Avoiding Stress

When I get stressed out, it happens like this:  I’m working hard on something and time is running out. And then all of a sudden,  I remember another thing I have to do that I totally forgot about.

When I remember this thing I forgot about, it makes me feel forgetful, bad at my job, like I’ll never get everything done.

But if I take a step back, I realize that these things aren’t true. It’s not the fact that I don’t have everything done that makes me feel stressed. It’s the idea that I don’t even know what I have to do at any given moment. 

This is why writing lists is so important for me. If I can get my tasks onto a list, then that’s where they exist. They fall in line in an organized little booklet and I’m in charge of them. At that point, I am their ruler, and I can decide when they get done and if they have to get done at all.

Tasks are good at stressing me out, but only when they sneak up on me. If they can hide and surprise me, then they win. But tasks aren’t that scary when I write them down. If I write them down, I’m in charge. 

My encouragement to you is to combat stress by writing down your tasks more often so they can’t sneak up on you. 

P.S. Today was one of those stressful days.  I know that technically this post is going up on the 12th, but I also haven’t gone to bed yet and I stayed up late to finish this. In my book, the streak is still alive!