Supplementary articles

Managing Time and Stress

The Four-Quadratic Model

Stress brings pervasive feelings, which makes time appear squeezed. Thus, it is always important to come up with a "to do list" based on the urgency and importance of the activity as a way of eliminating the stressor. Whetten and Cameron came up with the Four-Quadratic Model to show the action that determines time use. This model assumes that (1) people spend time on important matters, besides urgent issues; (2) people know the difference between the merely pressing activities from the most important; (3) the result is the objective or stress management; and (4) we should not feel guilty for saying no. Thus, important activities produce the desired results while urgent actions demand immediate attention. Some events may be both urgent and important. Others may be non-important and non-urgent. The table below shows the categories of my stressors on the Four-Quadratic Model.

Responsibility for others, such as children/spouse Threat to a major source of income	Difficulty identifying a major Change in plans for my major Outstanding personal achievement Lower grades than expected
Serious disagreement with parents Problem with girlfriend Minor Traffic violation	Change in social habits Difficulty with roommate

Summary Learning and Reflection

A. After reviewing the logs using the Four-Quadratic Model, I found that some stressors were important and urgent while others were not important. They were just urgent. I was very stressed about having difficulties with my roommate. However, I found that the matter was not urgent nor important since it is part of the routine. Thus, this stressor should have elicited strong negative emotions. I was less stressed about unexpected lower grades. However, the Model shows that poor grades are urgent matters that I should address soon. Besides, the problem with my girlfriend was an urgent matter, but not necessarily important. Thus, I feel that I was not supposed to stress over the matter since I had to attend to more essential and urgent issues.

B. The most important activity was to take care of others, especially my spouse and children. It was necessary since I have a responsibility for them. Failure to take care of them would have resulted in undesired consequences for them and me too. I could have been worried about their safety. The second most important job was to address the threat to my primary source of income. If I did not address the issue, I would have lost my most important source of income and thus have no mean of survival.

Responsibility for others and addressing the threat to my major source of income were not only important but also urgent. Urgent activities require one to stop what they are doing and attend to them (Whetten and Cameron 96). Other activities that demanded immediate action from my activity log include my serious disagreement with parents, difficulties with my girlfriend, and minor traffic rules. These matters were expressed by other people (Whetten and Cameron 97). The disagreement with my parents is because they were too concerned with my well-being abroad. The matter was not important since I could take care of myself while studying abroad. It was urgent since I needed to listen to them and assure them I was doing something about it. Similarly, the difficulty with my girlfriend was because she was concerned that I was not keeping in touch. The minor traffic violation was urgent since I was required to produce my driving license immediately.

The activities throughout the two weeks had a varied level of stress. Important matters such as taking care of others, especially my spouse and children and addressing the threat to my income were stressful because I dreaded the consequences. I was restless, tensed, and worried for failure to take responsibility for my spouse and children. I felt anger, fast heartbeat, and agitation for disagreeing with my parents. The stress associated with these matters lasted for long, up to one hour. Urgent activities were moderately stressful because I had to act fast. I felt hot, angry, and frustrated for the difficulties with I had with my roommate, but this was neither urgent nor important issue at the moment. Violation of traffic rules, problems with girlfriend were highly stressful, but the pervasive feeling did not last beyond 20 minutes. My least stressful event was the change in a change of social habits because it is a routine activity.

There are several takeaways from this exercise. First, it is essential to keep a stress log because it helps to identify the stressor. A time log ensures that you make appropriate adjustment to the stressor. One should first adjust to important and urgent stressors as they are likely to cause a crisis if not addressed. Urgent stressors also demand that one must stop what they are doing and attend to the stressor as they affect other people too. Activities to do with personal development and improvement fall under the highly important but not urgent category. From time tracking stress activities, the development issues included difficulty identifying a major to pursue, change in plans for my major, outstanding personal achievement, and lower grades than expected. In contrast, everyday stressors are not as important or urgent as other categories of stressors. From my time management log, change in social habits and difficulty with roommate were daily stressors. I learned that without time management, one could overreact and prioritize the wrong stressor.

C. I can effectively manage stress through effective time management. There are many techniques for time management. Some apply to management while others apply to all aspects of daily life. It is difficult to use these time management techniques at once since they can be overwhelming. Thus, I am going to select just a few of the rules that I believe will lead to proper management of time. I chose the time management techniques that apply to day-to-day activities. Firstly, I will create a to-do list outlining the most important things to accomplish first in the day. Here, I put more emphasis on the results I want to achieve, not necessarily the methods. The second rule is to prioritize tasks. The most important activities take priority, followed by urgent ones. Effective time management also requires dividing up a big project into bits (Whetten and Cameron 99). During the most productive hours of the day, I can focus on busy work and do trivial tasks during my lazy-hours. Finally, procrastination is a no-go-zone. Doing chores in time reduces the effort needed to accomplish them if they were procrastinated. I believe that the techniques will help me manage time effectively and minimize my time stress.

Work Cited

Whetten, David, and Cameron, Kim. Developing Management Skills, Ninth Edition. Boston: Pearson (2016).

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