For a lot of businesses, especially during this Christmas period work can be quite a stressful time. Assignments and responsibilities may come in waves, bringing along times of high stress. For some, it feels like they’re drowning in long lists of things that need to be done. It’s nearly impossible to not have those days where you’re overwhelmed. Here are some tips to help you cope when you feel you’re in over your head.
Schedule Time to Focus on You
Take a break for goodness sake! Schedule in time to get away from your desk. Give yourself 30–60 minutes to go take a walk, grab lunch, or a trip to the gym. It’s important to give yourself time to decompress so you can return to your desk with renewed energy. Don’t let yourself burnout. Use your vacation days. Switch off your phone. Give yourself space between work and home.
Don’t Procrastinate
This one is obvious. Putting off the things that you don’t want to do but have to get done will only cause prolonged stress. Identify the main tasks of the day and complete them first thing.
Focus on Your Health In and Out of Work
It’s important to eat well and get plenty of sleep. If you’re groggy at work, you’ll be much less productive. Being full and eating the right foods will give you energy for the day ahead. Make sure to eat breakfast! If you’re feeling stressed, exercising will help your mood and overall help you feel good.
Get to Work 10 Minutes Early
It can be quite stressful when you’re train is delayed or there’s massive traffic. That extra buffer time can turn your stressful commute into a relaxing ride to work.
Prioritise Priorities
One easy way to reduce stress is to do the important stuff first thing. You’ll have much more time to finish without the stress of trying to cram before a deadline. You’ll thank yourself later on in the day that you didn’t procrastinate. Also, make a realistic list of what can get done in your day. You’ll feel much more accomplished if you finish with some extra time to work on non-pressing tasks rather than disappointed that you didn’t complete the long list of tasks you idealistically hoped you’d accomplish.
Plan Your Day
Once you’ve prioritised what your main tasks of the day are, plan out what else you need to accomplish for the day and what you can chip away at. If there’s a presentation next week, start now and plan out what needs to be done each day in order to have time to revise and rehearse it.
Evaluate Expectations
It’s always good to set the bar high for yourself and take on a challenge, but don’t bite off more than you can chew. Give yourself expectations you can actually reach. If you have a long To Do list of challenging tasks, it’s demoralising.
Stay Organised
Clear desk, full battery, can’t lose. Only have what you absolutely need on your desk, such as your laptop, a pen, and paper. I find that it help to put your phone in a different room or away somewhere on silent mode. Make a To Do list in the morning and stick to it. Plan accordingly and give yourself realistic time frames. Keep on top of your work and there’s no reason to fall behind and stress.
There’s Always Tomorrow
If it doesn’t or can’t get done in a day, remember there’s always tomorrow. Pace yourself and give yourself constant reminders that it will all get done eventually. Don’t think about yesterday. Don’t think about tomorrow. Narrow your focus to this one day and what you can do. Take a deep breath. It will all get done.
