In today’s society stress is an ever present problem that’s only going to get worse as we are increasingly expected on a personal and professional level to do more with less. Work more hours and get more done for less pay and in less time. That’s a depressing shift in our lives and it shows no signs of changing any time soon. As a consequence we have to develop ways of reducing that stress. Below I’ve detailed my top ten suggestions for doing just that.

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Welcome to part two of my series explaining my GTD system. Be sure to check out the introduction and part one of the series to understand the background. When I last left you I was using a ring binder and individual sheets for next actions. For Christmas I was given a leather conference portfolio which I liked and really wanted to use but as it was not a binder it would have required quite a departure from my existing system. As over the holiday period I had rather neglected things I figured it was a good time to freshens things up with a new approach.

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I can’t remember where I originally picked up this idea but I always considered it to be a very useful de-cluttering tip so I thought I would share it with you all (I’ve already posted about the reward card key ring so maybe this can be the start of a series covering mini lifehacking tips). If you are anything like me you are always losing socks having your socks lost by whoever washes your clothes that day, and then struggling to match them up. One option is to have an incredibly strict laundry routine to keep all your socks together and accounted for, but that is tedious and time consuming. Instead, what I suggest is that you buy plain black socks (or another neutral color) in bulk. That way you can mix them up or lose a few and it’s never an issue because they are all the same. And let’s face it, the color and style of your socks is hardly a priority in the fashion stakes.

Below I have listed what are the simplest but most effective keyboard shortcuts that I personally use the most and which result in the biggest speed gains for the average person. I’ve primarily picked these shortcuts after watching people crawl along trying to do whatever it is they are doing on their computer. My pet peeve is that whole labored approach of moving the mouse about to select, copy and paste some text. I just want to yank them from their chair and do it for them because it just seems soooo slow. But maybe I’m impatient.

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Don’t you just love coming across a really neat but simple idea? I was just browsing on LifeClever and came across a great idea for organizing all your reward cards (and no doubt a few other types of card as well) which I just had to share. Though I personally have never bothered with reward cards and like to keep what I have in my wallet to a bare minimum, my partner could seriously do with something like this. I spend enough time following her around clothes shops without waiting at the tills for her to dig out her reward card (just joking honey!).

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Hess gas card is for those who want to save money on gas.