Anderson, et al.

Professionalism 4e
TOPIC: TIME AND STRESS MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION
SKILLS (resourceful, calm, efficient)
SUMMARY:

Walk into a workplace and you’ll quickly form an impression of the work environment. Your
first impression will most likely be based upon the demeanor of the employees and their
interactions with each other. You will also notice if the work area is messy and unorganized or if
it is clean and orderly. This chapter examines the influences that stress management, time
management, and organization have on workplace productivity.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: After studying these topics, you will benefit by:
• Recognizing how stress affects performance
• Examining the types, causes, and methods of dealing with stress
• Identifying and utilizing time management tools
• Dealing with procrastination to improve personal productivity
• Stating how organization affects time and stress management
• Naming and applying organizational techniques to academic and workplace
success

You are a successful student if you:

• Apply the tools in this chapter to create a stress management plan
• Create and utilize a calendar system
• Summarize ideas for organizing your work area

Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Anderson, et al. Professionalism 4e
CH. 3 TIME AND STRESS MANAGEMENT/ORGANIZATION SKILLS
ASSIGNMENT SHEET

Assignment Points Notes

Read Chapter 3 24

Activity 3.1 5
Activity 3.2 5
Activity 3.3 5
Activity 3.4 5
Activity 3.5 5

Exercise 3.1 5
Exercise 3.2 5
Exercise 3.3 5

Think Like A Boss #1 5

Think Like A Boss #2 5

Topic Situation: Stress 5

Symptoms
Topic Situation: Helping Relieve 5
Stress
Topic Situation: Procrastination 5

Sleep Log 5

Self-Quiz 6

Total = 100

Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Anderson, et al. Professionalism 4e

CHAPTER 3: ASSIGNMENTS
Please refer to textbook for specific instructions for each exercise.

ACTIVITIES

Activity 3.1: Identify Time Wasters

For the next 24 hours use this log to track how you spend your time. Account for every minute.
When you are finished, identify specific time wasters.

Typical schedule for Friday

TIME TIME ACTIVITY

START END
12:00am 2:00am Playing PS4
2:00am 10:00am Waking up / sitting on phone / checking news / emails / market
10:00am 11:00am Waking up / sitting on phone / checking news / emails / market
11:00am 12:00pm Midday relaxing waiting to go to work
12:00pm 1:00pm Eating lunch with my wife

1:00pm 2:15pm Driving to work because my work is across town

2:15pm 4:30pm Working

4:30pm 5:00pm Driving home from work

5:00pm 6:00pm Clean up the house and prepare for dinner
6:00pm 7:00pm Eat dinner and clean up
7:00pm 7:30pm Relax and wind down after dinner
7:30pm 10:30pm Do homework
10:30pm 11:30pm Focus on the stock/crypto market
11:30pm 12:00pm Play PS4
1. Playing ps4 is a time waster
2. Driving to and from work is a time waster because I should live closer (spend 40hours a month
on commuting to and from work)
3. Midday relaxing is a bit of a time waster but during that time I am usually seeing what’s
happening with my investments.

Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Anderson, et al. Professionalism 4e
Activity 3.2: Stress Effects

In addition to those mentioned in this chapter, research physical responses generated by

prolonged stress. List your findings.

1. headaches 7. stomachache
2. rapid breathing 8. high blood pressure
3. heartburn 9. high blood sugar
4. higher risks of heart attack 10. weakened immune system
5. pounding heart 11. insomnia
6. fertility problems 12. Increased depression

Activity 3.3: Time Management

List five time management tools commonly used in your target career.

TOOLS EFFECTS
1. Getting priorities straight Stay focused on goals

2. Taking a break Keeps you productive without draining energy

3. Not doing it alone Helps save time when delegating tasks to a team

4. Tracking time use Helps stay focused and not get distracted

5. Planning for disruptions Allows disruptions to not have a major daily impact

Activity 3.4: Diet

A nutritious diet can make a difference in how you perform throughout the day and how
you react to stressful situations. List what you have eaten in the last 24 hours, recording
the time of day, your mood or situation and if the item was nutritious. Evaluate if changes
need to be made to your diet.

TIME OF WHAT YOU ATE MOOD/SITUATION WAS IT

DAY NUTRITIOUS
8:00am Fruit yogurt w/ muesli Great, awake / breakfast Yes
11:30am Grilled Chicken shish kebabs w/ rice Happy, energetic / lunch Yes
6:00pm Seafood hotpot w/ noodles Good, full, lazy / dinner Yes
10:00pm Cashews & a snickers Content, slightly hungry before bed / Yes/No but yes
snack because only snack

Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Anderson, et al. Professionalism 4e
throughout the day

Activity #3.5: Organization

Identify one space at home you need to organize. Create a plan to overcome
your procrastination of dealing with this issue.

SPACE PLAN
My house and my personal spaces Take 5 mins to organize during free time and create a plan to
are tidy / organized but my closet do this every time it become unorganized
is always a mess

EXERCISES

Exercise 3.1 - Recognize Your Stress

List at least three significant stresses that you have experienced in the last year. Write
the result of the stressor including how you responded mentally and/or physically.

Symptoms of the Stressor

Stressor
1. Lost my life savings because of
covid
2. Driving to and from work equating
to multiple accidents
3. Working with unprofessional people I initially responded with annoyance because their lack of
who lack organization skills, time
management, people skills, problem
solving capabilities etc.
(How You Respond Mentally and/or Physically)
I initially responded negatively but after the reality set in, I
quickly created a recovery plan.
I responded negatively by playing victim and lashing out at
those who caused the accidents. Full of rage initially but
later calmed down and realized that all is okay because
nobody was severely injured or injured at all.
everything was affecting my job and performance but later I
set boundaries and voiced my concerns to those who would
listen. Nothing changed other than how I see the job and the
people I work with and by calming my mind, setting
boundaries and not letting it affect me, my performance has
increased and im no longer taking stress home with me.

Exercise 3.2 - Job Burnout

What can you do if you begin feeling job burnout?

Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Anderson, et al. Professionalism 4e
Try to delegate some of the tasks you feel overwhelmed with to others.
Taking a personal day or a mini weekend get away could relieve some of the stress as well.
Begin exercising and meditating in your down time.
Maintain boundaries with work and life.
(DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE WHEN WORK CALLS ON YOUR DAY OFF.)

Exercise 3.3 - Avoid Time Wasters

List time wasters you have experienced in the past few weeks. How do these time wasters
affect productivity? What change should be made?

What Was the Result?

Time Waster (How It Affected Productivity)
1. Playing PS$ My routine is to wind down before
going to bed and this is how I do it
without it affecting productivity but I
could be doing something productive
during that time
2. Fixing bike from It’s a time waster because I couldn’t
accidents go to work and had to spend work
time and down time just to do repairs
3. Arguing about small Caused both of us to be stressed half
things with my wife the day, didn’t get the house cleaned
and the result was a lack of
productivity
What Change Should be Made?
Rather than playing everyday, I could
begin dedicating a few days out of the
week to read a book
Drive more safely to prevent any
unnecessary accidents that take up
more of my time and my wife’s time
We should communicate our feelings,
needs and wants more efficiently to
help prevent any unnecessary stress

THINK LIKE A BOSS

1. You have noticed that an employee is frequently calling in sick or appears agitated
when at work. What do you do?
I would have a conversation with the employee to try and find the root of the problem and would
then ask the employee if he/she would be willing to create a plan with me to help him better
manage these problems and find a way to resolve the situation.

2. You have just become the supervisor for a new department. What can you do to make
the department and its employees more organized? Discuss appointment tools, necessary
equipment, and software.
I would have a meting with the department to define the roles and responsibilities of the

Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Anderson, et al. Professionalism 4e
employees, I would incorporate a channel of open communication between employees and the
department managers/supervisors to easier assist with solving any issues employees are facing at
the workplace and even outside of work.

TOPIC SITUATION RESPONSE

1. What other symptoms of stress might Dylan experience?

Dylan could also be facing other symptoms such as becoming too emotional or illogical in his
decision. He could also be very irritable, distrustful and show signs of being depressed. He
could also see other symptoms such as low or high appetite, weakened immune system and a
lack of motivation to complete tasks but this could also be a direct symptom of the depression
has developed.

2. What advice would you give a friend who has noticeable stress?
The advice I would give a friend who is showcasing stress would be to accept it, find peace
with it, understand that its life and we will always have ups and downs. Then I would tell them
to analyze why it is causing stress and to find some things he/she could do differently to help
them remain calm when they think they are starting to stress out and then find alternative
coping mechanisms or completely change their habits to where there will be minimal or no
stress.

3. What steps could Jonelle taken to avoid procrastination in this situation?

there’s a number of things that Jonelle could’ve done to avoid receiving a failing grade in the
course. She could’ve written out the assignment somewhere that she would see it on a regular
basis to remind her that its due. She could also spend a little amount of time each day or week
to spend 5-10 minutes working on the assignment. She needs to better manage her time and
follow a schedule because giving up and not even attempting to write the paper or take the
exam is the worst possible thing she could’ve done.
She could’ve at least started the paper and finished some of the work within the two week
window and still take the exam. If she was a good student and actually did all of her work in
class then writing a paper or receiving a passing grade on both the paper and final exam
wouldn’t be too difficult to achieve. You cant be a procrastinator and then just give up at the
end. That’s not a procrastinator, that’s a failure.

SLEEP LOG
Keep track of what time you go to bed, what time you go to sleep, how well you sleep, what
time you wake, and what time you get up.

Weekdays:

Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Anderson, et al. Professionalism 4e
Monday to Thursday
2:00am – 8:00am
I don’t sleep enough but I feel well rested after I have a cup of coffee and breakfast
I wake up at 7:40 but I actually get out of bed and rush to get ready to leave the house by 8:30am

Weekends:
Friday
2:00am – 11:00am
I am well rested and recovered from the work week, I will usually wake up and get out of bed
immediately after waking up. I’ll make some coffee, read my emails, check messages and after
my coffee is gone ill make another cup and cook breakfast for the day
Sat-Sun
4:00am – 11:00am
I get enough sleep, im not stressing on the weekends so I always feel well rested regardless of
how many hours I sleep.
Just like other days, I will wake up and get up immediately after waking up.

I love sleep but the more I sleep the less I get done throughout the day, I always say theres not
enough hours in the day but if I didn’t have to sleep every night and always felt well rested then
my productivity levels would sky rocket.

SELF-QUIZ
In the blank column, match the key term to the definition using the identifying number.
Match
Key Terms Definitions
Definition
Job burnout 4 1. Putting off tasks until a later time
Negative stress 6 2. How you manage your time
Positive stress 5 3. A body’s reaction to tense situations
Procrastination 1 4. A form of extreme stress where you lack motivation
and no longer have the desire to work
Stress 3 5. Productive stress that provides strength to accomplish a
task
Time management 2 6. Unproductive stress that affects your mental and/or
physical health

Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.