We’ve all had those days when we have so many things to do, the stress starts to build up.  We get frustrated at things that don’t go quickly and smoothly.

You know how it is.  You’re already stressed and then something comes along that frustrates you even more.  The computer locks up or someone in the car in front of you is driving too slowly.  It seems like every traffic light you hit is red.  Then you get a phone call and the person on the other end needs you to take care of something “right this minute.”

It’s at that point that you feel your blood starting to boil.  Any thoughts of happiness fly right out the window.

This is when you need to slow down for a second.  Take a deep breath.  No, the whole world isn’t out to get you.  On another day when you weren’t stressed from the start, you’d probably never even notice those little things getting in the way.

Get Your Priorities Straight

To help get things in perspective, decide whether you can move some of the things on your list to another time or day.

Let’s say you’ve got to pick up your son in 20 minutes from school.  You also want to clean out the old food from the refrigerator, pay a bill that’s due in 3 days, fill up the car with gas (and of course it needs to be washed), and you need to send an email to your sister who emailed you 3 days ago asking about what the two of you were going to do about your mom’s birthday next month.

Clearly in 20 minutes, you’re not going to get all that done.  Get your priorities straight.  You’ve got a limited amount of time so choose carefully.

In this scenario, getting a check written to pay that bill that’s due is the best use of your time before you leave for the school.  Do you have enough gas to get to the school?  If so, you can get that after you pick up your son, if not, you’ll need to get to the gas station.  If you’re getting gas first, skip the car wash, it’ll probably make you late getting to the school.  The refrigerator can wait until later that day or even tomorrow.  Your mom’s birthday is next month, so you can email your sister later.

Also you need to take things one step at a time rather than trying to get everything all accomplished at once.

If you do things according to how important they really are at the moment and break tasks down into smaller pieces you’ll find yourself less stressed and that will increase your happiness.

To your happiness!