The most common form of stress that I personally experience is feeling overwhelmed with far too much to do and having too little time to do it in. It seems I simply do not have enough time to fulfill all my responsibilities. Over time, I have discovered that there will always be TOO MUCH to do and there is little I can do to change that at least for now (:-d). I only need to manage the schedule very well. I need to know my opportunity cost and understand my scale of preference.

I, therefore, set out to manage my time very well. The truth is that I have only 24 hours in a day out of which about 5 hours is spent in traffic (no thanks to Naija traffic). There is probably no other skill that one can learn that will give one a “bigger bang for the buck” than to become extremely knowledgeable and experienced in using time management practices.

Brian Tracy believes the ability to set priorities and the ability to concentrate single-mindedly on one thing at a time are two indispensable keys to time management.

There will never be enough time to do everything that needs to be done. As such, you must be continually setting priorities on your activities. The natural tendency for all of us is to major in minors and to give in to the temptation to clear up small things first. After all, small things are easier and they are often more fun than the big, important things that represent the most valuable use of your time. I would rather suggest that you discipline yourself to organise your work and focus on your highest value tasks. This, definitely, is the starting point of getting your time under control and lowering your stress levels.