Golden Tips to Avoid Being Overwhelmed at Work

Have you ever wished for the day to be 48 hours? Do you feel that you are always running and the tasks you have are endless? This feeling is stressful and makes you feel overwhelmed and exhausted. It also makes you lose your enthusiasm and motivation, and makes you fall in a vicious circle of unfinished tasks, exhaustion and depression.



To overcome this situation, there are some key tips that would make a great impact. Here are the five golden tips to avoid being overwhelmed at work.

Plan your work and prioritize: Planning is the key to success; when you note down the tasks you need to accomplish, and order them based on their priority order, you can progress smoothly and quickly. Set a given time or regular hours during which you don’t answer phone calls or receive anyone, but only focus on the tasks in hand. Also set some boundaries for the time during which you will stop working, and meet with your family or friends. Unless you respect your time first, other people won’t.

Stop being a victim: We control how much we work. When we have a lot of tasks, we should communicate with the other people involved and negotiate to extend deadlines or get help from others. If your boss doesn’t understand the fact that you have too much tasks to handle and refuses to assist in deadlines, then do things quickly without making them perfect. After all you will be excused, as you already said you don’t have time.

Eliminate the “nice to do tasks”: When you are already overwhelmed, it would not be appropriate to burden yourself with extra tasks out of courtesy or in order to be nice to others. Learn how to say “no” and refuse the tasks that would hinder your progress in your priority tasks; others should put themselves in yours shoes and understand the situation. If they don’t, it’s their problem.

Give yourself time for unconscious thought: Giving yourself time for unconscious thought is essential to making smart decisions when you face complex problems. To do so, take a walk, exercise or do something where your body goes on autopilot and your mind does too. You'll be surprised by the solutions you can dream up when you aren't purposely trying to be creative.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle: Regardless of the work you have, sleep for at least seven hours every night, don’t miss meals and don’t eat unhealthy food. Don’t take your health for granted, as having a proper diet and exercise is very important.

It is very possible to stop overworking, but the change has to come from you and not from the others. The first time is always the hardest, but it gets easier. Once you have said no to overwork for a few times, your whole life will change to a healthier work and life habit.

The Business Lobby Team