Such stress responses can activate a myriad of unhealthy symptoms and behaviours, explains Kathy Somers, who runs the Stress Management and High Performance Clinic in Guelph, Ont.

For some individuals, stress causes physical symptoms such as headaches, elevated blood pressure, higher levels of pain or gastrointestinal upset. Others respond with emotional symptoms they describe as feeling keyed-up, anxious or depressed.

The effects of stress can also manifest as unhealthy behaviours such as drinking too much alcohol or coffee, smoking more, becoming withdrawn or experiencing a diminished capacity to problem-solve.

While there are many pressures and circumstances that farmers cannot control, by building on their strengths they can limit the negative consequences of stress. “The goal is to dial down the stress reactions so they are not negatively impacting performance and health,” says Somers, who has been teaching stress management to students, faculty and community members including farmers for almost 40 years.

Often during times of high stress, we don’t get enough sleep, and Somers says this lack of sleep can lead to a whole host of other physical and mental impairments. These include poorer judgement, reduced decision-making ability, being quick to anger, and increased conflict with family and farm team members.

When we are short on sleep, even if it’s only one night, Somers says our brain’s natural negativity bias can be even more pronounced. “It will have us remembering only the hassles and irritations of the day. When this happens day after day, we can start feeling really down and depressed.”

When thinking about problems, our brains tend to catastrophize, overestimating a problem and underestimating our ability to cope. Like cattle chewing their cud, we tend to ruminate, working a problem over in our minds again and again, says Somers.

Getting stuck on a problem does not serve us well, she emphasizes. “We have to dig to remember the good.” 

Somers also recommends using the Three Pillars of Stress Management approach to taming stress. The first (self-talk) is to focus on the actions you can take to get through this rough patch. Remind yourself to protect your sleep and to eat well. You have “strengths, talents and resources that will help you weather the storm. Tell yourself, I will handle it” which can help build confidence.

Getting those worries down on paper can help us maintain a more realistic perspective and problem-solve effectively, continues Somers. Ask yourself: Can you prevent it? Can you minimize it? How will you cope? What’s your plan? What am I going to do to stay strong and connected to who or what’s meaningful? What resources am I going to activate? 

“Seeing it written helps people to be less anxious,” she says. It also gives them the energy to move forward.

Somers has one caution when it comes to this process. She doesn’t recommend doing it right before bed since this could lead you to worry and keep awake. Instead, she recommends doing some calming activities afterwards to help you get a good night’s sleep.

The second pillar is self-calming. One example is to combat our physical response to the fight or flight stress response by focusing on our breath. While it may sound too simple, Somers says that by slowing our breathing we can send a message to our bodies to relax and to let go of the tension in our jaws, shoulders and back so we can breathe better.

The third pillar is to practice self-care by moving more and eating healthy. After half an hour of sitting, we should get up and move around. We should fuel our bodies with healthy foods every two to four hours (although our bodies will crave unhealthy foods when we are short on sleep, making us prone to weight gain).

This takes planning ahead for meals and snacks with complex carbs that give us energy fast and protein that breaks down more slowly to give us energy that lasts. Whole wheat bread, pasta and granola are examples of complex carbs. High-quality protein includes peanut butter, nuts, meat, fish, eggs, cheese, yoghurt and legumes. 

Somers gives a hard-boiled egg with crackers, or a peanut butter sandwich or trail mix as examples of good between-meal snacks.

If we don’t eat, Somers says our bodies release stress chemicals that can result in anxiety, panic, gastrointestinal symptoms like IBS, and headaches causing our physical and mental states to deteriorate.

While it can be tempting to turn to caffeine and sugar for an energy boost, avoid these on an empty stomach as they can cause a crash about two hours later. This leaves us feeling more fatigued than if we didn’t have them at all. Instead, keep your sweets and caffeine for a healthy meal as a treat.

Coping with chronic stress

Farmers are typically good at managing unexpected stresses but in social worker Lauren Van Ewyk’s experience, chronic stress can be tougher. “It’s the chronic stress that can lead to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.”

Succession planning is a common source of chronic stress for farmers, says Van Ewyk who is also a sheep farmer near Courtright, Ont. “With succession planning, you’re navigating both business and family. Boundaries and responsibilities are often not clearly defined or written down, which can cause strife in the family.”

The problem with chronic stress, says Van Ewyk, is that it leads to a buildup of cortisol, the stress hormone, which makes it harder to problem-solve, to weigh pros and cons, to make decisions, and to reason and evaluate. As a result, decisions can be driven by emotions instead of logic.

“You want to get to your ‘wise mind’ where you blend the logical piece and the emotional piece,” explains Van Ewyk, who suggests the following approach to help get to a more balanced perspective during challenging times.

First, identify how you’re feeling. Reflect on what is causing the stress. Is it fear that if you make the wrong decision, it will cost you thousands of dollars? Or is it that you’re angry because your father promised you the farm, but now he’s changed his mind?

Once you have identified the emotion, the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for the “fight or flight” stress response settles down and you will be able to move to thinking with the logical side of the brain instead.

Farmers can benefit from having a support network in place when times are tough. Van Ewyk says this could mean tapping into people beyond your partner, parents or siblings.

Think about who you consider trustworthy. Who have you turned to in the past? This does not need to be the same person for all of life’s challenges. You may turn to different people for different situations.

“The support network is like scaffolding,” Van Ewyk says. “You move it to where you need it. It can be fluid; it doesn’t have to be there all the time.”

Van Ewyk offers four additional tips for getting rid of the buildup of cortisol in your system:

• Get some exercise. Go for a walk, go for a bike ride or lift weights.
• Have an ugly cry.
• Figure out if what you need is to spend time with other people or to spend time alone and do that
• Practice self-care. Treat yourself with kindness, the way you would treat a good friend.

Resources

Stress Management and High Performance Clinic 

The post Dial down the stress response appeared first on Country Guide.

For more than 20 years, Christine Porath, an associate professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., has been studying what the HR people call “incivility” in the workplace.

She has found that employees who are subjected to rude behaviour are less motivated, less creative and less productive. Plus, the stress of dealing with this kind of behaviour can result in employees quitting their jobs or experiencing serious physical symptoms such as ulcers and heart attacks.

Even witnessing uncivil behaviour has been shown to reduce employee performance, says Porath, who has a TED talk and book on the subject.

What do we mean by incivility

Incivility is defined as rudeness, disrespect or insensitive behaviour, says Porath. It includes offensive jokes, teasing in ways that sting, put downs and mocking. It even includes texting in meetings or when someone is talking to you.

If you’ve said things like: “If I wanted your opinion, I’d ask for it,” or “Are you an idiot, that’s not how it’s done,” you’ve been guilty of uncivil behaviour, says Porath.

Unfortunately, managers may be oblivious to the problem. Incivility is in the “eye of the beholder,” explains Porath. “What matters is not whether people actually were disrespected or treated insensitively, but whether they felt disrespected.”

What do people find offensive?

Our perceptions vary not only among individuals, but also by gender, culture, generation, industry, and organization.

Incivility is a growing problem, according to Porath’s research. She speculates that misunderstandings due to cultural or generational differences and an increasing amount of time spent in a digital world may account for at least part of the increase. People say things in an email or on social media that they would never say in person.

Even worse, incivility is contagious and is spreading not only throughout workplaces but also into schools and the community, continues Porath.

Uncivil behaviour frequently occurs when there is a power differential and a mistaken belief that “nice guys finish last.” However, Porath’s research shows that people work harder for bosses who treat them with respect.

People feel valued and powerful when they feel respected, she explains, and they are more focused and engaged when they feel appreciated and heard.

“Rude people succeed despite their incivility, not because of it,” says Porath. Research has shown that civility elicits perceptions of warmth and competence. These impressions dictate whether people will trust you, build relationships with you, follow you, and support you, she says.

Leaders can foster civility in the workplace in many ways, including modeling appropriate behaviour through their own actions. Even little things such as smiling, humbly asking questions, listening attentively, and sharing credit can make a big difference. So can eating lunch with employees and showing an interest in their personal lives.

Other actions that management can take include making civility part of the company mission statement, creating a civility code with employee input, recruiting people who are civil, correcting bad behaviour quickly and firmly, and providing civility training to employees.

Because people tend to be rude to others when they are stressed or overloaded, Porath says leaders can help ensure they are fit to manage others by managing their own workload, eating healthily, trying to get enough sleep and exercise, and using mindfulness techniques to help them cope with stress.

Sometimes we are unaware of our own uncivil behaviour. “Incivility usually arises not from malice but from ignorance,” says Porath. By way of example, she points out that she used to have a bad habit of interrupting people before they had finished expressing their thoughts.

After a colleague pointed this behaviour out to her several years ago, she has been mindful of not jumping into conversations prematurely. While her urge to interrupt others hasn’t disappeared completely, with practice, Porath says, her self-control has improved.

Similarly, if you’re a talkative sort of person, train yourself to get into the habit of stopping to ask people what they think. Then listen!

To determine if you have problem behaviours that you are unaware of, Porath suggests eliciting feedback from friends, family, co-workers, bosses and employees. It all starts with awareness.

Porath points out that just because no one has complained, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem with incivility. Generally speaking, employees who experience incivility in the workplace, whether from co-workers or superiors, tend to “suck it up” and not tell anyone.

Even so, when an employee is absent a lot, or if they avoid working with someone, appear to have less energy, or are withdrawn or frustrated, these could be signs that there is a problem with disrespectful behaviour.

To help manage the stress of rudeness, Porath advises employees to follow good self-care practices and to learn stress management techniques. Identifying areas for growth and learning and building positive relationships both at work and outside of work, and connecting with a mentor, can also help counterbalance the negative effects of incivility in the workplace.

While employees may not be able to have as much impact on the corporate culture as the leadership, Porath says each one of us can “be the change we want to see” by treating others the way we hope to be treated.

Resources

• Christine Porath’s TED Talk can be found here.
• Christine Porath’s book, Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace, shows how you can enhance your influence and effectiveness with simple acts of civility. Based on research in nearly every industry and type of organization, the book reveals the wealth of problems uncivil behaviours can produce. It then offers an eye-opening civility checkup as well as provides essential tools and actionable resources to turn civil behaviours into a daily practice for you and your organization. And finally, it lends much-needed advice on what to do if you are the target of incivility. christineporath.com
• This short ‘Assess Yourself’ quiz can help you pinpoint areas where your behaviour could use some improvement.

The post How much did that off-colour joke cost you? appeared first on Country Guide.

However, a survey by Ginette Lafleur, a doctoral student at the Universite de Montreal, indicates that farmers are under stress like never before, and that this stress has increased dramatically over the last 20 years.

Her research was based on Quebec farmers, but my experience tells me the story across the country is quite similar. So, should farming be rated as a Top 10 job for high stress?

Of course, a variety of factors causes workplace-related stress, some of which are inherent to the job, while others are related to the conditions of an individual workplace, and still others are linked to the personality of the employee or business owner.

For instance, I love to speak at conferences, but my husband, who is a farmer, would be an insomniac if he had to speak in public. But then, I’d go crazy if I had to work as an accountant or a nurse, while some people find those professions deeply fulfilling.

So let’s take a look at 10 of the more common reasons we might call a job “stressful.” Remember, these can apply to your employees, and not just you and your family members.

1. The person who calls the shots is a jerk, idiot, or bully: If you have to work closely with such a person, they will impact your job satisfaction and stress level. Why? They are the ones who give you feedback, support you, promote you, and evaluate you. Your relationship with your “boss” is highly predictive of your happiness in your work.

2. Long hours: An inability to maintain a work-life balance can be a major source of stress.

3. Impossible deadlines: If you feel like you can’t meet important deadlines, performance and job satisfaction decrease.

4. Conflicts with peers: Peer conflict can be as draining as conflict with a boss.

5. Too much travel: Lack of consistency and difficulty establishing an appropriate work-life balance can be a consequence of too much travel.

6. Bureaucracy: Too many rules and regulations can prevent you from doing the most important aspects of your job.

7. Micromanagement: Too much supervision can be interpreted as a lack of trust on the part of your supervisor.

8. Lack of growth potential: We don’t work just for the financial return — we crave growth as a person.

9. Working conditions: Dangerous or uncomfortable work environments can exponentially raise stress levels.

10. Emotional labour: It can prove difficult when you are required to always keep your emotions concealed.

Still, many common farm stres­ses don’t appear on this list, such as having to deal with weather, thin profit margins, a lack of employees, and a next generation that doesn’t want to take on the farm, plus high debt and the lack of clear boundaries between work and family life, not to mention the perception of the public that sometimes seem to believe farmers are doing it all wrong.

Some of these stress factors have been there forever, but some are quite recent and are making farming more stressful.

However, we have to remember that the picture is not black and white. The negatives of farming are sometimes counteracted by the most satisfying aspects of the industry.

For example:

• You feel a real sense of accomplishment. Your work is meaningful and important. That sense of meaningfulness might compensate for a boss who acts like a jerk or a brother-in-law who is always critical.
• You feel you are competent and have control of your job, which might compensate for the long hours.
• You have meaningful relationships at work and can joke together about the bureaucracy at the bank.

Of course, our personality — the way we think, feel and act in daily life — influences the way we respond to the positive and negative conditions of our jobs. And our accumulated actions, feelings and thoughts make a huge difference over time. This explains why some farmers are more stressed than others. Some have made choices that result in negative consequences, a few should not be farmers at all, some have developed resilience, and others have cultivated good habits and a philosophical approach to work and life.

At the end of the day, it’s important that the person fits the job. Is your temperament compatible with your surrounding environment, workload, and people?

Being a farmer isn’t easy. I have lived my whole life on farms. As a psychologist and coach, I have spent my whole career with farmers. Over the years, external conditions have changed — and not always for the best. However, in the same profession, some are satisfied and others are highly stressed and unhappy. It seems it’s not always the job itself that causes stress.

You can make a difference in your own stress levels. Can you bring something to the equation that will alleviate the effects of the stressors of farm life?

The post Guide HR: Are you stressed? appeared first on Country Guide.

Women in particular are in danger of getting stretched too thin, Beuermann-King says, because when they take on expanded management roles on the farm, they continue to do the bulk of childcare and housework.

Pat Katz, a well-being strategist in Saskatoon, reports that she finds the overloaded feeling is becoming all too common. “The first thing I tell people is: ‘it’s not just you,’” Katz says.

First off, Katz recommends looking at the source of our stress. Is it the result of jobs we generate ourselves, or is it because we’re trying to meet other people’s expectations? To live a life in balance, it’s necessary to look at all three levels of our lives: individual, team and work culture, she says.

For instance, at the individual level we can set boundaries around our volunteer commitments. “You can have a Sanity Policy that states you don’t sit on more than two boards,” says Katz.

Beuermann-King agrees it’s important to sign up for volunteer commitments carefully. “Choose the ones that you enjoy, not the ones you feel obligated to do.”

• More ‘Guide Life’ on Country Guide: Write your legacy

Katz also stresses the importance of practising self-care. “There will always be more to do, but you need to look after yourself, or you will not be thinking clearly,” she says. What does self-care look like to you? A stroll after dinner? Time to play with your kids? “Build it into your schedule even if it seems impossible,” says Katz.

Beuermann-King agrees that downtime is a necessity. We need to press the “pause button” during the day, she says. Otherwise we end up dealing non-stop with issue after issue. Instead she recommends taking regular breaks to stretch, breathe, walk around, relax and reflect. Be more mindful of what you’re eating too, she adds. “Don’t just gulp it down.”

Staying connected to the higher purpose of our actions can also reduce stress. Instead of being irritated about having to cook dinner for your family, Katz suggests seeing it as a privilege and an act of love for your family.

Being aware of your self-talk is helpful too, continues Katz. Avoid the tendency to jump to the worst conclusion, she says. Change the ongoing lament, “I’ll never get this done,” to, “I will get the important things done.”

Be intentional with your time, adds Beuermann-King. Sometimes planning to “quickly check your email” turns into hours spent mindlessly at the computer but without much to show for it.

Turn the TV off so you can go for a walk or a bike ride with your kids, she continues. That way you accomplish two goals at once: spending more time with your kids and getting some exercise.

Too often people are slaves to their technology, says Beuermann-King who has seen parents on their phones while on vacation at Disney World. “They’re not really giving their attention to their kids,” she points out. Her advice is to limit yourself to checking email morning and night while on vacation.

Don’t let perfectionism get in the way of a fulfilling life, says Beuermann-King. “That might mean settling for a house that is less clean so you can have more time with your kids,” she explains.

Philadelphia writer and time management expert, Laura Vanderkam dispels the myth that women “can’t have it all,” in her new book, I know how she does it. She interviewed more than 100 women with young children who were earning in excess of $100,000 per year to gather data on their time-use patterns.

Vanderkam found that these women were working an average of 44 hours per week and were still sleeping almost eight hours per night. This left them 70 non-working hours for other things.

To maximize time with their kids, many of the women worked what Vanderkam dubbed “a split shift.” These women would leave work at 5 p.m. so they could have dinner with their kids. Then they would work an hour or two after the kids went to bed. They also tended to work part of the weekend, usually Saturday mornings and Sunday nights, which also allowed them to work shorter days during the week.

In line with Beuermann-King’s recommendation, these women were intentional with their time. For example, they only watched four to five hours of TV per week, restricting themselves to shows they actually enjoyed instead of mindlessly watching for hours.

If you want to use your time more efficiently, Vanderkam recommends logging your time for a week or two. Once you are more aware of how you are currently spending your time, you’ll be in a better position to make changes.

To assess your current satisfaction with how you’re spending your time, Beuermann-King recommends ranking each of the 10 major life areas. These include:

1. Family
2. Friends
3. Career
4. Health (includes sleep, fitness, doctors’ appointments, meals)
5. Personal growth (schooling, professional development)
6. Spirituality
7. Fun and relaxation
8. Romance
9. Community (volunteering)
10. Physical environment (chores)

This will allow you to focus on the areas of your life most in need of improvement.

When the demands on our time are made by others, Katz suggests actually tackling the issue by asking, “How can we support each other on the farm team?” She recommends having a collective conversation around priorities. “Some things may need to go on the back burner until later,” she says.

Delegate tasks respectfully, she continues. “Don’t assume everyone has time to take on more work. Ask first if they will need to reset priorities.” At the same time, she recommends not agreeing to more work until you’ve thought it through. Instead, it’s better to say, “I need to think about how this fits; I’ll get back to you.”

It’s also important to ask questions before taking on more work. Try to get an accurate estimate of how long something will take, she says. “Especially if you tend to be overly optimistic,” she adds.

At the broader scale, a farm organization can create policies and a culture that supports everyone. What kind of policies can be put in place? Flex time? Time for elder care? Fitness? Play? What about ensuring people take their vacation time? “It’s an investment in health and productivity,” says Katz.

As the need for time to recharge becomes increasingly apparent, some organizations are building in planned time-outs, says Katz. This is a time to slow down, reconnect and reorganize. “If these aren’t happening naturally,” she says, “then you need to create them.”

Resources

• Bev Beuermann-King’s website
• Pat Katz’s website
• Laura Vanderkam’s website

Beuermann-King’s tips for being more efficient

Around the house

1. Have a permanent place for your keys, school bags, cellphones, etc. so you can find them easily.
2. Schedule time each day to tackle cleaning chores instead of saving them for the “big” cleaning day.
3. Enlist the help of other family members to do laundry, vacuum, prepare meals, etc.
4. Develop a meal plan that rotates every 14 days. This makes grocery shopping easy but keeps enough variety in your menu.
5. Simplify and declutter. You’ll spend less time looking for things and feel more relaxed with an organized space.

Around the office

1. Make use of folders and directories on your computer to save time looking for things.
2. Have a designated thinking space where you can go to read reports or problem solve. A change of scenery promotes creativity.
3. Limit the number of piles on your desk. You’ll feel more in control in an organized work space.
4. Add some life to your office. A scented candle, a framed painting, or family photos enhance your work space and make it more enjoyable.
5. Invest in a good office chair and desk. Nothing can tire us out faster than an uncomfortable chair.

The post Guide Life: Avoiding work overload appeared first on Country Guide.

From her office near Washington, DC, Gray is now an internationally recognized time coach, with clients all over the world, including Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Most come to her feeling overwhelmed and close to burn out.

Sometimes, her advice is highly practical.

Among Gray’s first questions for clients, for instance, is to ask them how much sleep they are getting. “You’re going to feel disorganized if you are not getting enough sleep,” she explains. While our natural tendency is to work more hours, often stolen from sleep hours, sometimes the cure for not having enough time is to take a bit of time off.

As counter-intuitive as it sounds, productivity research shows the importance of taking breaks, says Gray. Giving yourself permission to “be off” at times through your day will go a long way to restoring your focus and energy.

Another problem she sees frequently is people who are trying to hold too much information in their heads. You need to build a system and get the information out of your head and into a notebook or use an app on your phone, she says.

The important thing is to find systems that work for you. We all have different strengths and our brains work in different ways, she says.

But time management is also a sophisticated science. Not all generic time management information will apply to any individual or circumstance. Nor will all time coaches recommend the same strategies.

For example, some time management experts are adamant that you should never touch a piece of paper or read an email more than once. Gray says the problem with that is that it can backfire, because some people will become paralyzed by the extra pressure they perceive with this approach.

To find strategies that work for you, Gray recommends that that when you read a piece of time management advice that resonates with you, “Try it out. Experiment with it. Notice what works for you and what doesn’t. Tweak it from there.”

Gray also emphasizes the importance of thinking in terms of holistic time management. Your best success will come if you balance your mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional needs.

As the pace of life speeds up, it is increasingly common for more and more distractions to pervade our day, sapping our brain’s energy and leaving us exhausted, whether those distractions are technological or otherwise.

Gray is a big believer in unplugging for one hour each day while you focus on what you really need to accomplish. Take five minutes at the beginning of each day to decide what your three biggest priorities are, she says.

Email has become ubiquitous in business communications and can be both a time saver and a time waster. On the plus side, you have more control over your time with email. You can answer emails at a time that suits you and you can avoid playing phone tag.

Bruce Court, owner of Court Farms near Courtland, Ont. says communicating via email and text messages frees up a lot of time. This is especially good if it is just a quick question, he says. “There is less small talk, he says. The other advantage is that you have a record of what happened during the day and can look back and see if there is anything you need to do when you get back to the office.

Rhonda Driediger, owner of Driediger Farms and Blueridge Produce in Langley, B.C. agrees. She says her iPad and iPhone are her most important time saving devices. “I have switched most of my customers over to texting or email so I no longer have to answer the phone day and night.”

On the downside, if we’re not careful, email can gobble up hours of every day while not really accomplishing much. You may not even be aware of how much time gets wasted.

For example, if you get 100 emails in a day and you spend 30 seconds reading each one, that’s almost an hour spent just reading emails. And then if you spend 10 minutes answering even five of them, that’s another 50 minutes. In total, that’s 100 minutes, more than an hour and a half, spent on email. That adds up to more than eight hours a week.

This underscores the need to use email efficiently. Don’t “cc” people who don’t really need to know. Unsubscribe from email lists that aren’t useful (or use a separate email address so you can more easily choose a different time to read them.) Pick up the phone if it will be faster than writing a long email or a series of emails. And if it’s a sensitive topic, be aware that it is difficult to convey emotion in an email. Some discussions are better done in person or by phone.

Gray also recommends processing email in batches. It’s more efficient to set aside small chunks of time to deal with email rather than jumping back and forth between tasks, she explains.

Many of us sit down to read our emails first thing in the morning. Many time management experts are dead set against this. They say this time of day should be reserved for the tasks that are most important and valuable to you. Often they recommend getting the jobs you really dislike out of the way while you are still fresh.

Sharing the workload is another important time management strategy. “Farmers need to move away from the “I might as well do it myself” mantra and work instead to identify what skilled employees can bring to their operation,” emphasizes Driediger. “Now that we have several full-time skilled staff members, I am free to do more business development that focusses on improving our bottom line.”

Gray also advises looking for opportunities to outsource jobs that aren’t a good use of your time. House cleaning, mowing the lawn, and cooking are jobs that could be given to others. There are also virtual and personal assistants that can be hired to help out.

With the cost of technology always coming down in price, what technologies could you use to save time? Driedger installed cameras throughout her facilities so she can answer questions without having to track down an employee for an answer. With the cameras she can see what trucks have arrived, how much fruit is in the cooler to be packed or shipped, etc.

Court says auto steer and a smartphone have made it a lot easier for him to stay in touch during the day by answering text messages, emails and phone calls on-the-go.

While it’s important to make sure that field equipment is ready to go for the planting season, Court makes sure he is ready to go too. He tries to schedule all of his meetings, licensing courses, and appointments with doctors and dentists during the winter months so there isn’t anything that gets in the way during the busy seasons. “Otherwise it never fails that those things happen on the nicest harvest and planting days!” he says.

This article was originally published as ‘When things get busy… keep your sanity’ in the March 31, 2015 issue of Country Guide

The post Time management for farmers can make for less stress appeared first on Country Guide.

Yet those time experts might be just the people we need to make time for.

So, while it sounds simplistic to say that time is fixed and that all we can control is how we use it, it is one of the most important tenets of farm management.

“It’s about self-management,” says Craig Ryan, an organizational change facilitator in Bowmanville, Ont., who also teaches professional development courses on time management at the University of Waterloo.

“Our habits determine what we get done,” says Ryan, who helps his clients identify poor time-management practices and replace them with best-practice habits. “We need to be willing to change,” says Ryan. “If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting the same results.”

Laura Vanderkam, author of the book, 168 Hours: You have more time than you think, says the first step to spending your time better is to know how you’re spending it now. “Keep track of your time for a week,” Vanderkam advises. “You’ll discover new things about your life, what takes too much of your time, and where there may be space for squeezing in more fun.”

Goal setting for both our personal and work lives is one of the foundational good habits we want to adopt, says Ryan. “You want to be proactive with your time management, and not just be reacting to things,” he explains. “By setting clear and compelling goals, we create a road map for our lives.”

One reason people feel that work has taken over their lives is because they don’t take the time to set goals for their personal lives. These goals must be specific and measurable, advises Ryan. It’s not enough to say, “I want to spend more time with my family” or “someday I want to go to Europe.”

Ryan advises posting these goals where you will see them every day. In other words, write them down, and then stick them up in a prominent location on the refrigerator or other message board. And then, don’t let them get covered up. The key is keep them in your sight so they can motivate you to achieve what you want to achieve.

The next step is to work backwards from long-term goals to near-term goals, planning and scheduling the steps that need to happen along the way. “What gets planned and scheduled gets done,” Ryan asserts. Such planning keeps the urgent but less important stuff from knocking the important stuff off our to-do lists.

Both Vanderkam and Ryan recommend making a plan for your next day. Vanderkam suggests identifying three to five priorities for the following day while Ryan tends towards making a specific schedule for each hour of the day, so you will you take that kind of control of your time.

Advance planning allows you to hit the ground running each day and not waste time trying to figure out what you should be working on.

Then, at the end of the week, Ryan likes to make a plan for the following week. “There will have to be some flexibility to allow for changes,” he says.

Activities that require the most focus should be scheduled for your peak productivity times, says Ryan. Save mundane jobs such as answering emails for off-peak times which are usually later in the day for most people.

Vanderkam and Ryan also recommend using bits of time wisely. Don’t fall into the trap of using your odd gaps of as little as 10 or 15 minutes for email or social media, says Vanderkam. Instead she suggests having a list of things you can do that will bring you joy, such as looking at photos, doing stretching exercises or texting a loved one.

Ryan agrees, and recommends keeping a list of smaller jobs such as making phone calls that can be done when you have a gap in your schedule.

Vanderkam also recommends having a plan for your downtime. Too many people waste more time than they realize watching TV, surfing the Internet or running errands, she explains. That time could be better used enjoying a hobby or spending time with a spouse.

“Knowing what you’d like to do with your time increases the chances that fun and meaningful things will happen,” says Vanderkam.

Learning to say no to things that don’t further your goals is another way to make better use of your time. Ask yourself if your volunteer commitments match your goals. It’s important not to be pressured into doing things by other people. “You have to live your own life,” says Vanderkam.

Meetings can also be time wasters if they are not well run. “Make sure you have an agenda and stick to it,” says Vanderkam.

You’ll be more productive if you take regular breaks, adds Vanderkam. “I don’t mean checking email or social media. Instead go outside and take a walk to disconnect and recharge,” she says.

Another important step in using time more effectively is to identify the problems that keep us from getting our work done. Then problem solve for solutions.

Ryan sees many clients who struggle with procrastination. Unfortunately, if you have things you know you should be doing but are not getting done it tends to weigh heavily on you, leading to a lot of stress, he says. Ryan recommends tackling the problem by analyzing the situation first. What is stopping you from getting it done? Is it unpleasant? Are you afraid of the consequences?

For many people, the solution to procrastination is about taking the first step, says Ryan. Once you get started, momentum will keep you going.

If that’s not the answer, then look for creative solutions. Will scheduling a time to do it help? Will it make it easier if you reward yourself for getting it done? Can you give the job to someone else who would like that job?

Distractions are another stumbling block for many people. Having specific goals will help keep you on track, but here are other suggestions for dealing with interruptions.

One option might be to schedule time in your day when you are available to be approached, suggests Ryan. This minimizes interruptions and leaves blocks of time for focusing on work that requires your attention.

And forget about multi-tasking, says Ryan. Research has shown it doesn’t work. Trying to do two things at once or jumping back and forth between tasks is not effective, he says. “It’s better to focus on one thing at a time.”

Some people find they get a lot done by starting an hour before everyone else, says Vanderkam. Or you can use the early morning for a fitness workout instead, she adds. Many of us think we are not morning people but the truth is we are staying up too late doing things that don’t matter to us, she says. “Turn the TV off, turn in, and turn unproductive evening hours into productive morning ones.”

What does it take to make these good practices into habits? Good practices become habits when they are done repeatedly and when you decide you really want to do them, says Vanderkam. The reward of accomplishing your goals will motivate you to continue, she says.

But it all starts with being clear on what we want to accomplish, both for work and in our personal lives. “If we are clear on what we want to accomplish, it drives the other things,” says Ryan. “We will find a way.”

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