Enough is Enough

Today, let’s talk about reducing stress at work…

In my experience, a big part of work-related stress – and stress in general – is things that need to get done. If you’re like me, you have a “todo list,” either written down or in your head (written down is better). The problem is that we often start our day and our minds jump to that list – the WHOLE list. We think of ALL the things that we need and/or want to get done, and it seems overwhelming, or even impossible. Fear and hopelessness immobilize us, and we get even farther behind…

There IS a way out, and thankfully it’s not hard. Do something. Take a single item from the list and hit it hard until it’s done. Just do a task – ideally, something that’s been bugging you for a while.

Here’s an example from day-to-day life. I had a loose cupboard door in our bathroom. Every time I opened it, it annoyed me. It irrritated me for months, but was always filed away in that section of my brain labeled “Things I’ll Do When I Get The Time.” 

I finally decided enough was enough. It took me less than 1 minute to walk to our laundry room, grab a screwdriver, head back to the bathroom, and give it two small turns. Finished.

Did the stress from that one thing really affect me that much? Individually, probably not. But I’m sure I spent 20x the amount of time thinking about it than it took to fix it, and there were (and are) MANY of those sorts of items on my mental checklist.

So today – right now – get busy. Choose a task, do it NOW, and delete that item from your list.