Most of us, at some point, have felt overwhelmed with work. Either with a boss that pushes us too hard, a client who won’t stop asking for more, or with deadlines that seem to never end (they won’t). Have you heard of the term, cognitive fatigue? Doesn’t sound really pleasing, but basically, it is a mental block and slowness that can eventually lead to stress.
I know, being overwhelmed with work is completely normal and it’s something that all of us have felt at least once in our lives. The key is to know when to identify and know the next steps to tone it down. Surprisingly, none of this include being glued to your computer all day. But they do include, letting go just a little bit, a lot of organizing and rest.
Take time to organize your priorities
This is the MOSTT cliché tip, but it is so common because of its efficacy. True peace is in finding what is the most urgent and the most important, so you can go on and cross that checklist in order of priority, and hey, maybe have a little time left. This way you won’t be running out of time and your performance won’t be affected by stress.
Make shortcuts that help you be more efficient
If you are someone who is constantly responding the same emails over and over again, or you usually do the same activities for your clients, find a way to create your own little shortcuts and tactics to help your process.
A few examples:
- Create automated messages for your emails
- Create fill in templates in Notion for clients
- Create your work process, and ask yourself this question, “what could be done by a robot?.”
- Once you let go of the things that can be automatized, your creative self has space to flow and create magic.
Work for a few hours during the weekend
Some of you might say, hell no. But weekends can be effective if you think of them as, just another day of the week. We all have different ways of working. While some people might like to sprint and crunch work in a day, others prefer to do a little each day, and here is where the weekend comes. Try and habit stack your work with some other activity that is for yourself and you find enjoyable. It could be working from another place like a cafe, going for an outdoor walk, or even getting a lil treat after work. Reward yourself once you finish your tasks on the weekends.
Close your laptop and go to sleep
More time does not always mean more efficiency. If you are up late still working, instead of forcing yourself to stay up and finish, please go to sleep and get some rest and start in the morning. If the stress of having a deadline is keeping you up, take a tea, some melatonin gummies, or play that Harry Styles meditation to relax yourself. Rest is important and vital to get work done. What might take you some hours because your are tired, in the morning will turn into much less because being rested makes you so much more efficient.
Hey, this might sound like really simple advice, and I know some things are better said than done. When overwhelmed with work, try at least one of these tips and let us know if you got your work on time.
