21 Apr Prioritizing
Have you ever been overwhelmed just thinking about how many tasks need to go on your to-do list? Does that occurrence seem to send you running to the pantry to reach for some chips or other salty carbs?! Me either. In all seriousness, stress eating is real and we all live through some intense seasons of busy that usually leave little margin in your day.
I know I’m running thin on margin when I ask myself this question, “If I were on my way to an appointment and I saw someone who needed help, would I have time to see the need and jump in to help or would I be too rushed to stop and make a difference in someone’s life today?” You know which one I hope it will be, so guarding my time has become even more important to me these days.
Additionally, did you know that our stress hormone, cortisol, can actually cause food cravings – like the desire to eat salty carbohydrate-rich foods? Kind of wild. As a result, the list of benefits to mental and physical health is long, but requires us to ditch stress eating and designate time to review and prioritize the to-do list.
This practice or prioritizing the tasks vying for our time and attention can be helpful for a few reasons. It allows us to:
- Notice themes or tasks by group/topic. Which are big things and which are little things?
- Ask for help or delegate items that I’m not the only one who can complete.
- Rank and prioritize to create a game plan.
- Schedule a time and day to knock out items now or in the future.
- Review our food choices and movement habits. Adjust as needed.
The added bonus is after we craft a game plan to knock out the items we need to, we can also schedule in our workouts and meal or snack ideas. It turns out, the better we become at listing and prioritizing our lives, we will grow our stress and time management muscles. Sign me up for that!
By Victoria Emmitt RD
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