When you feel uptight or anxious, sometimes there’s a clear culprit – like that traffic jam that’s making you late, or those three cups of coffee you just chugged.

Other times, the reasons may not be so obvious.

Could Your Daily Routine to Blame?

Seemingly innocuous habits, like the ones listed below, can heighten your baseline stress level and contribute to chronic fatigue, tension and diminished performance. If you want to make every day more successful and less hectic, eliminate these common stress-inducing habits:

Related post: 4 Habits to Dramatically Improve Your Life

Bad Sleep Habits

Hitting that snooze button four times every morning? Getting in bed with your phone or laptop? Tsk, tsk – you know better. Banish tech at least 30 minutes before you go to bed and set your alarm for the time your feet should hit the floor. Otherwise, you’re robbing yourself of the great night’s sleep you need.

Addiction to Your To-Do List

Your to-do list can be an effective tool to keep you focused and your activities prioritized. But if you’re continually checking, re-checking and rewriting it throughout the day, that hypervigilance can make you feel more worried than accomplished. Be realistic when you create your daily to-do list and use it the way it’s intended – as a periodic reminder, not a taskmaster. And give yourself a little pat on the back as you cross things off!

Skipping Meals

According to the World Health Organization, consuming the right foods can improve brain power by as much as 20 percent. Furthermore, healthy morning eating habits can reduce sick days, boost morale and even reduce accidents at work.

Whether you’re trying to lose weight or are “just too busy” to take the time to eat, skipping meals only makes you drowsy, hangry and more stressed. In this earlier post, we share 4 power foods you should eat in the morning to stay focused and productive.

Bad Hiring Habits

Still posting dull job descriptions with drab lists of responsibilities? Relying on outdated recruiting tactics? Leaving candidates hanging? Dragging your feet during the hiring process? Any of these habits can undermine hiring success – and stress everyone out.

Exact Staff is Here to Make Things Easier

With offices across the country and a full complement of staffing and recruiting solutions, we take the stress out of staffing your business. Whether you need temporary staffing support or are growing your core team, make a habit of calling Exact Staff.