In her latest book, AUM owner Hansa Pankhania looks at the problem of workplace stress and offers some simple techniques on how to combat it. In this short extract from the book, Hansa explores the issue of time management.
“We hear the work/ life balance debate all the time. For many people, there may be an imbalance between the time and energy they spend at work, and that which they spend at home or with the rest of their life. Do you feel that, for you, there is enough balance in your life?
Reflect on the following.
- Do you live too much of an outer, and not enough of an inner life, or vice versa?
- Do you spend too long at work and not enough time at home?
- Or, figuratively speaking, do you spend too long ‘meditating and writing commercially unviable poems’ and so do not spend enough time earning money for your family?
- What are some of the more rewarding and balancing factors in your life?
- What are some of the less revitalising and less balancing features about life?
Here are some signs of imbalance or being in HARD TIME:
Do you find your life seems to?
- Be a struggle or an effort
- Hurried and pressured
- Create fear and anxiety
- Deny you the simple pleasures of life
- Have something missing
- Make you numb and joyless
Do you find you are?
- Lonely, depressed, tired, exhausted
- Wasting time and not enjoying work
- Bored and frustrated
- Losing control of your life
- Losing your sense of humour and perspective
- Thinking about what you need to do next, rather than now
- Overly concerned with status, position or appearance
What are the 3 things that you can change and do differently to bring more balance and harmony into your life? List them here:
The key to achieving this balance and harmony lies with what’s known as the 4Ps and the 4Ds of time management
The 4 Ps
Plan – Make a list of your deadlines and when they need to be completed by.
Prioritise your tasks. Is the deadline short or long term? Is it important? If it isn’t then you don’t need to feel pressured into meeting it. If it is unimportant or inappropriate, then you can let the deadline Pass with agreement from stakeholders.
Finally, don’t Procrastinate. Keep asking yourself, ‘What is the best use of my time right now?’ What am I avoiding by procrastinating? Am I frightened of the task or opposed to it?
The 4 Ds
- DO IT NOW- important tasks only you can do
- DELEGATE- important tasks others can do for you
- DO IT LATER- not important or urgent
- DUMP IT- will not make a difference whether done or not
Try applying the 4Ps and 4Ds to the 3 things you want to do differently in your life.
You will know you are when your life :
- Makes you happy and fulfilled
- Let’s you live in the moment
- Makes you open-hearted and generous
- Gives you inner peace and harmony
- Makes you lead rather than follow
- Gives you a sense of freedom
And you are:
- Spontaneous and uninhibited
- Enjoying the simple pleasures of life
- Enjoying silence and solitude
- Seeing the bigger picture
- Trusting your own inner wisdom and judgement”
Stress to Success Stories is full of advice like this and invaluable tips to help you improve your working life. You can buy the book HERE