Our world is a busy one. We have 24 hour rolling news day in, day out. There is always something new to worry about.

Many people have never worked so hard, for so long and with communications as they are, we are never out of touch with work. Even at the weekend and on holiday.

Is this good for us?

If we are always rushing, always feeling overworked, always on call, the reality is we are probably doing far too much for our own good.

The body will release stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol which can make us impatient, anxious, and irritated. This puts us under stress and can raise blood pressure with all the consequent problems associated with high blood pressure such as heart disease.

Why are we so reluctant to make our own lives that little bit easier?

Is it because we feel we might be judged by others as lacking ambition, energy and commitment? Or do we worry that if we do slow down, the to do list will just become out of control?

Okay, so we want to slowdown for our own benefit. How do we go about it?

Prioritising tasks

1.      Sort your to do list out into three levels of importance and concentrate firstly on level one. Even if these are the tasks that you least want to tackle, you know that they are important and you will feel so much better for having tackled them and got them out of the way.

2.      Avoid multitasking. In the work situation multitasking can lead to a number of jobs being half done and taking twice as long! 

Tackle one job at a time but do it thoroughly and properly to your own satisfaction and high standards.

 3.      Delegate more. Many of us do not delegate because we believe “it is quicker to do it ourselves“. That is a fallacy. Which means that we either do not trust our colleagues or we have a basic insecurity and feel that to be seen delegating would be a weakness?

4.      Take breaks and exercise more. Regular breaks and exercise will keep you refreshed and make you feel better and more able to tackle the tasks on your to do list.

5.      Don’t be a slave to emails and messages. These days we are inundated with emails and text messages, What’sApp messages etc. and these can interrupt your train of thought on projects if you let it. Don’t let it!

Let your contacts know that you check your emails and messages once a day at 16:00 and deal with any important ones then. If something is very urgent then advise them that they should ring you! This will make a huge difference to your working day and guess what? You won’t receive many phone calls either.

In summary.

There is little we can do about a fast moving world and communications that seem to increase our workload rather than manage it better, but we can handle ourselves better and lead a less stressful lifestyle by taking small steps to improve our personal situation

And remember, Mayfair cares.