balance. Allowing your career to define who you are can cause stress. It’s important to have an identity outside of work and it’s important to take time off. “If you’re able to take two weeks [vacation], then do it and leave your pagers and cell phones at home,” says Walker.
Manage your life. “Most people have no goals; they [only] think they do. What they have are wishes,” says Brian Tracy, author of Time Power: A Proven System for Getting More Done in Less Time Than You Ever Thought Possible (AMACOM; $24.95). Tracy says that writing down your goals can help you quadruple your productivity and increase your income. He suggests making a list of everything you have to do for the next day, organizing the tasks on your list by priority, and staying with the most important task on your list until it’s complete. It’s important to leave wiggle room for incidentals: “Successful people always build in a cushion [of time] instead of running right up on deadlines without provisions for emergencies.”
Express it. Talk to someone, whether it’s a friend, family member, or therapist. Walker also suggests keeping a journal or funneling feelings of stress artistically through creative hobbies.
