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	Reduce Stress And Increase Productivity

	by Dana Massett

Are you overwhelmed with too much to do and too little time? Are you feeling as though nothing seems to be getting accomplished? Follow this 5 step plan and gain the FOCUS needed to accomplish your tasks more efficiently, which will increase your productivity, reduce your STRESS, and ultimately enhance your personal and professional image.

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN

Spend thirty minutes to an hour each Sunday evening planning the week ahead. Jot down where you need to be and what you need to ACCOMPLISH so that you can start the week with a realistic view of the amount of time required to fulfill your obligations. Your schedule and to-do list should not be written in stone. Review it regularly and make ADJUSTMENTS to accommodate items that take priority over less important tasks.

SCHEDULE

Schedule appointments, meeting and tasks. Yes, even tasks should be scheduled -– at least ROUGHLY. Estimate the time you think it will take to accomplish a given task or a group of tasks (i.e. returning phone calls) and schedule it as you would a meeting or appointment. Otherwise, the tendency is to accumulate a long list of to-do items with not near enough time to REALISTICALLY accomplish them.

WHITE SPACE

Be certain to schedule “white space” between each of your appointments to accommodate driving time, delays, unscheduled interruptions, etc. If everything runs as planned, then you will have a little EXTRA time each day to fill with something fun!

PRIORITIZE

Once you have a plan in place, review it to ensure the most IMPORTANT items are scheduled first and during HIGH productivity times during your day. Some individuals perform best during the morning hours and, therefore, should schedule high priority, difficult tasks first thing in the morning. Others perform better later in the day and should schedule lower priority tasks in the morning and leave the most important tasks for the afternoon. This is not to suggest that an individual with a high productivity time in the afternoon should wait until later in the day to begin a high priority item due the next day!

NOW GET GOING

Now that you have a plan in place, get going! If you are having trouble getting started on a task, break it down into smaller, more manageable CHUNKS. Then, start knocking them out one by one. Often, we just need a plan and a little momentum to get us going!

Dana Massett is the President of Planning Etc. LLC -- A Planning and Organazing Consulting Firm.

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