When life gets overwhelming it can be easy to spiral and quickly nothing that needs to be getting done is actually getting done. And that is a normal part of life! But thankfully there are things you can do to still get things done when you are struggling with feeling overwhelmed. Which is what we are going to be chatting about today, 9 things to do when you feel overwhelmed to get things done!
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9 Things To Do When You Feel Overwhelmed To Get Things Done
What to do when you feel overwhelmed:
1: Evaluate where your time is going during the day.
The best way to figure out how your day is being spent and where your time is going is to do a time log.
Don’t do anything different. Try to pick a “normal” work day and then go about your day like normal other than every 30 minutes jot down in a notebook what you did those past 30 minutes. Be honest with yourself. You will not be able to improve your time management if you are not honest with how you are currently spending your time.
This is important because by understanding how you spend your time you are able to figure out where you have opportunities to improve your time management.
2: Make a to do list.
This is truly so essential for getting things done when you are feeling truly overwhelmed.
Daily to do lists help you get not only an idea of what you need to get done but are an amazing tool for helping you stay on track. And as most of us know, staying on track is one of the hardest elements to getting more done every day.
If you want more details on how to write and really follow your daily to do lists then you need to go check out my detailed guide: How to Make an “Every Day Goals” List.
3: Take strategic short breaks throughout the day.
This seems like the opposite of productivity but it’s not actually!
I have a whole guide on taking breaks here but in a nutshell when you take strategically timed and planned for breaks throughout your day you actually can help yourself be refreshed and recharged. Which ultimately leads to improved productivity each day.
It also helps you avoid feelings of burn out and declining mental wellness. Which you don’t want for a lot of reasons of course including that if you get to feeling burnt out you won’t be productive and working towards your dreams. Balance is important in your life and taking strategic breaks is an amazing way to ensure you have balance while still helping with improving your productivity and allowing you to maintain a higher level of daily productivity.
Also, make sure you are using your break minutes to truly disconnect. No sneaking a look at your work devices or checking for a message from your boss.
4: Do not multitask!
If you aren’t being productive but you are trying to then there is a solid chance you are multitasking.
Multitasking makes you less productive!
You think that you are getting a lot done at once but really your brain is just rapidly switching between tasks. Which means you are losing time in-between while you switch between tasks.
And you are not truly focusing on each individual task. Which means in the long run it will actually take you longer to get each thing done.
5: Use a planner or calendar to keep track of deadlines and schedule.
Planners are one of if not the most helpful tool for getting and being more productive and staying focused on what you need to get done.
The planner I currently use and totally swear by is the Erin Condren life planner (get it here!).
It truly helps me stay organized which makes me way more productive. So if you want to learn to have productive days then you definitely need to be using a planner!
6: Try task batching.
Task batching is a skill that can seriously make your days more efficient. Which is beyond helpful for helping you get more things done each and every day. This productivity hack is great for time management especially if you tend to be easily distracted.
The idea of it is that you batch together a lot of things at once. For example, if you are a social media manager this would be batching a whole months worth of Instagram content photos in one day. And then the next day making all the captions. Then the next batching Instagram story graphics.
The reason this skill works so well is you can really get into the grove of a certain task and often you save time by not having to set things up every day. Getting a whole bunch of a similar task done at once can also help give you some “emergency space” so if something comes up in two weeks you have already finished a lot of the more time consuming work.
So an emergency doesn’t totally wreck your day!
7: Try a new time management system.
This activity is so helpful! When you find a time management system that works the best for you then you will be able to get more done.
I have a post linked here talking about 9 ideas for time management systems to try!
Often what is making us feel overwhelmed is that our time management system isn’t working. So trying out a new time management systems can really help you stop feeling overwhelmed and help you get back to being productive.
8: Focus on prioritization.
This is such a helpful tip for getting everything important done. Which also leads to generally getting more done in the day!
It will take time and effort to really learn the skills necessary to prioritize your days without really focusing on it but eventually it will start to become second nature.
Start practicing prioritization but numbering your daily to do lists from 1 down to the last item in order of importance and then stick to that prioritizing schedule. It will help you genuinely get the hang of prioritizing tasks.
9: Automate as many tasks as possible.
Automating certain tasks can help you save so much time in your life.
Take this day to spend some time figuring out what aspects of your life you can automate or just generally use technology to help you save time. Things like paying bills can be easily automated and safe you a lot of time! Also consider signing up for grocery pick up services which can really help you regain a lot of time in your week.
Korra-Shay
If you found this article on things to do when you feel overwhelmed to get things done then you probably (hopefully!) will find these helpful as well:
- Time Management Ideas To Help You Stop Procrastinating
- 72 Affirmations For Productivity And Focus Today
- Self Awareness Activities For Your Personal Growth Journey
- 40 Journal Prompts For When You Are Stressed
- How To Decrease Screen Time: Phone Addict Edition!
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