Workplace overwhelm. It can paralyze even the calmest, most organized professional, limiting productivity, increasing anxiety, and decreasing job satisfaction. In this post, Human Performance Expert and our Newest Corporate Wellness Consultant Tim Hanway shares his top three tips to defeat feeling overwhelmed at work. This advice will help you tackle your to-do list and do the work that really moves the needle.

1. Reduce Feeling Overwhelmed by Writing Things Down

Memory alone is a poor performance tool. To start making progress, you’ll need to get every one of those to-dos out of your head and on to paper (or your laptop). Think of this as a free-flowing stream of consciousness. Don’t worry if non-work-related tasks make it on to your list too. To get to a destination, you need to know where you are starting your journey from.

Productivity tools we love: Evernote, X-Mind, or good old fashioned pen and paper.

2. Prioritize Your Tasks for Better Productivity When You’re Overwhelmed

Now we are going to take all of those tasks and group them according to specific parameters. The beauty of this step is you will see what you really need to get done. It can also help you understand what to delegate and what is just taking up precious real estate in your head. The Eisenhower Matrix is the perfect planning tool to do this. It organizes your tasks based on degrees of urgency and importance.

Productivity tools we love: Priority Matrix

3. Ask Yourself the Focusing Question

When you’re overwhelmed at work (or in another area of your life), try asking yourself: “What is the one thing that you can do that makes everything else either easier or unnecessary?”

Taken from Gary Keller’s book ‘The One Thing,’ this question gives you clarity on what your exact next step should be, from automating specific daily tasks, delegating tasks to others, or even choosing not to do something.

Recently one of our Corporate Wellness clients was asked to teach a 6-week training course to his peers. Rather than starting from scratch, our recommendation was to invite the previous year’s teacher out to lunch. This would provide the opportunity to gain their insight on the planning and implementation of the project. The result? Hours of unnecessary work saved and the added benefit of the wisdom and experience of someone who had done this before.

Bring these productivity tips to your workplace

In our newest Corporate Wellness Workshop, ‘Performance and Productivity 101,’ we share Tim’s top techniques, tips, tools, hacks, and habits to increase performance and output in your office. For more information about hosting this workshop at a workplace in Boston or New York, please email Kat, our Director of Corporate Wellness at kat@jenniferhanway.com.