Being productive is great. But it should not be at the expense of your health. If you think that work, productivity and stress go hand in hand, you should maybe review some concepts. Continued stress damages health. And one can be productive without being constantly stressed. So let us see how to get productive without stress.
Sources of stress
There are a number of reasons why you may feel overwhelmed, overburdened, and stressed.
- Not knowing how to organise yourself well and plan. Then you react to what comes up and you stress about not finding time for what matters.
- Not being specific about what you want or outright not knowing what you really want.
- You have a hard time prioritising.
- Believing that what you want is too difficult to achieve.
- Not knowing where to start to solve your problems or achieve your goals.
- Your definition of success.
- How you define productivity.
Let us look at the steps to address these sources of stress in order to achieve more productivity but without stress.
1. Review your definition of success
First, check your definition of success. Is it just based on striving for money or power? If so, you are on the perfect path to exhaustion and burnout.
If, on the contrary, your definition of success includes enjoying life, the journey, learning and the people around you, you will know how to make better decisions for your productivity and your well-being.
2. Review your definition of productivity
Of everything you do throughout the day, what do you consider productive tasks? A narrow definition of productivity can lead to task overload. Plus, you probably always feel like you are not achieving enough.
So I suggest you broaden your definition of what you consider to be productive. Anything that allows you to work better on your goals whilst taking care of your well-being means being productive.
Getting up on time in the morning. Eating healthily, which provides you with the nutrients and energy you need to perform well. Taking time for physical activity to replenish your batteries and gain more energy. Doing household chores and keeping order. All of these everyday activities do also count. Personal productivity is defined not just by your performance in the job that earns your bread.
3. Know yourself
Self-knowledge is key to achieving stress-free productivity. On the one hand, it will help you to know your strengths and weaknesses. This way you can focus your efforts on the things you are good at and further develop these skills. You can also improve weaknesses that are harming your productivity.
On the other hand, knowing your biorhythms and which are your most productive hours allows you to better plan your day. Lastly, knowing what tends to stress you will help you deal with the sources of stress.
4. Define what you want
To be productive without stress, you need to know what you want in your personal and professional life. Otherwise you live like a candle in the wind, merely reacting to what arises.
When thinking about what you want, be specific. What exactly do you want? Why do you want it? How will it benefit you and contribute to your life? How and why will it make you happier? That way you can take control of your life proactively.
5. Plan your time
Again, if we do not plan how to use our energy and time, we only react to what arises. We will do what occurs to us at the moment in question. But depending on our energy level the decisions will be better or worse. As the day progresses, the more decisions we make, the more decision fatigue we will suffer. Planning in advance frees us from the burden of having to decide every minute what to do next.
6. Prioritise
Being productive without stress also means knowing how to prioritise. Not only that. It also means knowing that it is necessary because time is limited; and not feel guilty about it. You will live in a state of continuous stress if you fill your days with more activities and tasks than you can handle.
You will have a feeling of not having achieved much if you do everything and anything without progressing with anything important. Remember that being busy does not mean being productive. That is why the key is to accept that you do not have time for everything and to take time for what is important.
7. Measure the duration of your tasks
Is it difficult for you to plan your day because you do not know how long things take you? Do you tend to aim at too many tasks and activities? Then it might be a good idea to measure the time that certain things take you.
You can, for example, write down during a week, after certain tasks, how much time you have dedicated to them. That will help you plan better for the future.
8. Goals as guideposts
Setting goals is important to progress and improve on a personal and professional level. But if we live with the mentality that we will be happier when we achieve a certain thing, we will be doomed to permanent dissatisfaction.
There are multiple factors that influence whether we achieve our goals or not. With this mindset we will feel frustrated when we do not reach them. But also, when we reach them and realise that it does not make us as happy as we thought.
The error here is in the focus. You will be happier if you enjoy the path and the steps you are taking. You will live more content if you do not clutch at your goals as you initially defined them; but adapt them to your progress and circumstances. Therefore, to be productive without stress, it is convenient to take objectives as guideposts rather than as the ultimate aim.
9. Keep the perspective
It is easy to be engulfed by the day to day, obligations and things that arise. It is easy to get lost in the details. Then we feel stressed and overwhelmed by our responsibilities and tasks. Or we feel frustrated for not making progress in what we had set our mind to.
This is why it is important to keep the perspective. On the one hand, consider what usually stresses you the most. What can you do to eliminate or reduce the sources of that stress?
On the other hand, taking time for review and planning will help you to be productive without stress. You will keep perspective of your priorities, goals, progress and things to do.
10. Know your time thieves and deal with them
Reflect on which time thieves affect you the most. Do the hours pass with distractions and interruptions? Do you tend to procrastinate? How well do you keep your home and workplace in order? Do you have a good organisation and planning system? All these points affect our productivity and our stress level.
11. Control the consumption of information
Nowadays most of us suffer from overstimulation and information overload. Cognitive overload reduces our mental clarity and creativity. It can even lead to mental block.
That is why I suggest that you limit and select well the information you consume. Consider what it provides you. Consume information with which you learn, that inspires you and makes you feel good. Moreover, take time to disconnect. Active breaks exercising, meditating or practicing contemplation are perfect to counteract this overload.
12. Take breaks
I know I mention it often. But taking breaks is key to recovering your energy. Your body and mind need to rest from time to time. On the one hand, taking breaks reduces stress and helps you to continue being productive. On the other hand, when we change our focus and think about other things, it is when we usually come up with new ideas.
As I mentioned in the previous point, the best are active breaks with “offline†activities. Practice some sports, stretch, do some housework. Choose an activity to get away from your mobile phone and computer screens for a while and get up from your chair.
13. Delegate and automate
Time is limited. That is why it is key to focus on the important activities that are aligned with our priorities. And I mean your priorities both on professional and personal level.
I suggest that you reflect on which are the tasks that you should carry out and which ones you can delegate. When it comes to delegating, it is important that you trust others. If you control every step they take, you will not only stress yourself but them as well.
Of the tasks that you ought to perform, it is advisable to find a way to carry them out in the most effective way. Automation helps us save time. Taking advantage of technology and creating good habits are ways to automate our day to day.
14. Train and use your social skills
Communicating in a concise and effective way what you want and need avoids misunderstandings. That in turn avoids frustration and wasting time.
Also practice assertiveness and learn to say “no” when necessary. We said that time is limited. That is why we cannot accommodate all requests. It is very nice to help others. But it is key to find the right balance that allows us to also dedicate time to what is important to ourselves. Knowing how to say “no” and setting limits earns you respect as well as avoiding stress from overburdening yourself with obligations.
Finally, review your need for approval from others. How much importance do you give to what others think? How much do you care about pleasing them? Realise that this takes a lot of energy and also time. The next time you are worried that others will not agree or approve of what you are doing, ask yourself what is really the worst that could happen.
15. Disconnect and relax
Finally, it is essential to learn to disconnect from work. Continuing to mull over work matters in your free time only causes you stress and does not allow you to recover your energy well. Allow yourself to do nothing consciously. This is not the same as being lazy or procrastinating. Choose activities that are fun and that contribute to your well-being.
Do you have a hard time being productive without stress?
Do productivity and stress go hand in hand in your case? What do you think is the reason? Which of the points do you think will help you the most to achieve productivity without stress?
8 Responses
Awesome ideas. Personally I sometimes waste time on social media. Although that I do control it, I feel it’s just sometimes really mindless scrolling. I always nip it in the bud once I see it happens but it’s the worst distraction for me. Lovely post!
Hi Sonia! I know what you mean. It is so easy to spend more time on social media than you intend to. The good thing is that you are aware and catch yourself in the act.
You’ve provided a very extensive list of stress-reducing tips. I know one thing that I struggle with is knowing how to budget enough time for tasks so I like your idea of measuring things out so you can properly leave enough time the next go-round when you tackle that task. Thanks for the post.
Thank you for your comment, Diane. Blocking enough time for a task if you don’t know how long it takes can be difficult. That is why measuring the time for recurring tasks can be helpful to improve your planning.
I am so guilty with taking too much on my shoulders and then stress about it. Need to work with it. Good read though
These are some much needed tips! I always feel so stressed when I am productive. One of my issues is that I always want to get everything done at once, and am trying to learn to space out my work (… and be okay with it).
Hi Cheyenne! You’re right. It is important to learn that we cannot do everything at once and that this will only stress us more. We need to accept that we can only do so much.
Oh my you hit the nail on the head with time thieves, while I love them I have so many that just want piece of my attention, and we talking about grown adults. It is funny they protect their time but have no respect for mine, as if I should drop everything and be grateful that they blessed me with a phone call, LOL!