How to cope with ‘excessive’ workload The amount of work many people are required to do has the tendency of leaving them stressed and impacting their health negatively. Experts say many workers are required to put in more hours and cope with stress levels that are higher than they have ever faced. Some say this is as a result of the global recession, which have forced many companies to lay off workers, while striving to sustain the same levels of productivity. Whatever the cause, the implication has ranged from people developing effective multi-tasking skill to people breaking down at work. Yes, experts say too much work can cause health problems for you. They, however, stress that that is no reason to lose your cool or despair. This, they say, is because many people have devised ways to manage what many people regard as ‘excessive workload’. To join this unique set of people, certified change management professional and founder, catherinescareercorner, Catherine Adenle, says the following tips would be helpful. Understand your organisation’s strategy and culture You have to first remember that your role exists for a reason and this will ultimately be determined by the strategy of the team that you belong to. This strategy is often expressed in a vision and in the mission statement. In some way, you should help the organisation achieve its vision. If you are thinking this is not the case, you need to ask yourself how secure your role is. Make sure you understand and perform the tasks that are strategy driven well. The tasks that add value to the team, the company or the organisation are the tasks that you always should strive to complete first. Relax Yes, it is a simple tip, sit back in a relaxed position, drop your shoulders slowly and inhale through your nose, counting to five in your head. Let the air out from your mouth, counting to eight in your head as it leaves your lungs. Repeat several times. Try and don’t be overwhelmed by the number of tasks or deadlines at hand. After all, you can’t do all of them at the same time, so why worry about all of them at once? Think Compile a list of your tasks with allocated deadlines. Look and decide which ones you can complete independently and which are the ones you need help with? Separate the tasks based of timelines, stakeholders needs, ease of completion, dependencies and estimated time to complete. Reflect We all have different ways of working, and different styles and times when we are most productive. Think about when you tend to work best and use this time to do the most important or challenging tasks and then, complete the easier tasks when you find it more difficult to concentrate. People and resources You must check that you have the staff support, resources, and the training that you need to do an excellent job of your allocated tasks. If you do not, network, ask questions, speak to relevant people and start working on obtaining them. Prioritise Once you have listed your tasks, set priorities based on the information you already have. According to priority, have a pipeline of your projects completed one by one, within the deadlines and other constraints. Re-order with your feasible but viable timelines. Communication If you feel that you are struggling to stay on top of your work, it may help to share your concerns with your manager or supervisor. Politely ask him for a work in progress meeting to communicate your workload and assure him that you are capable of handling all the projects but he has to look at shifting some of the deadlines for you and also clarify on your list what is absolutely important to focus on first. Avoid using the word, ‘can’t’ during the meeting, but you can say, ‘I can get the work done but I need to be given more time on few of the projects as I have documented,’ or ask him, ‘Would you mind if I do these projects in this order and to these timelines? This way, I can do a very good job and exceed your expectations’. If he agrees, be sure to exceed his expectations by your deliverables. Focus Think of breaking your day into sessions, of maybe two or three hours. Take regular walk breaks after each session. First thing in the morning, when you get to the office, begin your day with a plan and assign tasks to each session. As you know, there will be urgent things that come up all the time, so be prepared to re-prioritise on the drop of a hat. Execute Set up a mental box around yourself during each session. Nothing else should interfere, unless of course, there are emergencies. Concentrate and work like a person on mission. Everything else can wait. It is okay to say no, sometimes Agreed, it can be difficult in some situations, but saying “no” is sometimes the only way to manage a heavy workload. However, be mindful not to say no to important tasks and not say no all the time, but saying no when you genuinely feel and think you cannot do something is better than saying yes and not getting the job done well. Successful workload management is therefore vitally important for your job satisfaction. Unfortunately, some managers aren’t always willing to see this. If that’s the case, hopefully the tips above will help.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 06:38:45 +0000
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