How many of us feel overworked and overwhelmed? How many of us want to ban that feeling from our lives forever? Well, the good news is that it’s possible to reduce your workload and relax, even in this dog-eat-dog work market. However, the only person who can help you battle burnout is you.
How to stop feeling overworked and overwhelmed
Here are some helpful tips to help you to help you stop feeling overworked and overwhelmed:
1. Prioritize
Every time you start working in the morning, check what your priorities are for that day, that week and that month. When you find the most important things, do them first. If you pay too much attention to unimportant things, you will soon feel overworked and overwhelmed. You shouldn’t waste energy on things that are of little value for your career and your life.
Find it hard to aim your attention at your priorities? Set a timer for 30 minutes and work without distractions. Usually, that’s all the time you need to get the momentum going. And after your hard-working 30 minutes have passed, you’ll feel great about yourself instead of overwhelmed because you didn’t do anything useful.
2. Set boundaries
No matter how important your job is, you can’t and shouldn’t be available 24/7. If you think that you must be always on your phone, that’s not true—you allow yourself to be always on your phone.
So, make sure to set some boundaries. Make sure to stop your work as soon as you leave your office and make time for your family, your hobbies and rest. When you create your boundaries, inform other people of them and make a decision to stick to them. If you want other people to respect your time, you must start from yourself.
3. Change the scenery
Sometimes, when you feel overwhelmed, a slight change of scenery can help. Mixing things up will give your brain a nice break, so take a walk, move to another room to work or just change your chair. A different location can bring a different point of view into your day and provide you with better clarity.
4. Find a fulfilling hobby
One of the best cures for being overworked is finding something soothing or fun to do when you get off from work. Having a hobby is such an important type of self-care and mental health care that every child and every adult needs to have this in their lives.
No matter what kind of person you are, you’re bound to find something that will be entertaining to you. If you love to create, take up painting or playing a musical instrument. On the other hand, if you love to be active yet you want something relaxing, why not try golfing?
This activity is both soothing and fun and can do a lot of good for your body and soul. If you open your mind, golf will teach you about life, about victory, about loss, hard work, fun, enjoyment and the never-ending quest for improvement. Keep those lessons close to your heart next time you think your work is smothering you. Plus, you’ll always have a place to escape—your golf course!
5. Be mindful while you work
Be present in your work and allow the distractions to float over you and through you. If you consciously make an effort to focus on the task at hand, you’ll be more productive. This is the key to balancing your work and your private life—being productive, not busy!
6. Re-evaluate your goals
Sure, we’re all influenced by our colleagues, family members and friends, but we’re also all different people with different goals and values. Just because your sister earns a six-figure paycheck, it doesn’t mean you have to as well. And just because your brother has a PhD, it doesn’t mean you have to stay in school and pursue higher education. Your goals and your values don’t have to be the same as everyone else’s.
7. You don’t have to please anyone but yourself
This is the key to preventing burnout, but it’s also the hardest lesson to learn. The reason why so many of us try so hard to please other people is that we know that that’s a good thing.
From a very young age, we are told that pleasing people is good, helping others is noble and it’s good to be accommodating. On the other hand, disagreement is bad. That’s why younger people today have issues with disappointing others. However, once you realize that the only person you owe something to is you, you’ll have a much easier time handling stress.
8. Learn to say no
‘No’ is not a bad word, learn how to say it! Sometimes, saying no is truly necessary. “No, unless X” and “Yes, if X” are also good phrases to keep in mind when you feel like you’re drowning in tasks.
Perform like a champion today so you stop feeling overworked and overwhelmed
Long story short, identify your priorities, minimize the time you dedicate to less important things and set plenty of time aside for your hobbies, your family and sleep. When you do that, you’ll be able to perform like a champ and still feel amazing about your work!
This guest blog article was written by Ian Lewis, who is a father, writer, and a fitness nut. He’s passionate about many forms of strength training and spent years lifting all kinds of heavy objects. His favorite quote: There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind. You can follow him on Twitter.