Stress is an unavoidable part of life however too much stress can negatively effect our mental health. Therefore, if you have mental health challenges, as I do, stress can quickly make things much worse. It is important then, to make sure that you use stress management techniques to lessen its impact.
Lessening The Stress By Organising the Mess
One of the greatest gifts of entering recovery is the way in which my life has become rich and full. While this is a positive thing, it also means that if I am not careful, there is a lot I can get overwhelmed by. To look after my recovery,I must remember to manage the things I need to do in a balanced way.
Using Organisation Tools for Stress Management
To try to lessen the daily stresses of life, I have found it helpful to develop various organisational tools. Using organisational tools helps to avoid some of the stress before it happens.
Using stress management tools also helps to reduce the stress when I’m in the middle of feeling overwhelmed. My preferred method of organization is to use a balanced to-do list, a bullet journal, and a weekly schedule template. I organize myself and manage my stress by using the following steps:
1. Write down everything you need to do
When you begin to notice you feel overwhelmed, then its time to look at reorganising things. When I feel the panic rising, I stop and take some time to write down everything I need to do.
Making myself do this can often be difficult. Because I already feel anxious, the idea of seeing everything written down can initially increase my anxiety. However, I know from experience that after writing it all down and dividing it into manageable chunks, I will feel so much relief.
2. Identify which things are a priority and which can be postponed
Once everything is written down, it is then easier to see which tasks are a priority and which ones you can put off. Additionally, you can also look at ways to break down tasks to simplify
There are a number of to-do lists which help to manage stress. My favourite method is a variation of the Eisenhower Matrix. I begin by writing down everything I need to do and then move these into one of the four areas on the matrix. Even this initial step can considerably lower my anxiety as I realise how few of the pressing tasks are actually urgent.
3. Start a Bullet journal for stress management
I find that having everything written down in one place, helps me to keep on top of things and stay organized. A couple of years ago, I began to keep a bullet journal which has become my most helpful stress management tool. You can find out more about what a bullet journal is and how to use one here.
I find the bullet journaling method incredibly helpful. You can organize these in whatever way suits you best. For example, I use mine as a daily reflection diary, a habit tracker, and a place to keep a list of things I need to do. I have found keeping a bullet journal to be of great benefit to my mental health.
A bullet journal can be tailored to your individual needs. In my journal, I have my main to do list, broken down into priority status. I then have a daily to do, where I pick a couple of things out from my main list to tackle. When anything new comes up, I add a note to my bullet journal and later on I can look at how best to schedule it.
4. Create a weekly schedule
Once I’ve completed my priority To-do list and organized my bullet journal, I then move on to organize my time. I like to create a weekly schedule to keep me on track. This isn’t a necessity for most people but it is a priority for me because I work and study from home.
I use a weekly schedule which I create on my laptop and download. On my weekly schedule are the priority tasks. My priorities include the absolute minimum amount of Open University study hours and freelance work hours I need to do each week. I first add all my appointments in for the week, and then create blocks of time for study, filming and writing. I make sure each of these are in manageable chunks.
Allowing for Flexibility At Stressful Times
Life is not something we can control so it is important that we can change our routines when we need to. For this reason, flexibility is an important tool in looking after our mental health.
My bullet journal is my daily check-in place. From my journal, I can refer to my To-do list, and based on how I feel, schedule a couple of personal tasks each day. A poor mental health day means I often need to swap my days around, which is why I create my schedule on my laptop. Having my schedule online means that I can easily change things around if I need to and then reprint it.
Having things organized like this does help to manage stress. If I’m having a bad week, I can remove all the nonessentials from my schedule and do the basics. Or if I’m feeling mentally well I can add extra tasks to it if I have the time.
And Relax….
On completing these organisation steps, I feel lighter. I also feel more confident in my ability to manage all the new things in my life.
Do you use any of these methods to organise and reduce stress? If not, what methods do you find useful? Let me know in the comments
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[…] Often, when we are going over something in our mind, the act of writing them down can really help. For example, having your thoughts written down can help you to make better sense of things. Additionally, it can help you to reduce stress about things you need to do by getting it written down and organised. […]
[…] everything down that you need to do. By writing a list, it can help us to feel more in control and organise ourselves better. Most importantly, by using this list we can see the things which can be put off until a later day, […]
Very interesting article and motivational too, If you work hard it is obvious to get stressed and at that time you need some help and this is the blog. It helped me to understand how to manage my stress and I will follow these tips to help reduce my stress. Thank you for sharing this with us.