Effective Self-Management That Produces Results, Part 2 - Embracing Overwhelm
Sunday, February 6th, 2011Effective “self management,” not “time management” is the way to improve our personal and professional effectiveness and production. Managing overwhelm is one of the keys to that result.
Crucial emails come at us each minute of the day. Important telephone messages must be returned. Our cellphone never stops with the interruptions. SMS messages come from home. Facebook and Twitter messages and standing changes from pals and supporters update each 2nd of the day. Each day we are faced with info overload, which causes us to live in a state of overmaster.
The largest issue for everybody in business or in sales today is overwhelm. And the bad news is simply that it is here permanently. Or, is it very bad stories? I suggest that we change our point of view on the concept of overpower. Andrew Cass announced, “the myth about overwhelm is that it is bad.”
You see, how we view overpower will figure out how you handle overwhelm. Most of the people protest and get irritated about it. I’d suggest that living in that space will not make for a life of joy and accomplishment. Remember, it is not going away, so we must change how we view it and fix it.
What is the alternative option to overwhelm? It’s being underwhelmed. Which would you prefer to have? In my world, underwhelm equals under paid. Who wants that? Not me. My hunch is that you don’t either.
Overwhelm is the offspring of growth. If you are not growing, changing, stretching, becoming better so you can add more value to your world, then you will not be overwhelmed. Once again, I ask, “Who wants that?” Overwhelm always precedes growth.
It is tough for you to avoid overwhelm. It is here and has taken up permanent residence in our lives. However you can find out how to manage it.
Here are a few strategies to help you embrace overwhelm:
1. Schedule a time to manage this kind of information. Block out time in your daily schedule for these activities: Reading, dealing with emails, training, newsletters, returning phone calls are all important and must not be dealt with “on the fly.” Doing these activities whenever you feel like, or trying to “multi-task” them makes you very reactive, and the results are often less than impressive.
Here is a must have : View the management of each piece of information as an appointment. Schedule it in, keep it, and stay on task in that time. And when you arrange anything, set a start and a stop time, just like you would for any other meeting.
2. Disconnect. We all need time for ourselves. We need time for creativity, and brainstorming new ideas. We must continue to learn if we are to grow in our profession. So, here is an idea: turn everything else OFF so you can focus only on the task at hand - the task you scheduled to complete. I find this is especially necessary when the focus is on personal and professional growth. I tend to allow anything and everything that seems urgent to interrupt the things that are most important. So disconnecting by turning the phone OFF, closing down my email, and maybe even placing a “Do Not Disturb” sign on my office door, are all ways that help to increase productivity.
3. Journal your time. Track it all. Schedule your day before it begins, then journal your day throughout, and recap at the end of the day. These words on paper or a screen are very convicting.
This is an easy way of holding yourself responsible, just like making notes of your progress and achievements in an exercise session book. At the close of the day, you hold in front of you proof. That proof will help you to see where your weaknesses and strengths are, and on what areas you want to work.
Four. Batch Your Projects. Dedicate days to projects, not just hours. Instead of making an attempt to achieve huge jobs in little pieces over several weeks or days, take half days, where nothing else is booked except to finish a selected project. Get out of the office and away from diversions. When talking about reading, and studying I’ve found no better method to get large pieces of crucial jobs finished.
Overwhelm is here with a big bang so embrace it and don’t fight or protest about it. Apply these simple tweaks to how you manage your days, and you can begin to take great pride in how much you can reach. You could even find yourself friendly more highly productive challenges in the future as you master these systems.
Blessings,
Jerry Spangler
904-233-2452
Want to find out more? Visit Jerry Spangler and discover his strategies for effective self management ? Also visit Jerry Spangler’s site, Online Income Professionals and get your FREE copy of “Internet Secrets”, an online entrepreneur’s look at marketing on the internet from the inside.