6 Questions to Ask When You Feel Overwhelmed

Competing priorities, unfinished tasks, upcoming projects, unexpected circumstances and any personal challenges will all make one feel overwhelmed. You try and create a “To Do” list and realize that several of the items could be number one. What do you do?

You need to make decisions based upon what is most important right now and today. You need to know how these decisions impact your overall objectives right now, today, and tomorrow.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1)   What decisions must be made today based upon timelines which cannot be changed?

2)   What resources do I need?

3)   Who has the time and/or experience to do or help with certain tasks?

4)   What can I say “no” to?

5)   How much time will it take and how much time do I have?

6)   What will happen if I speak up and tell key decision makers that I need help?

Hopefully, answering these questions will help alleviate some of the stress associated with a heavy work load. A co-worker once told me that assertive people manage their time to prevent scheduling conflicts. If you are reading this, I’m sure you have the right level of assertiveness to lessen your load. What strategies will you use to make a change?