Don’t stress, but Reset
Million Dollar advise, don’t stress, but reset! Whenever you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulder and you are not sure of how to shelve it. Take a deep breath, disengage for a minute, realign your mindset and see if you can tackle the problem/workload step-by-step.
Short Story….
I recently had a conversation with a friend, who was so overwhelmed with everything he had to accomplish within a short period of time.
He complained saying:
“I have so much work to do and they all seem to be due at the same time. I don’t even know where to begin and it just seems like things just keep piling up… I’m not sure that I will be able to accomplish anything because the demands are too much. I can’t get my head around what is being required of me” …
So, I asked:
“What do you have to do? Do you have a list of what needs to be done and their due dates? Have you tried to put together a plan regarding how to accomplish these tasks, goal by goal? Why don’t we come up with a list of your to-dos, then peel the onion layer by layer to determine what needs to be done and how to tackle each task “…
And that’s what we did! We:
- Listed each task by the due dates, level of work required for each and amount of anticipated time to accomplish each. Then rearranged the list reprioritizing based on the following:
- Amount of work needed (easiest to hardest, fun to boring, amount of research needed from least to most)
- Due date (from earliest to latest)
- Anticipated time it would take to accomplish (e.g. 30 mins, 1 hour, 3 days etc.)
- Rearranged each task, prioritizing based on ease of work, due date and completion time. I.e. the immediate tasks to complete were the easiest and fun ones (goal was to knock those out so that list diminished progressively); while beginning the hard and boring ones at the same time, but spreading these out through a period of time.
- Assigned accomplishable estimated completion time to each step of the tasks and ensured that these were realistic (considering other social or unanticipated things that may occur/interrupt).
- We compiled the completion time for each task and determined the total amount of time needed to complete all of the work required.
- Compared the completion times to his deadlines and ensured that we were within the designated timeframes.
At the end of this exercise, which took about 30 minutes, my friend said,
“Hey, I think I can handle everything I have on my plate and be done before our target completion date. With everything laid out this way, I understand what needs to be done and can approach it target by target. I am actually excited to begin and finish so that I can move on to other things. I think I will use this method, going forward. Thank you.”
Conclusion and my thoughts:
Well with that said, I felt like my job was accomplished… But in thinking about the experience, I realize that we all get wound up about little things that are very manageable, and sometimes it is difficult to see the path in the forest, amidst all the trees…. That is typically the case until we take a step back, take a deep breath, assess the situation and reset our strategy/frame of mind. It also helps if we talk to others about how we are feeling, because sometimes it takes the help of others, who are not in the forest, to guide us through the path and out.
So friends, whenever you feel like you’ve got too much to do and you are overwhelmed by the workload before you, DON’T STRESS, JUST RESET! Peel the onion layer by layer, and then re-align your tasks… and when you feel like you can’t see the path to accomplishment, grab the attention of a worthy person who can help you step away, take a deep breath and RESET!
While resetting, take a look at my blog about loving yourself first, and live it!
Happy Reading and Remember to Always Make it a Great Day!
