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What to do when you can’t keep up?
By Matt Richardson | March 11, 2008
It’s the situation that nearly every self employed worker should love, but rarely do. You have too much work on your plate and you can’t keep up. What to do now?
Well, Lately I have been nearly consumed with the work that has been placed on my table. I have been working on several different projects (working on updates to various websites, working on re-skinning my blog, etc) but unfortunately with so many things on the docket at the same time I can only keep up with so much. Thankfully after a little bit of hard work and some late earnings I caught up. Right around the time I finished the bulk of my work, I realized I did not need to work harder, I needed to work smarter. Some of the things that I have adapted to help in this circumstance are as follows…
1. Make a to do list.
For me a to do list is one of the ultimate ways to not only get organized, but also it helps me get more done. By organizing my workload in order of precedence I found that some of the work that I was worried about could have been easily been set on the back burner for later.
2. Break your work down.
I find that I can easily get overwhelmed when I have a lot of stuff on my task list. Thankfully I know that I feel that much better when I get something done, no matter how small it is. That is why I find that if I break my work down into smaller chunks that are a little more bite sized I can not only get more done, but it also helps me feel good about it.
3. Eliminate your current tasks or ask for help
If you are getting behind or overwhelmed with your current workload, I found it’s sometimes best to simply get rid of anything that you can get rid of, weather it means that simply getting rid of it, putting it on the back burner, or asking for help. This makes it so you can concentrate on the most important things.
4. “Just say no.”
Realistically this tip can be both effective and dangerous. Most of the time I find that it is easy to say yes to every ting that is brought to my attention, but sometimes that is not the best idea, sometimes you are better off simply saying no. Before we get too far I would like to forewarn anyone who is taking this advice. ONLY say no if you absolutely can afford to say no. nothing like losing your job or a good client.
5. Just “do” it.
If nothing else works, it’s probably the best bet to simply get started. Than after you have got started you can then go back and re-evaluate things.
With that being said what do you do to help keep up?
Topics: Help and advice |
