Like me... do you ever feel so overwhelmed with all the work you have to do that you end up getting none of them done?
By all means, allow me share something that I've found works for me... and of course bore you along the way with other stuff you may not want to hear about - just kidding - no I'm not.
For the last couple of days, I've been stuck working (or trying to) from my room because I, like over a million other young people in my part of the country cannot go to work because of the political brouhaha that has ensued since that faithful day in November 2016... (I'm going to resist the urge to write about it.)... and it's been a nightmare trying to get work done.
Normally, I have a huge problem with routine - it bores me - and so while we've been able to achieve most of our objectives around Operational Excellence (I'll blog about it sometime later) at my company Y'G, the result of this progress has been an introduction of routine into my days... Is it important? Is this routine necessary? Is it the secret behind the growth we've been able to enjoy so far...?
IT CERTAINLY IS... and I'll write about it sometime later as well... maybe ðŸ˜
Right now, let me quickly get this thought on overcoming the feeling of being overwhelmed with tasks out of my head before I get bored by the idea to blog about it.
If you are like me... then you like new challenges, something different, something new... something you've not done before... a new tribe to conquer, if you will... and anything that doesn't challenge you feels unimportant, not worthy and overwhelming. Or maybe, you're NORMAL and you sometimes just get overwhelmed by the things you need to do or tasks you need to complete in your day.
This is not a pretty feeling, because 8 out of 10 times, you'll end up looking for something fun, like watching a movie... or chit chatting and you'll do it for the rest of the day. I've already brushed on my TV Shows (Empire, Power, Lethal Weapon, Suits and I'm about to finish season 4 of Survivor's remorse) - great shows you should check out too.
So what usually works for me?
I've found that the most effective way of dealing with this overwhelming feeling is to develop better Productivity, Time and Task Management Habits.
1) It all begins with little Notepad
Tust me, a Notepad will save your life... Whip one out and start scratching away. Outline all the tasks you absolutely have to do, rank them in order of what needs to be completed first and establish a To-Do list.
Although highly recommended (I may write about it later), your Notepad must not be a physical piece of paper and pen... It could be digital:- Windows Desktop's Sticky Notes, Google's Keep, Microsoft's oneNote, etc.
2) Break down each Task into Achievable Steps.
Taking a few Minutes to identify a step by step process of achieving each task will give you and your #Productivity a much needed daily boost...
It is not enough to say you have to design a client's website for example... you need to go further to identify step by step what this will mean:- atomic breakdown, homepage layout, default pages, news page, etc...
By breaking down each task, what you're doing is demystifying the "workload" you thought was involved in each of them and you're helping your mind realise that "there's nothing to it"... Just Do It!
3) Check Completed Tasks
After completing each task... check it... or if you're using a physical notepad... scratch it off... scratch it off so roughly that you can hardly make sense of any single letter on that task.... and feel good about yourself for doing it, regardless of what anybody tells you...
Simon Sinek talks about the benefits of actually scratching things off your to-do list in one of his videos. According to him, scratching off a task releases dopamine which is responsible for keeping you motivated.
so... Scratch away
4) Use Digital Assistants and Tools
Finally, we live in a digital world after all... and digital assistants and tools can make your life a living hell just as as much as they can transform you into a productivity genuis.
The day I found Any.do, it felt like falling in love... she was everything I needed... whether I'm using the desktop, web version or mobile app, I can create tasks and subtasks, add notes, files, etc... set notifications, recurring tasks, etc to it. Did I say she earlier??? I meant it...
So... try the above and let me know how it goes for you.