Clear your mind.

Dave Smyth finds making lists useful so he can stop fretting about what needs to be done, knowing he won’t forget anything.

I used to always have a dreadful list that was always running through my mind of all the things that I needed to accomplish, mainly work related. They would interrupt my family time causing me stress at just at the time that I am trying to reduce my stress. So the quicker I can get things into a list or email that I know I will work later, the better off I am.

On the whole, I agree with Dave — lists are crucial — but there’s something to be said for Sheree’s notion of doing without one for a day or two a week, so that relaxation time doesn’t start to feel like more of the daily grind. The key point here, though, is to do whatever it takes to confine all the things you’d be liable to worry about to a trusted system where you know they’ll get taken care of, so you can spend the rest of your time without worrying.