I was working with a client yesterday who had so much on his plate that he didn’t even know where to start. He started sharing all the things that he needed to do and the list was long. He spoke about the pressure to get everything done. It brought back many memories for me of my own situations not so long ago. I used to call it “being on the merry go round that never stops long enough for me to get off the ride.” You get overwhelmed with so many things on the list and not enough time to get everything done. This isn’t even including the things you need to do outside of work including spending time with family and friends. So what do you do?
When these situations happened to me, I had to just sit down for 5 minutes and write down everything that I had to do. The list was long and many things on the list were all a priority. When it is all in your head it just starts to get too overwhelming and seems impossible. Writing it down helped me see it more clearly. I realized that I had some things that could be delegated, but my staff was also overwhelmed with a lot of work. There is usually an assumption that delegation means to your staff. I like to broaden the definition to include other resources as well. There may be things that you can delegate or collaborate on with other team members, peers or even delegating up to your manager every once in awhile. You may also consider bringing in outside help to accomplish everything. It just isn’t realistic to do it all by yourself and if it is a priority, then it is up to you to figure out how to accomplish it.
We literally worked through his list and put it on paper during our session. This simple approach helped my client see things on paper that he couldn’t see when it was all in his head. We talked about alternatives and ensuring that people wouldn’t be overloaded. Also making sure that he wasn’t keeping things on his plate that don’t add value for him to focus on. He recognized that he had resources to tap into that he hadn’t considered before. Writing it down also gave him the opportunity to think about reorganizing his team in a better way to get the work done. He now had a way to move forward and was able to clear the fog in his head. This simple exercise gave him clarity and helped him to see how to manage the situation in a better way.
Sometimes it just takes someone offering a new idea or a different way to think about things to move you forward. The idea of doing this is so simple, but it is something that you may not even think about doing. You are just going from one thing to the next and it never stops. You just keep doing more, taking on more and at some point you are just spinning and stressing out. It isn’t sustainable and you will burn out really fast that way. Isn’t it worth it to spend 5 minutes out of your day to clear your head and write your priorities down? Get creative with all available resources and start thinking strategically about the best way to get it all done.
Does this situation sound like you? I can help you move forward too. Click on this link and let’s get started!
Here are a few other blogs that may give you some additional ideas to try when you are stuck.