How to Reduce Stress: Productive vs Busy
Popular ways on how to reduce stress are practicing yoga, meditating and taking anti-stress medication. But maybe it’s a lot simpler to reduce stress for the source. Do you buy into the philosophy the busier you are and the more you have on our plate, the more you feel like you are important and successful? Are you work full-time, attending school in the evenings and fit in your family responsibilities? How about your ever-so-important social life? You are on the fast train to burnout.
I know firsthand because that’s how I choose to live my life every single day. Don’t forget the throw in finding time to write and publish articles for my blog, training for a half marathon and keeping up with my yoga practice.
Sounds like you too? I bet! I don’t know too many people who don’t claim to be “ busy”. Being busy is contagious. If I call up a friend I haven’t talk to for a while they’ll be quick to tell me just how busy they’ve been.
There reached a point in my life when I wondered how to reduce stress in my life, however, I realized being part of the middle class in a first world country the majority (of not all) of the stress is self-inflicted. See I don’t have to worry about when I’m going to eat next, nor to have to worry about war in my country. The stress in my life came from being busy with irrelevant tasks, not being productive.
The Difference Between Being Busy and Being Productive
Being productive is having focus on a task or goal at hand and it done. Productive people tend focus on one task at a time and never take on too much. Being busy is filling your time up with too many tasks or activities to the point you feel overwhelmed. Although busy people might be involved more, they are less likely to have the feeling of accomplishment because they aren’t operating efficiently.
The How to Reduce Stress Action Plan
What are your goals? In the future or how about today? What do you want to accomplish? It can be as simple as doing your laundry to as complicated as starting up a multimillion dollar business. Now ask yourself this- what are you filling your time with? Hopefully the majority of your time is towards your big goal.
Filling your schedule up with irrelevant activities will make you feel important but all you are doing is treading water through life. Busy doesn’t meaning being productive. Productive means getting stuff done. There’s a misconception that those who do more are successful. This is wrong. Those who work smarter become successful.
Overwhelming busyness leads to stress. Stress ages you and makes you more prone to illnesses. Taking time off from life sets you back. Focus your attention on being more productive with your time so you’ll have a great sense of accomplishment.
How to reduce stress: check out these reducing stress techniques.
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