Luke Carbis It’s more complicated than 42.

13 Steps to a Stress Free Day

Lately, I’ve been busy working on motivating myself, being more productive, and my own personal… zen (for lack of a better word).

Along with my own take on a moleskine GTD system (which I’ll cover later), I’ve developed an everyday check list to keep yourself productive, happy, and stress free.

1 Favour

Do something nice for someone. Doing this every day will help keep you feeling happy, content, and will help other people to appreciate you.

2 Minutes of focusing on goals

Goal setting is important, but simply setting a goal and forgetting about it defeats the purpose. Spend two minutes a day focusing on where you want to be, where you are, and what you need to do to get there.

3 Major tasks

Divide your to-do list into Major Tasks, Minor Tasks, and Favors. You should aim to complete exactly 3 Major tasks everyday. Don’t do more, and don’t do less.

4 Paragraphs of writing

Try to write at least 4 paragraphs everyday, whether it be a blog post, a diary entry, part of a novel, story, poem etc., or something else like that. This keeps your mind sharp, and aids your memory.

5 Minutes of planning

This includes adding things to your to-do list, organising a budget, considering your bank balance, etc.

6 Minor tasks

Like Major Tasks, make sure that you complete 4 Minor tasks. Don’t aim for any more, and make sure you complete all 4. The purpose of this is to give you something to look forward to while your undertaking the tasks, and a sense of fulfillment once you’ve completed the said amount for the day.

7 Minutes of fun

This might be playing a computer game, or talking with a friend. It’s important to set this time aside to take your mind of things.

8 Articles

Try to read 8 articles everyday. Again, this helps to keep your brain working, and helps to expand your general knowlege. These articles can be on the internets, or in a magazine, or maybe an encyclopedia, or wikipedia.

9 Compliments

If you have a partner, tell them that you love them. Tell your co-worker that they are looking good. Try to do this 9 times a day. It boosts your own happiness, as well as the happiness of those around you.

10 Minutes of exercise

Exercising everyday keeps you happy, fit and healthy. It also gives you time to process some thoughts, and set your mind at ease over any unresolved tension. Exercise also burns Cortisol, which is a hormone which creates stress.

15 Minutes of networking

Keeping in touch with those around you, as well as meeting new people, helps to improve self esteem, and happiness in general. Social networking sites like Facebook are a good place to start, but calling a friend, or meeting a colleague for coffee is also a good way of keeping socially active.

20 Minutes of learning

Try to think of something you wish to know more about. For me, it was a language – Italian, but for you it could be any topic like climate change, search engine optimisation, or elephants. Anything will do. Spend 20 minutes a day researching and learning this.

30 Minutes of rest

It is good to take 30 minutes out of your day for a nap. It’s easy to become agitated or angry when you’re getting tired toward the end of a long day. It also helps keep you alert, on task, and focused. I recommend a program called Pzizz to help you with this.

So that’s that. My 13 steps to a stress free day. Let me know what works for you, or if you have your own systems to help cope with life’s stresses.