While you can't add more hours to your day, there are a few changes you can make to your daily routine that can help you reduce stress while getting more done.
1. Stay ahead of the curve There's nothing quite like arriving prepared. By getting up just a little earlier, you can spend half an hour or so in the calm of the early morning thinking through what's coming up and how you're going to react. Doing so will pay dividends later.
2. Manage your interruptions Assign an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon to dealing with your correspondence. Try switching off your e-mail program in between to avoid scratching the send and receive itch every five minutes. If you're not paid to be on call, put your cell phone on silent, and pick a time to return all your calls later in the day.
3. Get out Never underestimate the power of managed disruption. A change of scene for half an hour even if it’s just a walk around the block will give you a chance to take stock and marshal your thoughts.
4. Design your own to-do list Rather than just enumerating all your outstanding tasks, add some analysis that will help you identify how you can best do what needs to be done. How long do you estimate each task will take? Can you be interrupted? Simple, personalized categories will help you to keep on top of things.
5. Cat nap It may seem like an emergency measure, but when the chips are down you’ll be surprised at how refreshing a few minutes of light sleep can be certainly enough to get you through an intense patch. Science suggests that making it a regular feature in your life will enhance your performance making sure you stay ahead of the curve tomorrow.
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