Joe says:

Is increased stress an inevitable hazard of modern life? Perhaps, when you think about 60-hour work weeks, long commutes, chirping cell phones, late-night e-mails, lost weekends and an uncertain economy. But in many ways it was more stressful 200 years ago, when children routinely died before reaching adulthood. The challenge we face is to master not the threats themselves, but our all-too-human response to them.

It might be helpful for you to clarify your goals and values. The late Dr. Robert Eliot suggested using the “Six Months to Live” test to clarify and crystallize priorities. Suppose you had 6 months to live and had to decide how to spend your time. You make three lists to identify

1) the things you have to do,
2) the things you want to do, and
3) the things you neither have nor want to do.

He recommends throwing away the third list, since the items on it are preventing you from doing what you really want to do. The first list should be taken care of, but once it’s out of the way, the rest of the time should be spent on the second list – those things that give life meaning for you.

1 | Dec. 5, 2008 at 10:37am