Saturday, January 15, 2011

Creating Less Stress for the New Year

Only two weeks into the new year, many people are already faltering on their resolutions for 2011. While the lists of goals for many are long and daunting, my resolution for the new year is simple: to reduce stress and achieve balance.

For many students, this task can seem daunting with classes, work, internships and extra-curricular activities. However, there are a few tips that I have put together to spend less time stressing and more time being productive:

1. Maintain an organized planner that outlines all of the tasks that need to be accomplished. Highlight tasks that are of timely urgency in order to effectively prioritize and cross things off when they are completed to demonstrate to yourself that things are being accomplished.

2. Keep your desktop organized and clean. When everything is in its correct place and can easily be found, you are able to accomplish more tasks in a timely manner because you will spend less time looking for the materials you need. Also, when your work space is uncluttered, so is your mind, allowing you to better process things that need to be done.

3. Instead of multitasking, accomplish one thing at a time to ensure that your work is accomplished more effectively. By dedicating your focus and attention to one task at a time, the job will get done better and you will not have to waste time redoing an assignment that did not receive your full attention.

4. Don't procrastinate! Rather than approaching a project as one large, overwhelming and daunting assignment, break it up into smaller pieces to make it more manageable. Make sure you are handling your time efficiently to ensure that things are accomplished in a timely manner, allowing for less stress later on.

These are only a few tips that anyone can use for handling and reducing stress. As an up-and-coming PR professional, the more effective and efficient I become at handling stress as a student will only better prepare me for the workforce.

Do you have any additional tips to share? Let us know!

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