Authored By: Amanda Unterreiner
When it’s a busy time for your firm, you’re juggling a million things in your family life, or the world is just a crazy place (or all of that mixed together), it can feel overwhelming. Everyone gets overwhelmed sometimes, and it can cause setbacks or a lack of productivity at work and at home. Here are a few tips from Attorney at Work to help you push past this overwhelming feeling and get your life back on track.
- Make a list. First, list all the things you need to get done or are behind on. Check your calendar for upcoming meetings. Check your inbox for flagged or missed emails. If you have a task or project management system, check your overdue or upcoming tasks. Check with your assistant or team to see if they are missing anything from you.
- Prioritize and cut. Determine what items on your list are essential, which items have hard deadlines, and which are high priority. Determine if there are any meetings that you can cancel (send an email, combine one meeting with another) or reschedule, and, if you can, delegate tasks to team members who have the capacity. Determine if any tasks need to be put on hold.
- Plan each day. Each evening before you sign off for the day, look at your task list, focusing on the priorities and thinking realistically about how long each item will take to complete, and create a schedule for the next day. Planning out your day in advance will help you not feel overwhelmed the next day trying to decide what to do. If there are projects that will take many hours to complete, schedule time each day to work on the project for a dedicated 1-2 hours. This will also keep you from jumping from task to task and feeling like you aren’t getting anything done. Don’t forget to schedule time to check emails!
When you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, oftentimes deciding what to work on first is the hardest part because you don’t want to neglect any of your pressing tasks. If you can make a list, pick out top priority items, and schedule time to do all of your tasks, you can start your day with enthusiasm to get things done instead of the dread of all your looming tasks.
Read the full article from Attorney at Work here.