I’ve got a busy couple of months coming up. We’re taking a mini-vacation to Washington DC at the end of the month, then we’re expecting several visitors in March and April. In addition to that, I just found out I’ll be going on a business trip at the end of March.
When I get busy, it’s more important than ever that I keep stress levels down. I find the best way to reduce stress is avoid it by staying on top of this a little bit at a time. Even if it’s something small, every little bit helps.
Here are some of the little things I do to keep things running smoothly and reduce stress:
- Make my lunch and lay out my clothes before bed to avoid rushing around in the morning.
- Spend 15 minutes a day tidying up to avoid a major mess at the end of the week.
- Do one load of laundry every night to avoid a pile-up.
- Plan a menu for the week.
- Avoid letting clutter pile up on flat surfaces (tables, shelves, etc.)
- Keep a small notepad with me to make notes and monitor my to-do list.
Avoiding stress a little bit at a time works for me. What little things do you to to avoid stress when you’re busy?
I always try to take something upstairs each time I have to go up there – it reduces the amount of clutter and mess.
I also get clothes ready the night before if I need to leave the house early and walk the dogs before doing anything so they don’t stress me out by being excited and wanting to go for a walk!
I know this is different than most of your tips, but B Vitamins are very helpful when dealing with extra stress. Our bodies consume a lot of them when under stress, so it’s important to keep our bodies well supplied with B Vitamins.
It takes me 30 minutes each way to & from work so I destress (after work) by either listening to NPR or the traffic/weather channel LOL. Something about the monotone of the sound. I don’t hear what is going on in traffic, just the tone helps.
I set the timer and decide how much time I can devote to whatever I am working on. That way I can get a little bit done of each to-do item. Even if nothing gets completely finished, I still feel like I’ve accomplished something.
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I’m a big believer in microactions, they are the only way I can get anything finished.
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