23-2

Managing Stress and well-being

Name:

Institution:

Date:

Managing stress and well-being

(A) Summary of Results

Summary of my time tracking results

When I try to track the results of my time right from the first activity, I find that to manage first, in as much as we had a group meeting, I never managed to read the whole of the 30 pages material as I had planned. I felt stressed and disappointed for having failed to do as is had planned. Second activity, preparing dinner for 5 people was successful and surprisingly I managed to do it well and on time despite feeling like I would not make it. The third activity, which was plenty of heavy work from Boss, I didn’t was unable to meet the deadline. It surprised me despite the many efforts I tried to put in the task. On presentation, I managed to prepare well for the presentation and it was successful. I never expected it to be successful because I did it in a hurry to meet the time requirement.

(B) Reflection on the results

Activity is important when they produce the desired results or they achieve a meaningful purpose at the end. Determination of the important activities depends on personal principles and values. Important Activities are identified by what you are able to define and stand for them, what you feel passionate about, what legacy you intend to leave and what accomplishments you plan to have. It is these important activities that can enable you say “no” without feeling any guilt. For my case, I would identify important activities as doing the plenty of heavy work from Boss and studying for exams. This is because of how I feel towards these activities and how they can define me.

An activity is urgent when the activity demands immediate attention. Urgent activities are usually associated with the needs expressed by someone /others or those activities that relate to an uncomfortable situation requiring a solution as soon as possible. Preparing a group meeting, read 30 pages materials and preparing a presentation are considered as urgent activities. I had to stop what I was doing in order to carry them due to the deadline and how urgent they were.

A stressful experience is usually created by time deadlines where there is pressure due to the urgency of the activity. Time stress is usually caused by the pressure/demand by others to meet their needs as they end up interrupting our own agendas. The high amount of stress was caused by the group mates who subjected me to read 30 pages material before preparing for the group discussion. This maybe because I failed to give it the top priority before its time and when it was almost time for group meeting, it gave me high amount of stress.

The lesson I learn from tracking my activities is that I fail to give my activities their right priorities and more so I fail to consider the most important non-urgent activities. I have learn that I should try to do the important non-urgent activities as early as possible whenever I have free time as this is one of the most effective way against time stressors.

The below table can help in determining the importance and urgency with which I can handle my activities. The first priority should always be given to high urgent and high important activities.

1 Preparing group meeting Preparing a presentation Study for exams	3 Job from the boss Read 30 pages materials
2 Do laundry	4 Video game Preparing dinner

High Low

High

Low

(C) Self-Assessment on my skills at managing time and stress

I think I can effective manage my time by implementing the following approach;

By first being able to identify and distinguish important activities from merely urgent activities. Once I have identified the important activities, I have the right to focus and spend more time on them as they hold the importance of defining what we are, what legacy we can leave and what our passion is. While carrying out these important activities, I will focus on the results more than the methods. To avoid stress or to manage stress, if there are more urgent activities with significant importance, I will give them priority then embark on the activities with high importance. This is the best way to manage time and deal with time stressor.

Three rules that I will adopt to be able to succeed include;

Rule 4: Prioritizing my tasks. In my everyday tasks, I will always focus first on important tasks and then deal with the urgent tasks.

Rule 7: Divide up large projects. This is to help me avoid feeling overwhelmed by large, important, urgent tasks.

Rule 11: Don't procrastinate. If I have to do certain tasks promptly, they will require less time and effort than if I put them off. The behavior of pushing tasks forward with the aim that they will be done on other time or day is what results to time stressor when their deadlines are almost.

References

Chao, R. C. L. (2011). Managing stress and maintaining well-being: Social support, problem-focused coping, and avoidant coping. Journal of Counseling & Development 89(3), 338-348.

URGENCY

IMPORTANCE