Wherever you work, being on top of all that needs to be done is hard. As a small business we understand the challenges that come with a hectic work life. The to-do lists are endless, the evenings get taken over and we forget that- at some point- you must take a break.
It’s also crucial that everyone makes time to look after themselves, especially those who work in the charity sector, where the work is so crucial. We thought we’d share some tips for how we ensure that the workload doesn’t become overwhelming.
- Protect your diary
Diary protection is something that we try to invoke in our own schedules, and we recommend it to busy charity CEOs, but absolutely everyone should be doing this to prevent overwhelm. It involves blocking out time before or after meetings, to crack on with any actionable tasks that came out of the conversations. This means that you are on top of your workload and give yourself the time required to move from one task to the next.
By intentionally managing your calendar, you set expectations for your day, align your priorities and think about what matters most to you. It also encourages a flexible work style – most useful for those who work from home. This means you can make changes to your day, meet someone for lunch, finish early one day next week, because you planned and shifted your hours to ensure you make it to the personal plans too.
Use ‘no meeting zones’ within your calendar, review how you handled your time each week and make use of virtual assistants or admin teams to delegate tasks that perhaps don’t need to be on you.
- Use ‘work hours’ settings on your inbox
One issue that comes with working in this digital age, is that you can never get away from work. Emails and WhatsApp groups are often on your personal phone, so switching from work to home life can be really difficult. One way you can try to keep a little distance is utilising the work hours settings in your email platform. This is a crucial way to protect your time off.
You can make automated after-hours email responses, you can change your time off each week and communicate your working hours to help de-stress, and prevent your working day slipping into your evenings.
To find out how to do this, click here for gmail, and here for outlook.
- Learn to say no
Similar to setting work hours on your emails, learning to say no will help you set clear boundaries in the work you can achieve in any given time. You have been hired because you are the right fit, now you need to ensure that the job fits into your life, and that your personal priorities are met.
This comes in many different aspects of work life, but start by thinking about realistic targets, and what might need to be deferred or put on hold one week, to reach those firm deadlines. You’re allowed to say that it’s too much, or that something may not be feasible by yourself – but to maintain healthy work relationships, those issues need to be addressed early in the process. Don’t leave it too late and communicate any concerns or potential issues that may arise.
- Find ways to switch off in the evenings
Evenings are crucial in maintaining a work life balance. Whether you live alone, have family to attend to, or a dog to feed, switching off will drastically improve your mental wellbeing. Learning when to chat your support system’s ear off about your dreadful day at work, and when to move forward and relax, is as important as the previous suggestions.
Think about ways to move from your working hours to relaxation. If you work in an office, this will likely be the drive home, or the wander back. Today, many people work from home, so coming up with transitionary activities can be a really useful technique for switching off.
For our team member Katie, she makes sure to close all the tabs on her laptop, makes herself a calming cup of tea, and re-enters her space to relax for the evening. Even simple things like washing your hands or splashing your face may do the trick too. It can also help to make the space you enter calming, by putting some music on, or lighting a candle.
- Get sleep
It may seem ridiculously obvious to you, but we all need sleep. In fact, it’s one of our basic needs as human beings. So why is it often the thing we neglect? Making time for yourself in the evenings should work alongside and as part of your night-time routine, so it compliments rather than gets in the way of you getting those 8 hours.
It’s also often assumed that everyone needs the same amount of sleep. But the reality is that some people can handle less sleep, whilst others will struggle without it. Reflect on how you are when you get less sleep and try to prioritise it.
- Focus on small wins
We often think about tasks on a mammoth scale. But looking at tasks in the micro, by making lists that separate a task into achievable chunks, can help with the overwhelming feelings of it all being too much. By changing your perspective on such tasks, and instead thinking of them in this way, you’ll find it doesn’t seem so big and scary, but instead manageable and achievable.
If you’re looking you more ways to manage your time, check out our simple one pager with 6 easy time savers for busy charity CEOs, you might find some other useful tips.
