yourself in writing.

Getting organized is my best stress relief technique over the years. Try it, if your working style is somewhat like mine – you would be pleasantly surprised.