This April we’re joining the Stress Management Society (SMS) to raise awareness about both the causes and cures for stress.
One cause we’re exploring is the theme of taking on too much. It can easily happen to us all – you’re trying to make a good impression, be helpful, or show you’re passionate about something and before you know it you’re completely overwhelmed.
Time management is an important stress-management technique and is crucial in today’s always-on world.
It’s important to recognise saying no can be positive. Here’s why…
- Saying no means a healthier you – When you’re under too much stress you’re more likely to feel run down and even get ill.
- Saying no means you can give 100% – When you say no to something you’re not being selfish. You’re honouring your existing commitments and this means that you can devote more time to them and do them properly.
- Saying no means you can pursue new things – Ever wanted to pursue new activities but not had the time? Saying no to some things will free up some of your time to enable you to pursue new interests.
- Saying no allows other people to step up – If you say yes to everything it prevents other people from taking responsibility and can lead to them not stepping up. By saying no you’re opening the door for others to benefit from taking the task on.
Here’s an exercise to help you master your time
- Pick a few tasks you need to complete – they can be work related, personal or both
- Write down an estimate of how long each task will take
- When you’re working on the task keep a note of how long you actually spend doing it
- Compare your estimates to your actual timings – how accurate were you?
Curious to find out how good you really are at managing your time?
A quick quiz has been set up in Good Practice for shore colleagues. To access, log into Good Practice and search ‘do you know when to say no?’
Read more about stress awareness month and the support available to you by using the search functionality located at the top of The Insider homepage. Just search ‘stress’.