Managing Tasks, Time and Balance

What do you do when you have more to do than you have time? Today many people live pressured lives at home and at work. If a person also has hobbies or some endeavor they wish to accomplish independent of their work, life can become very full and high-paced.

New technology was expected to reduce the amount of time people worked. Instead it has made many more things possible, and so we often spend more time on something than we would have in the past. The product of our efforts is usually more polished than its previous equivalent.

The general public is more sophisticated these days and more and more is required of businesses and employees. As the competition for jobs increases, completing work tasks often spills into what would otherwise be a person's leisure time.

A recent article in The Independent: "High-stress jobs 'double chances of depression'" illustrates the importance of managing our time and expectations of ourselves. The article reports that a "survey of young people in their early thirties has found those in high-stress jobs run twice the risk of suffering serious depression or anxiety as those in lower-stress occupations". Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London say that time pressure is the single most important cause of stress and of the illness it leads to.

When we have more to do than we feel we have time for, and this continues for long periods without being addressed, it definitely creates pressure. A person is induced to work harder and harder, becoming more and more tired, until eventually they're also less and less efficient. Things can spiral out of control in a cycle for which there seems to be no solution.

It can lead to a struggle in which the person doesn't ever seem to win: the accomplishments become less meaningful in light of the many things still remaining to be done.

In our high speed modern life, it's very important that we maximize our productivity. In addition, it's vital to know what our priorities are: in our daily tasks and also in our lives. Having a list of short and long term goals sets our sights on what's important to us. Once we actively pursue our goals, we need to regularly assess whether we've set ourselves reasonable aims and timescales.

Some things that can be done to manage our time and tasks:

• maintain a healthy balance between work, or serious pursuits, and relaxed leisure time
• get plenty of sleep
• exercise regularly
• figure out more efficient ways of accomplishing repetitive menial tasks
• prioritize goals lists and move some goals to a later time
• ask others for help
• if within means, hire help to do the tasks that don't need to be performed by you
• decide what aspects of life are most important and make changes to avoid blatant and ongoing conflicts of interest

Occasionally there are high pressure times, and these can be very beneficial for motivation. But if we find we're constantly pressured for time with no end in sight, and perhaps crotchety in the process, it's most likely that we need to figure out how to change our expectations.

Striving to accomplish our dreams can make for a fulfilling and happy life, but the joy of it needs to be in the everyday working towards it, otherwise it's not much use. For best results all round, life is best if it includes some fun most days. This largely depends on our choices in thought and action.