Be prepared for Stressful Phases of Life

This week's Tip:

Anticipate Stressful situations and be prepared for them

Action items:

Every one of us will face certain stressful situations in life. Not every day or week will be a leisurely and routine phase. Some of the stressful situations come unexpected and some are planned and expected. It is important to recognize the stressful phases as a special situation compared to otherwise routine situation. 

By recognizing these special situations and being prepared for them will make us handle these phases well. I would categorize these stressful situations into following:

Welcome Stressful Phases:

• Marriage
• New Born in family
• Change of Job (on one's own choice)
• Change of Home (on one's own choice)
• Deadlines at work
• Work Overload on return from a long vacation

Unwelcome Stressful Phases:

• Accident
• Death of a family member
• Lay off or Loss of Job
• ILL-Health
• Unplanned Emergencies at work

Mental Stress conditions: Anger, Fear, Tension

By appropriately planning for such occurrences we can handle them better and don't let our life become a chaos. 

For example, I have prepared a checklist of things to do when I change my apartment. This included list of people to call up and make address changes and all other small tasks. I was able to complete all the items on checklist at a leisurely place without getting into any problem. 

We often know that last phases of projects we are doing will be stressful because workload increases. Plan ahead and try to avoid the extra workload. Are we all prepared if we get a promotion and new job responsibilities? Do we know what skills will be required and tried to acquire those skills now? Have you taken steps to delegate your work when you are on vacation so that when you come back you don't have 'emergencies' waiting for you?

It is often difficult to handle unwelcome stressful phases and cannot be planned. But at least keep in mind that such events do happen and at least keep a mental list of whom you can rely on help and what to do in such events. 

Summary

Plan for stressful phases of life and be prepared. We don't perform to our capacities when we are under stress and end up making a mess of our otherwise happy life. Prevent such things by planning ahead wherever possible. 

Last week's tip:

Overcome procrastination by setting priorities right

Reminder:

Have you tried setting priorities to your tasks and do tasks as per priority?

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