I don’t know about you but recently I have been feeling the pressure of an increased workload. It’s probably something to do with the fact that I have been out of the office so much lately (two trips to the US within 5 weeks)!. When things pile up you can start to feel overwhelmed and stressed. The challenge is that this just compounds the problem, so here are my top tips on how I am coping with all the extra work. I hope they help you.
- Let go of perfection. It could not serve you less at this time. Good enough is good.
- Identify time-wasters. Once you’re clear what they are, start reducing them.
- Plan everything. It will help keep you sane, centered and on track.
- Keep a list. When work piles up, commitments can slip through the cracks. Write down everything you have to do and check them off as you complete them.
- Establish priorities. Start with the highest priority items on your list. Distinguish between important and urgent priorities.
- Outsource or delegate everywhere possible. There are limits to how much you can do and still deliver value to clients, customers or your organization.
- Negotiate with your boss or clients. Don’t just accept without question an impossible situation.
- Minimize distractions. Check email only twice a day. Use earphones. Close your door.
- Exercise. Working out charges up your energy reserves and helps you sleep better at night.
- Breathe deeply. Even a few deep breaths at your desk will calm you.
Learning to say No to things is a great way to put you back in control of your schedule, during this time or any other. Also it is imperative to be clear on your priorities, because they might not be what you think they are. The way I like to prioritise is to allocate all my tasks into four different quadrants that are as follow:
Urgent and Important
Urgent but Not Important
Important But Urgent
Not Urgent and Not Important
It always amazes me when I do this that I find everything urgent and important. If that is the case for you take a step back and really think about what is happening in your business right now. What tasks can you delegate? What activities can you ditch as they are no longer relevant? What do you really need to do now. You can then focus on these activities and park everything else. You will feel liberated once you have stuff prioritised and know the way forward.
So if you are struggling with busyness in your business then connect with me so that we can schedule in a complimentary strategy session where we can identify the key areas where you are wasting your time, energy and resources and the next simple step you can take to move things forward.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
