Keep stress at bay through organization
Sherry Borsheim

Stress is quickly becoming an epidemic in North America. Today, 75 - 90 per cent of all doctor visits are stress related. Conditions like high blood pressure, allergies, migraines, ulcers, bowel and skin problems and more have all been related to stress. That's not to mention the fact that stress has been linked to all the leading causes of death, including heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis and suicide.

In addition to causing all sorts of health problems, stress also effects businesses of all sizes in loss revenue. That's because over 60 per cent of employee absences are due to psychological problems such as stress. This results in an estimated 1 million workers that are absent on an average workday. With this in mind, job stress is estimated to cost U.S. industry $300 billion annually, as assessed by absenteeism, diminished productivity, employee turnover, direct medical, legal and insurance fees and more.

With all this in mind, now, more than ever, is the time to protect your health and business by dealing with stress effectively. One way to do that is through organization.

Sitting down at a cluttered desk can immediately increase your stress level before the workday has even begun. And we all know that this is not the time of the day to start taking on additional stress. That will happen easily enough throughout the course of your day.

The start of each day is the time to feel fresh and confident in your ability to make progress on your daily tasks. This feeling of purpose comes easily with an organized workspace. Clutter, on the other hand, washes all good intentions away in confusion and stress, and sets the tone for the rest of the workday.

How is it that a few stacks of disorganized paper can create a mass of stress in just minutes? It's because clutter is actually postponed decisions. Each piece of paper on your desk represents something that you haven't taken care of yet, which adds to your level of stress.

Going unchecked, these paper molehills can become mountains of stress, leaving you completely overwhelmed. By this point, you may not even know where to start the organizing process.

Worse yet, the greater the stacks of paper, the greater chance there is for you to miss something important. Perhaps you misplaced a critical document that is needed for a meeting just minutes away, or you forgot about a bill that is past-due, or, you could even lose track of where you are on an significant project with an immediate completion deadline looming.

Through organization, none of the above scenarios come into play. Each piece of paper is dealt with once and then filed, scheduled or acted on accordingly. You are left with more free time, because you're able to get things done in less time. You are also able to focus on your goals and priorities, delegate projects clearly and effectively, and generally be on top of your game. This obviously relieves a great deal of stress, while creating a real feeling of empowerment.

Here are a few tips for reducing stress through organization.

1. Reduce clutter using the FAST System (to receive more information on the FAST System, e-mail Sherry).
2. Delegate tasks when appropriate - you don't have to do everything
3. Don't over schedule. Leave time free in your calendar for the unexpected and perhaps for a break now and then.


About the Author

Sherry Borsheim, owner of Simply Productive, has been helping people to work smarter, not harder for years. She specializes in resolving paper, time and information management issues. To learn more about eliminating the paper pile-up and in vastly improving your productively, contact Simply Productive at 604-233-7076.