…ouch, my head hurts!
Sometimes you just have to say…ENOUGH! Why? Information overload!
There is no simple fix to regulating or normalizing your daily work life. But you do know when you are overwhelmed. If you can’t really place your finger on being overwhelmed…It is that time when you are looking ten things square in the face and you don’t know which one to choose first. Of course all of them are an emergency. Here is what I do (or at the very least, I try to do)
- STOP…Shut the door to your office or walk away from your desk for 5 minutes.
- CLEAR ALL THOUGHTS OF WORK…Really do this one. You only need 5 minutes. Call a loved one, a friend or simply sit in the break room doing nothing but drinking a cup of coffee. (No longer than 5 minutes. Don’t get lazy on me, you are still at work)
- REFOCUS…this should occur the moment you walk back into your office or go to your desk. Do this by choosing only “one task” to start. Who cares about the ten tasks you left. As far as you are concerned, you only have one task.
- COMPLETE ONE THING AT A TIME…simple right! Focus on one…thing…at…a…time.
It’s only simple now because you walked away to clear your head. When you are literally taking 5 minutes, do not let anyone interrupt you, add to your list of things to do, talk about work etc. It is YOUR TIME.
You should not have to do this more than once, maybe twice a month. If you find you are always overwhelmed, you may need to think about re-organizing your time (Control The Chaos). We will save that for another day…for now TAKE FIVE!
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