What To Do When You Have Too Much On Your Plate at Work?

As a busy manager, you always have a lot on your agenda, but everyone has their limits. Trying to be superhuman might work for awhile, but it will cause you to reach burnout.

Realizing you’re in over your head is the first step in the right direction. Now it’s time to make positive changes, so you can achieve a healthy work-life balance. Find out how to get your endless to-do list under control.

4 Ways to Get a Handle on Your Heavy Workload

Prioritize Your Tasks

Every item on your to-do list doesn’t carry equal weight. Identify the tasks that are most important and focus your efforts on them. There’s no need to waste time on busywork or assignments that can be completed at a later date without issue.

Learn to Delegate

It’s hard to let go of responsibilities, but you can’t do it all. Identify tasks that don’t truly need to be completed by you and assign them to your team. This will free up a lot of room in your day, make it possible to meet more deadlines, and allow your employees to learn valuable new skills.

You might be tempted to hover, but this could actually cost you extra time, instead of saving it. Provide all necessary information and instructions needed to complete the task, then give people the freedom to complete it their own way.

Practice Better Time Management

There’s only so many hours in the day, so you have to use them wisely. Take a look at how you’re spending your workday to find ways to better optimize your time. For example, declining meeting invitations you don’t truly need to be at and only checking your email three times per day can add a significant amount of time back into your day that can be used to accomplish more.

Realize It’s Okay to Say ‘No’

You worked your way to the top because you’re always willing to take on a challenge, but you have to know when to draw the line. If a task doesn’t fall within your expertise or you — and your team now that you’re delegating — don’t have the bandwidth, don’t be afraid to speak up. Other people don’t know the extent of what’s on your plate, so they won’t know you’re at capacity unless you tell them.

Eliminate some of the tasks on your plate by partnering with ECS. For more than 20 years, our team has been providing compliant professional payrolling and independent contractor services to companies of all sizes and industries, including Fortune 500 companies, defense contractors, information technology, accounting, and engineering firms. Get in touch today to learn how we can be of assistance!

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *