5 Things to Do When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed at Work

By Lovella Bantasan | Mar 16, 2016 11:28 AM EDT

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No matter whether you are an intern or a CEO, all of us have moments where we feel overwhelmed at work.  Sometimes we feel there is too much to do and too little time to do it, too many people making demands upon your time, all with conflicting agendas.

Here are some approaches that have helped her and others to turn down the dial on "overwhelm":

Take a Break: Get Out of the Office

When you feel overwhelmed, it's because your mind is fatigued, and when you're fatigued, the answer is always rest. Your mind is attempting to manage a lot of information and having taken a moment to organize and prioritize, don't re-escalate your panic by plunging back into to work. Take 10 minutes and go for a walk around the block. The fresh air will clear your head.

Only do what only you can do

We have an innate drive triggered by survival instincts to please others and to avoid displeasing. As a result, many of us are not good at saying no. Or sometimes, our well intentions have us committed to more than we can realistically take on. 'Don't overwhelm yourself by overcommitting or you will raise the likelihood of failing on several fronts,' says Simon Alexander Ong. 'Think about what you will need to forfeit from your schedule to make time for the extra requests and consider whether it is worth doing this. If you have no choice but to take on extra demands, learn how to delegate anything that will distract you from your most important tasks.'

Organize your to-do list

You won't find a productive person who doesn't maintain a schedule or system to track tasks. The problem with schedules is they often shackle us instead of releasing us.So here is a suggestion, Claire Diaz-Ortiz introduces a scheduling technique called "Scan To Plan." Start by writing down the thoughts and tasks that pop into your head throughout the day. Big. Small. Insignificant. Very important. No matter the task or thought, write it down. Get everything out of your head. After you write everything down, find those tasks you need to complete today. Make a to-do list with them. Then find the most important tasks (three at most) and complete them first. Make a separate list for weekly items and monthly items.

Don't multitask

'Women are brought up being told that we're great at it, but multitasking is not useful at work and definitely not useful when the task is important,' says Claire Mitchell. 'Multitasking requires you to spread your attention across many tasks, so, by definition; this means that you don't give any single job your full attention. If you really need to get something done, focus on it 100 per cent. You will get things done much more quickly, and get much better results.'

Spend Time in Prayer and Reflection

While many searches for peace, and others try to manufacture it, the Bible says peace is ours if we simply spend time in prayer. So, this is where we start in our quest to restore our lives because this is most important. In a world of constant connection, we must disconnect to restore the most important connection: Our relationship with God. 

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