Americans are busier today than ever before. From executives to soccer moms, no one seems immune to the stress caused by having too much to do and not enough time to do it. Being stressed out is a cultural phenomenon. It’s so prevalent we seem to think that a stressed life is a normal life.

In the stone age - the time for which our body was actually designed to survive - stress to the degree to which we feel it today – sever anxiety, panic, etc. - was typically brought by being pursued by a predator or in times of extreme famine. Today, stress is such a common state of being. It’s usually brought on by long lists of personal responsibilities and workloads that would take two or three people to accomplish.

"The 40-hour workweek is a joke," says entrepreneur Timothy Ferriss, author of the book, The 4-Hour Workweek. "Sixty hours is becoming the new norm. At the turn of the millennium, 26 percent of Americans reported being on the verge of a nervous breakdown and 70 percent of working parents said they didn't have enough time for their kids."

The statistics on work stress, in particular, are staggering. At the end of World War II the U.S. had the shortest working hours of the industrialized countries. Now, we have the longest. The average American worker puts in 200 more hours per year than he or she did in 1973.

The lack of downtime is detrimental. Last year, 25% of American workers took no paid vacation. The 43% who did, didn’t even take off a full week. Thirty percent fewer American families take vacations together today than in1970 and American workers receive the least vacation time among wealthy industrial nations.

All that stress and no downtime takes an almost incalculable toll on the human body. Heart disease, depression, hypertension, sleep deprivation, diabetes, infertility, anxiety and other mental disorders can all be attributed to the copious amounts of stress we Americans endure. Stress is an epidemic that’s robbing us of time with our families, our health and our longevity.

In every aspect of life there are choices to be made; in our careers, in our relationships and with regard to our health. We can choose to seek out services, like a virtual assistant or other outsourcing, that can help lighten our load and take a positive step towards a healthier life.

When it comes to your health, outsourcing your life to a personal assistant can almost literally be a life saver. The few minutes your personal assistant spends on your tasks can free up hours of your time but it also lightens your mental load giving your body a well-needed break from "panic mode". Knowing someone you can trust is on the task and that you can take a moment to take care of yourself, is the most important reason of all to outsource your life to a virtual