Managing Stress #4 Take control of the communication in your life.

Step 4: Take control of the communication in your life.

Start to be selective about which calls you take. Do a little gate keeping. There are calls you can always take, sometimes take and never take. Sort the callers into groups and then apply the rules strictly. Your default position should be that the phone goes to voicemail. Doing this you can choose when to return calls. You get control back.

If you accept calls from people you don’t need to, you will end up wasting a great deal of time. When you waste time, you have less time to do the things that need to be done. This is a simple fact of life. We have voicemail for a reason. Use it.

Do the same with email. Some emails never need to be read, let alone responded to. Your time is precious. Recognize the fact and impose your rules.

Becoming Bulletproof.

I have a friend, Mark Huggan, who runs Phantom Couriers, BC's largest independent courier company. Courier companies are tough to run. Often staff are difficult to manage, margins are slim and the clients are demanding. However, a professionally run company, like Mark's, can thrive in this fiercely competitive market - if they get it right.

One thing that always impresses me with Mark is his attitude. I remember him once commenting about a difficult business decision, "Well, what's the worst that can happen? It will all go to hell and we'll go broke. Ok, I've had that before and started from scratch, more than once, so I know I can handle that. So, let's get on with it!"

At that point one can see the reason for Mark's continuing success. He has quite literally become bulletproof. No matter how hard the business situation, he simply will not give up. If we can accept the worst possible outcome without fear, then taking action becomes easy. From there, things only get easier.