Time Management and Sneaky Stress

My first Dale Carnegie class was last night, covering the topic of Time Management. I've been to time management workshops before and we talked about tools and principles I've heard before, but they were good reminders. The activities were very engaging and encouraging.

Then...

At the end of the class, we talked about how stress is related to time management. I found myself writing a question on the back of my worksheets. "Do I assign stress to events, dates, and relationships?"

The question itself surprised me. I realized that even as I looked at the calendar for this week, an auto-pilot setting in my brain set off a warning signal like a monotone robotic voice saying, "Thursday and Friday will be stressful. Thursday and Friday will be stressful." And I agreed.

BINGO! I found the culprit.... I AGREED. How do I know that two days in my future will be stressful? And why in the world would I intentionally set myself up for misery--literally planning to be stressed?

I think our experiences teach us that some circumstances are uncomfortable. We've learned that we "typically" don't respond well to tight scheduling, or certain activities... even encounters with specific individuals. These are all perfectly normal responses and it's good to be aware.

However, we do ourselves grave disservice by planning to be stressed! How silly to agree with the robot voice and commit ourselves, even position ourselves, to respond with angst, discomfort, and "I can't wait until that day is over."

So this week, I'm going to act in the opposite spirit. I'm going to face Thursday and Friday with curiosity and an attitude of treasure hunting. I will prepare myself with good rest, good food, plan ahead for what I can, and see what interesting surprises may be tucked away in the folds of those two days.

Stress? Ha! I laugh at stress. Go away and don't bother me...


(c) 2011 Sheri Smith Bertolini