Are you someone who gets stuck when overwhelmed with too much to do? Do you sometimes have so many tasks to complete that you make little progress? Do you feel as though day upon day you’re getting nowhere?
If you’d like to work through distractions, lower your feelings of being overwhelmed, and actually get work done more efficiently, keep reading.
Give Yourself a Reality Check
We are our own harshest critics, but criticism is rarely a good motivator. While you may feel like you’ve accomplished little, if you were to list everything you’ve completed over the past year, you’d likely see a fantastic list of accomplishments. Perhaps the first task in moving forward is to look back and then pat yourself on the back for a job well done.
Make Lists
Many individuals find it helpful to have a task list. Include even the smallest details on your list.
It is satisfying to check a number of completed tasks off a list. Carry over to a new list any tasks not yet tackled. When you can see the progress made, you may become more motivated.
Or, perhaps you would prefer making a summary list instead. At the end of the day, summarize all you accomplished that day. A summary list will help you justify your time.
Forget Excuses
It’s easy to create excuses for not proceeding with tasks. One culprit that sets people back is their reliance on feelings. It’s easy to get out of the wrong side of bed, so to speak, and not feel like doing certain tasks. But waiting to see if you’ll feel more like doing them tomorrow instead, will set you back. It’s called procrastination.
The problem is, feelings are fickle, and relying on feelings becomes an obstacle to moving forward.
Get Started
It’s okay to have recovery days and to make note of your feelings. It’s also understandable that most people have days when they’re less motivated than other days. Even the weather can become an obstacle or excuse to some people. Nevertheless, some days it’s important to just get started. Getting started might spark the momentum you need to carry on.
Cultivate Good Habits
Habits can get in the way of productivity too. For instance, if you like sleeping late, you won’t get to work until later in the day. Soon enough, mornings may begin to drag on, and you’ll find you are getting little accomplished.
If you have no intention of changing your habits, plan around them. Make your habits work for you. Figure out your most productive times of the day, identify your most productive methods of getting things done, and then create a plan for fitting your tasks in.
Set Targets
A good way to get tasks accomplished is to set a day and time to do them. Plug them into your computer calendar and set reminders. Also, set deadlines for having them done to a certain point.
When beginning a task, look at the clock and set a time limit for working on it. Build time in for cleaning up, interferences, etc.
Resist Multi-Tasking
Multi-tasking may be hard to prevent, but it can be distracting. Thinking about too many projects at once leaves most people scattered. Multi-tasking may result in having several things partially completed rather than having a few things done thoroughly.
Try to tune out distracting thoughts while working on a specific project. If you can’t resist paying attention to those ideas that pop up, jot them down on paper, or schedule them into your computer calendar to be tackled later.
Delegate
While everyone has the same number of hours in a day, some do get overloaded. Delegating or outsourcing work to others may be the answer. To stay on top of caring for your home when work is busy it might make sense to hire a window washer, cleaning company, lawn mower, gardener, etc. instead of trying to do everything yourself.
At the office delegating tasks may be a little harder. You may want to consider hiring temporary help to support your larger projects. If you decide to go this route it can be a project in itself, locating the right skillset to support your needs. Utilizing a recruiting firm takes the burden off of you. A good recruiter can not only find the best fit, they can assist with writing the job description, and negotiating the terms.
Remember, it’s easy for competing priorities to become paralyzing – it happens to the best of us. In many cases, to get out of the rut it’s important to just choose a task and start it. Once you start something, see it through. Then check it off your to-do list. And, try putting these tips into play, then bit by bit you’ll make progress and be back on track!
SCR is an international supplier of personnel to the petrochemical, oil and gas, power, renewable energy, and related process industries. At SCR, our recruiting team’s number one priority is connecting our clients with the most sought after energy professionals. Whether providing project-to-project personnel or supporting a direct-hire search, we operate under the basic principles of finding the right candidates for our client’s needs. Through these principles we have established and maintained our reputation as a premier recruiting firm supporting our clients in the energy industry with all their personnel needs.
