Can you remember the last time you told yourself you could squeeze a task into your day, thinking you could accommodate just another one with the right kind of “time management,” only to be overwhelmed by so many things on your to-do list?
From Time Management Won’t Save You:
A major source of stress for many is the pervasive feeling that there is never enough time. In response, many of us turn to time management. We try to squeeze hour-long meetings into half-hour sprints by being “more efficient” or we slot smaller tasks into gaps in our calendar to minimize unproductive time. And yet, paradoxically, time management often increases the stress we face instead of reducing it. As we become more efficient, we make room for even more tasks and feel even more pressure.
So, instead of saying yes to everything and squeezing one more task into my schedule, I learned to say no. I also use my values as my north star, making it easier to say no to things that don’t align with what I consider important to me.
I also discovered a way to finish things with less stress: by creating structure in my life. This allows me to eliminate distractions effectively.
What does my structured day look like?
It includes a set of routines that I do on a daily basis and the tasks I wish to focus on that specific day. I also put up systems that enable me to focus and get things done, such as putting my phone away from my workstation and logging out of my social media accounts (to add friction and keep me from mindless scrolling instead of working on my task).
Since I learned the art of making to-do lists while in college, I now know what I can do within a period. This means I put only a few things on my plate. I can now set more realistic timelines and expectations and be gracious to myself when I fall short of what I intended to do.
jessa 