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Do you ever feel like your boss gives you too much work at once? You can’t focus on what needs to be done because there’s too much to do. Your mind swims and you jump from one fire (urgent need) to another. As a result, nothing gets done. How do you sort it all out?
Stop, write and roll….
1. Stop what you are doing, take a deep breath and clear your mind. This will give you a clean slate to start from.
2. Write all of the work down in a list. Get it onto paper where you can evaluate each one and prioritize based on urgency and importance.
3. Roll through the prioritized list one at a time. This takes focus and discipline. There will be phones ringing, emails coming in and instant messages that will pop up. If need be shut all of it down so you can focus and go into what we call “the cone of silence”. Make sure there are no distractions taking you off your task.
When each task is complete, be sure to cross out or check them off. Make it a game and project how many items you will finish by lunch or by the end of the day. This will give you something to strive for.
Even if you aren’t passionate about your job, there is satisfaction knowing you put out a bunch of fires and your boss will be grateful for it.
Please leave other tips on how to handle work overload in the comments.
