We are all faced with it from time to time, we already have a hundred different things on our plate that we are trying to juggle and we still have issues popping up that need handled. We just feel like stopping, throwing our hands up and screaming! We beg for this day to just be over with, but it never seems to end; when it finally does, we collapse in exhaustion.
So how do we handle all of it when it doesn’t seem to stop and everything needs to be handled? There are a few simple steps that can help ease the burden of being overwhelmed and to put things back into perspective.
The first thing you want to do is to Prioritize. Placing each of the items in an order of rank (even if it is a mental note) can help you to see which is more important. Doing things in order of priority will help stem the tide because the most important things are getting accomplished first.
To Prioritize, ask your self a few quick questions:
- Is this an emergency?
- Does this have a deadline?
- Does this need completed before something else?
- Is someone waiting for this?
By asking these questions you can put your tasks in order of importance, completing the most important first.
You can’t do it all alone. That’s why you need to learn to delegate. Empowering your employees or co-workers to do the job can ease the tension off of you. This also gives them responsibility and helps them to feel needed. Many controlling types often have difficulty delegating tasks to others. They believe that nobody can do it better than them or that it would take longer to explain what to do than it would to do it. To this I say, “Get over yourself and give your team some credit.” Delegation relieves you of the work and empowers your employees. You then become the one who oversees all of the work.
Combining tasks can help to get things done in a more timely manner. While multitasking is not always productive, there are times when you need to combine tasks to get them off of your plate faster. If you can begin one task while waiting for something from another, you will speed up the process. Be careful not to combine too much at one time however. You can also combine tasks when you are delegating and give an employee more than one thing to do.
Postponing issues can help ease some of the tension you are experiencing. If your task does not meet one of the above questions, you may be able to get away with putting it off for another day. Also, take a look at some of the answers to those questions, for example, if a task has a deadline but it is still a ways off, you may want to postpone it to a later date.
However, be very careful when postponing things, you don’t want to create a situation on another day where you are overwhelmed. It is coming up on this day for a reason, so be careful when postponing.
Organizing your tasks can help. While prioritizing puts your tasks in order of priority, you can also organize other aspects such as tools, emails, information, workers. If you have to spend less time running to get things or checking with others, this can save you time and help you to complete things quicker.
Also, when you delegate you are an organizer, you watch over the employees and the tasks they are working on and you pull everything together, organizing them as you go.
Following these few steps can help you to ease the stress you are feeling and focus more clearly on the task at hand which will allow you to get more done. We will always face days where we are overwhelmed and can’t seem to keep our head above water. Remember, that you will get through this, it is only a matter of time and focus by putting all of the pieces into perspective.
So what do you do to get things done?