SGPsychStud: Dealing with Stress as a Non-Prepper

As mentioned previously, there are two types of people who will succeed whilst experiencing stress:

1. The Preppers
2. The Non-Preppers

For more information about the preppers and non-preppers, read my post about Stress Management.

Honestly, I am a non-prepper, who usually have these qualities according to the previous post:

"In order for them to succeed, they usually possess a high ability to control their emotions, as well to relax (learn how to relax here), and a positive view of themselves.  Though they may not be fully prepared, they have the positive mindset and confidence that they will be able to overcome the stressful situation."

I am been very busy at work lately, and hence the lack of posts in the last two months.  Feelings of frustration at work and doing overtime past my supposed working hours has become a norm.

Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/55524309@N05/5519749611

So how do I fix the situation???

I know that I need to maintain my positive mindset and stay confident that I am able to get over the situation (and piles of work).  But staying positive is not going to get rid of the massive amount of work.  So here's what I did on a daily basis:

1) Evaluate what is important and what is not

Have you heard of the Pareto principle or the 80/20 rule?  Most importantly, the tasks are most important take up about 20% of your time, while things that are not so important take up about 80% of your time.  Therefore it is essential to first identify what is important or necessary to do first, and clear them before anything else.

2) Focus on the important things ONE at a time

After identifying the things I need to do, I would move on to clearing them one at time.  However there is always the tendencies to move back to my email inbox or web browser, and notice the other tasks I may also need to do, and start having my attention moving to the other task.  This is highly inefficient as work do not only not get done, most of them are only half done.  This may be due to my main issues of distractions and multi-thinking (thinking in a multi-tasking manner), which actually reduces my efficiency.
Therefore it is essential to concentrate on ONE thing at a time, and get the tasks completed, which is the most important thing to do.

Image Credit:  http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/a2/a22da701da96f4869d3bcf4318830d41a25e494ad8ebb969e689536cea7bb3c0.jpg

3) Take breaks to recharge and calm down

With some much work to do, it is normal to experience anger and frustration.  Hence it is important to have breaks (i.e. water breaks, coffee breaks, lunch breaks, toilet breaks) are important as they allow me to just take a walk, to be alone (or with people), to calm down, to vent my anger, to distract myself (through playing mobile games), etc.
Mainly taking a break allows a short period of time of distancing oneself physically and mentally away from the work, which allows me to think more clearly and rationally (and in a better mental state) before coming back to do the necessary work better.  Even writing this post is a kind of a break.

I hope that these tips also help you when you are stressed out with your work or studies.  You may read here for more tips!!!