First, take a deep breath. No really, take a deep breathe. In fact, take a few. Work can be overwhelming let alone all the other stresses of life: paying bills, holiday travel, making time for family and friends, and trying to be healthy. The workload never seems to end and a ‘stress less’ day doesn’t exist.
The good news is, you’re not alone! The better news is, there are actions you can take – starting today – to reduce your stress.
Here are 5 ways to survive work overload:
- Forget about emptying your email inbox. Prioritize only the critical emails.
- Write a daily task list that’s reasonable to accomplish. And be ready to forgive yourself if you don’t accomplish everything on the list.
- Limit distractions, and do your best to keep your daily routine.
- Force yourself to take downtime.
- Learn to say “No.”
The bottom line is that it comes down to you wanting to live a better life – and believe it or not, you do have significant influence over this. But without your commitment to wanting a more balanced, healthy, and relaxed lifestyle, you may be unable to achieve it.
Commitment to wanting to make a positive change is where you need to start. The next step is brainstorming options for where you can begin to make small changes. These small changes build to create a larger impact that can help you become healthier, reduce stress, and achieve better balance in your life.
If you are in a situation where you feel overwhelmed by an accumulating workload and high stress, contact Marilyn today.