Sometimes with all the things that you need to do right now, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed. Add to that the list of things that you want to accomplish someday in the future. This may include projects you've been putting off, books you've been meaning to read, classes you've thought of taking, or other things. How will you get it all accomplished?



Let's start first with all of the things that need to be done today or this week. Can you quickly name everything that you need to have accomplished for this week? Actually, don't start naming them! A lot of frustration and stress can come from thinking about them in the wrong way.

What I mean is that it's detrimental to have thoughts like, "Oh, I better get that done," or "Oh, I forgot about such and such," or "When am I going to take care of that?" Your mind feels the added pressure and stress because of the constant reminder of things you haven't done yet and things you cannot do anything about at the moment.

Those thoughts trigger thoughts about other things that need to get done. Pretty soon your mind is trying desperately to come up with a number of solutions to a number of problems all at the same time, and guess what? You are stressed and pressured.

You don't have to be stressed or pressured.

Think about it. When was the last time you can remember that you didn't have anything at all that needed to be done? There are always going to be things that need to be taken care of. You can't let that fact alone stress you out. Here's a suggestion to help.

(Keep in mind this is only a method, and methods are great if they work for you. If one method doesn't work for you, then find one that does. )

Write down what you need to do. Some people like to do this in the morning. They give themselves a "to do list" for the day. Others do this before they go to bed at night, so the list is ready in the morning. Some even like doing a list on Sunday, to set up what they need to do for the upcoming week.

This really is a very important key! It will absolutely amaze you how much stress and pressure you will eliminate by just writing things down. Do you know why?

First of all, your mind does not have to keep track of everything all day long. It's all on paper. It's kept safely. Nothing will be forgotten. Secondly, your mind doesn't need to produce fifty different solutions at one time.

Try it and you will be amazed. Just write down everything you need to do for today, tomorrow, this week, or even this month. Write it down and see how much more peaceful you are when you have finished writing.

I am quite aware that just writing something down does not get it accomplished. Once all of your tasks are written down on paper, take a look at your list. You need to put the items into categories.

Some people like the A, B, and C method. Things that have the highest priority are A, moderate priority are B, and the least are C. Others use numbers, like 1, 2, and 3.

Whether this is a list for one day, one week, or even one month, begin to take care of your biggest priorities first. Then, very importantly, cross them off the list as they get accomplished. Each time you go to your list to either start a new project or to cross off that which is completed, the proof that you can indeed get things done will be staring back at you! Every item crossed off reinforces in your mind that you are indeed someone who can accomplish things.

Then at the end of the day, if it's a daily list, or the end of the week, if it's a weekly list, reconsider your list. You might discover that you have put too much on your plate. This will help you in evaluating how many A's you put on your new list. Then go ahead and write a new list. You might find some of those B's and C's that didn't get done may end up in the A category.

Studies show that methods like this one can be extremely effective in both time management and confidence building. You really will end up accomplishing more. Your mind will be more at ease, less stressed and more focused on the task at hand.

What are you going to do tomorrow?