Live by Lists. Plan, schedule, take notes, and keep good records.
Having a daily written list of what you expect to do will help you become more realistic about your schedule and remind you of tasks you do not want to forget. Save your memory for more creative and pleasurable activities.

Don't Procrastinate. Do your most unpleasant or most difficult task at the beginning of the day when you are fresh, thereby avoiding the stress of last minute preparation. The worse stress gets, the greater the tendency to procrastinate becomes.

Laugh ! One of the barriers to stress reduction is the temptation to take things too seriously. Laugh a lot! It's one of the healthiest antidotes to stress. When we laugh, blood flow to the brain is increased and endorphins are released.

Studies show that optimists enjoy better health and longer life than pessimists. Optimists are people who look on the bright side, even when life is stressful. If your natural tendency is to be pessimistic, challenge any negative thoughts or ideas you have.

Sometimes in order to reserve enough time and energy for yourself, you need to say no to other people's requests. You don't have to say no every time, just when you know in your heart that 1) you don't want to fulfil the request, or 2) you are dangerously close to being over-committed, or 3) saying yes would mean you forfeit quality time for you.

Don't be a loner. Isolation has been tied to failure to cope adequately with stress, heightened vulnerability to illness and even premature death.

Stand up for your decisions, express your feelings, disagree with others when you feel differently, give, as well as accept, compliments.

If you're inclined to blame yourself for your problems -- even when they're not your fault -- you may be guilty of negative self-talk. Those who accept mishaps as largely routine and normal occurrences in life and who talk to themselves in positive terms about these events have higher self-esteem and much lower stress levels.

Be pampered, get rid of the accumulated tensions in your body using one of many forms of massage. Many companies now have massage practitioners visit their offices performing seated acupressure massage through the clothing on special portable chairs. Also popular is reflexology on the feet.

Try moving, talking, and behaving in a relaxed, slower manner and see if it doesn't let some of your stress ebb away. For instance, drive ten miles per hour slower; pause at the table before you eat; savour your food.

If you pursue a hobby you genuinely like, you're apt to get so absorbed in it that you don't notice time passing. You'll forget stress and reach a level of total relaxation.

When you know that you are going to face a stressful situation, rehearse how you are going to handle it. Picture yourself overcoming it successfully. Create a mental "videotape" that you can play over and over in your mind. This is what an athlete does prior to competition.

Be realistic about what you can accomplish in a day. It's better to emphasise quality in your work, rather than sheer quantity. Planning goals and objectives allows you to meet them more realistically.

So often our internal comments are critical. What messages are you giving yourself right now? When you make a mistake, do you beat yourself up? When you notice it's negative ("I can't do that"), try to turn it around.

Go with the flow. Many events are unavoidable and beyond our power to control. Stewing over these uncontrollable situations zaps the vital energy we need for health and balance. It is better to accept the things we cannot control with a little bit of grace.

Indecision prevents you from taking action, causing a loss of a sense of control and thus intensifying stress.

Lack of adequate sleep can make you moody, angry and more vulnerable to illness and the daily stressors that stalk you.

It's an ideal time to gain perspective on your day-to-day life and to put aside the stress load for a few days. It's important to get a total change of scenery, a new environment. Workers who use their holidays to work at home are not recharging nearly as well as they would if they were away from home for the same period.

Learn to meditate properly and practice daily. It probably is the best practical thing you can do for long term clearance of accumulated stress whilst at the same time it helps fend off the current stresses in your life and will assist you to remain calm in the storms of life.

Go to the movies, browse in a bookstore. Those who reward themselves by engaging in something pleasurable boost their immune systems for several days.

Those who don't learn to delegate become overloaded with unfinished tasks, making them stressed, less productive and isolated by their excessive expectations.

Seek the company of those who are optimistic and have high self-esteem. They tend to have low stress levels.