February 1, 2016
10 Tips for Managing Workload Overwhelm
1. Determine the top 3-5 business critical goals/imperatives
2. Decide which goals on your to do list align to these business imperatives. Then prioritise your to do list in alignment with these top 3-5 goals focussing on completing those things that add the most value to the business first
3. For everything else on your to do list, put the tasks under a heading of “nice to do”
4. Pause before saying yes to more work. Ask the person, can I please get back to you on my capacity to take that on? Then ask yourself if the work is aligned to the business imperatives. If it is not or you don’t have capacity to do the work, think twice about the need to take it on or who else might be able to help
5. Review your emails at only certain times of the day (eg: beginning and end), not every time you receive an email
6. Create email rules so emails you are cc’d on or are general information go straight into a junk folder that you can review when you have more time
7. Create mindfulness around how you are feeling. When and why do you feel anxious or overwhelmed? What action can you take and what can you let go?
8. Take three deep breaths into the area in which you are holding any stress or tension or otherwise just breathe into the depths of your stomach. On the in breath, say or just think to yourself, I am breathing in calmness and laser focus and on the outbreath, I am breathing out anxiety and tension. Whenever you start to feel the overwhelm creep in, start the deep breathing exercises
9. Get comfortable with delegating work. It doesn’t mean you are being lazy or not taking accountability for your work. It can mean that you are using your resources effectively to get the job done and to achieve the best outcome for the business
10. Change your thinking. You are never going to get everything done, so be okay with that. Always do your best and that is all you can ask of yourself or anyone else.
