Resolve Lifestyle Stress: 4 Simple Tips

1. Pick your top "symptom." What bugs you the most? That's what you really want to find out. A symptom can be anything, quite literally, that you don't like:

• An annoying squeak at the back end of your car
• Frequent headaches
• Your pants are too tight
• You cringe when the phone rings — it might be a bill collector
• You're up late working (again) when you should be in bed

Pick the one area of your life that bugs you the most. Just one. [Once you've handled that, you can always pick another.]

2. Think backwards. Picture it finished. Write it down.

Create a mental picture of what things will be like when your symptom is resolved. Translate that picture into a few words or sentences that you record in a journal or notebook.

Then ask yourself one critical question: "Am I there right now?"

Of course not, or it wouldn't be bugging you. But no problem. We're about to resolve that little dilemma. What needs to happen first? Write it down.

Then ask: "Can I do that immediately?"

No? No problem. What needs to happen first? Write it down.

Keep going until you get to something you can do right away (tomorrow at the latest). Now you have a plan. All you need to do is follow the steps you just laid out.

3. Plan horizontally. You didn't just make a "to-do" list, did you? If you did, you're going to really love this tip.

Scrap the "to-do" list and make a flow-chart.

Here's why. When you make a vertical list of all the stuff you have to do, your mind thinks you've got to deal with all of it at once. It's overwhelming! So overwhelming that you may just scrap the whole project.

Do yourself a favor and scrap the vertical list instead. Write your plan out horizontally in the approximate order you need to get things done. Your mind will now see that it's possible to achieve your goal by taking just one little step at a time.

And you can do that.

4. Schedule it now. You know that planner that sits on your desk? Maybe you carry it around with you. Maybe it's a PDA. Maybe it hangs on the wall.

Whatever you use to keep track of important dates and appointments, take it out right now. [On the off chance you don't have a calendar, please get one.]

Write in the steps you just worked out on the flow chart. Pick an appropriate time to make that phone call, get to the home improvement store, spend a few minutes on the Internet, or whatever your project requires.

Schedule each step. In writing. On your calendar. In other words, make an appointment with yourself to complete the task. Treat this appointment as you would any other important commitment.

Now your mind not only knows what you've got to do in order to resolve the biggest symptom of your life. It also knows when you're going to do it.

You should be feeling a lot better already.