My clients generally find their way to me when they’re just at that uncomfortable level of busyness. They’re still holding it together, but they feel that if anything were to go just slightly wrong, everything would come crashing down. And that’s a stressful place to be operating in.
Similarly, businesses know that their teams are overstretched and that they therefore would do well to find ways of supporting their staff. But ironically, they can’t or won’t find the time to address the issue and look for ways of doing less. The message is to do more with less, work smarter not harder (what a joke).
Whatever the circumstances, people are stretched to breaking point and there is no solution that does not involve taking time out: to acknowledge the workload properly in the first place, to observe how many plates we’re spinning, to articulate how we are feeling, to re-connect with why we’re doing this in the first place. And then we can start thinking about doing things differently.
So in this hamster wheel, we need to stop at some point and step aside for a while. We need to create some space to de-clutter our workload and diaries. The alternative, sadly, is not all that pretty and will often lead to burn-out and other serious consequences.
It’s precisely when you think you couldn’t possibly stop for 5 minutes, or that your team couldn’t possibly take half a day out, that it’s critical you do just that. At the latest, one year down the line, you’ll be grateful that you did.
Here are a few tips for how to create space in your weeks:
- look at your diary and see what is there
- identify which meetings you are not actually required to attend (there will be more than you think!)
- consider who you can delegate some tasks to and who could cover for you (this will be a learning opportunity for someone in your team who might want to take on more responsibility)
- if you are required to attend, request an agenda beforehand and be very clear on what input is needed from you. If this is not available, decline the meeting.
- check if you are needed for the whole duration or for only a section of the meeting, and attend accordingly
- make choices around where you want to put your valuable time and attention
Know that everything is a trade-off. If you commit to one thing, you cannot do another at the same time. Similarly, when you say yes to too many things, what you are saying no to is usually your downtime, your rest, time with your family. Of course the harder thing to acknowledge and recognize is that we are not irreplaceable, however much we might like to think we are.
So be truthful with yourself: what do you really need to be doing, versus what are you doing that makes you feel important and indispensable. None of these are a problem, unless they land you in a burn-out situation.
You have more choice than you might see. If you want to explore what that could look like, get in touch and let’s talk.
