Magnum’s Stress Reducing
Time Savers

Magnum, our female Great Dane, would like to share a few stress reducing time savers.  Following her advice, you can simplify your life and accomplish more of the tasks you need to complete.  Magnum is a wise canine, enjoying her ninth year.  See if you agree that these time savers work for you and reduce your stress.

# 1  Use a Household Planner

Magnum is always afraid we will forget about her veterinarian appointment or forget to purchase dog bones, so we have solved the problem by using a day planner to keep track of the household schedule.  Think of it as your Command Center.  Use the monthly calendar for an overview of what is ahead and weekly calendars for more details.  Jot down all the traditional things such as school events, birthdays, and appointments.  We also include Magnum’s appointments, for which she is gratified.

We use this scheduling book to keep track of nontraditional things, too. We write down bills that come through the mail and mark their due dates six days ahead.  We record the kids' long-term assignments so we can plan ahead and do not find ourselves frantically trying to find supplies for projects at the last minute.

We are using a planner that can keep track of family, kid, dog and work schedules.  We love planning dinner in advance so that there is only one trip to the grocery store each week!  This investment has been one of the best stress reducing time savers we have found.

# 2  Establish Priorities

Naps and mealtimes are the most important events of the day for Magnum, but others may find that setting priorities is not so easy.  By setting priorities, you can keep focused on the important tasks that need your attention.

Prioritizing your responsibilities and engagements can save a lot of time. You can establish priorities with your “to do” list by identifying those tasks that are most important for you to address.  One method is the ABC list. This list is divided into three sections; a, b, or c.

The items placed in the A section are those needing your immediate attention. The items placed in the B section are those tasks you would like to complete if you can. The C section items are those things that have to be completed but are not urgent.  As the B, C items become more pertinent they are bumped up to the A or B list.

# 3  Conquer Your Procrastination

Do you find yourself putting off tasks you just don’t enjoy doing?  Putting off something, hoping it will go away never works, and it just keeps adding anxiety and stress to your days until you finally tackle what you have been trying to avoid. When you are avoiding something, break it into smaller tasks and do just one of the smaller tasks or set a timer and work on the big task for just 15 minutes.

By doing a little at a time, you will discover this is one of your most useful stress reducing time savers because you will be spending less time than if you kept avoiding the situation.  Magnum avoids getting a bath at all cost.  She runs, we chase and spend much more time being anxious than if she just went ahead and got the bath.  After she is bathed—which takes about 30 minutes, she looks beautiful!  (And she knows it too!)

These three stress reducing time savers are examples of simplifying your daily organizing so that you can accomplish more and still have time to enjoy the rest of the day.  Maybe even having time to take a nap.

Pets Provide Stress Relief

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