Stress Less

workloads swing between extremely busy and frenzied. Neil Plumridge, vice-president of a management consultancy company, says that his weeks vary from a manageable 45 hours to 80 hours, but average 60 hours. Three signs warn Plumridge about his workload: sleep, scheduling, and family. He knows he is doing too much when he gets less than six hours' sleep for three consecutive nights, when he is constantly having to reschedule appointments, and when he misses a family birthday or anniversary. Then, he says, I know things are out of control. Plumridge states that stress is often caused by his having unrealistic expectations of himself. I'll promise a client that I'll do something tomorrow, and then I'll promise another client that I'll do the same thing when I know it's not going to happen. I could have said: Why don't I give that to you in 48 hours? The client wouldn't care. Over-committing is something people experience as an individual problem. However, new research indicates that people may be designed to over-commit. A study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology shows that people always believe that they will be less busy in the future. This is a misapprehension, according to the authors of the report, Gal Zauberman of…