I work with a lot of small business owners, directors and managers. One of the biggest challenges that all my clients share is managing their workload and preventing overload. It makes sense – there’s a lot you’re responsible for, and a good portion of your business relies upon you.
Here are 4 tips that have helped my clients gain control of their life again:
1. THINK about your goals that day.
Write them down. Making lists are helpful. Prioritize your list – pick your top realistic 3 goals that you can actually get done. It’s better to get 3 things done and have achieved your goals for today than to have a list of all the things you need to do this month and only accomplish 3 out of those 50.
2. CREATE a calendar for yourself about what you’re going to focus on when.
Make sure it’s realistic, and that you’ve given yourself extra time for transitions. You perform a lot better when you’re calm – having a schedule provides that structure for you.
3. ORGANIZE all the information and documents you’ll need to follow your schedule.
This way, you won’t need to spend valuable time and raise your stress levels by trying to find things. A good place to start is looking at the filing system on your computer – make sure you have separate folders based on categories. It seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people store everything in one folder and have to search for a document every time they need it.
4. FOCUS on your plan
Don’t let texts or emails distract you. Turn off your email and set up times to check your email. When you’re working, pretend you’re in a meeting and turn your phone off. Check it every hour or so when you take a break. The key is to make sure that your focused time is preserved – that’s when you’ll get the most done.
I’m curious to hear from you – what have you found that’s helpful in preventing overload in your day? Please comment below and share.