We were yakking to a builder the other day – as we are always inclined to do! He was looking in general, a bit harassed. His phone kept ringing, and he kept silencing the calls because he’d just got to the end of how much he could handle that day.
We can all definitely relate to that feeling….. but these days its our emails that goes berserk. Leave the computer for five minutes and come back to a dozen new emails! And everyone wants a little piece of you….. you get the feeling that you shouldn’t complain, its great to be busy, but overwhelm is a real thing and it can mess with you if you don’t put strategies in place to help deal with it.
So, We thought we would throw out a few of the tips and tricks we use and have seen used successfully by others to help mitigate the weighty feeling of overwhelm.
Use your online calendar
Its all well and good to have your A4 diary that gets thrown in the front of your van as your bible regarding what you are doing and when….
But if you just spend ten minutes each day entering in your key appointments on to your online calendar and have that attached to your phone then you can use the reminders that ding through to help keep you on track without constantly having to flip through the pages in your diary.
Another awesome way to use your calendar, and this is something we all do religiously, is pick times and days that you will perform certain tasks and stick to it.
Example, on Mondays you will find our Marketing gurus entire afternoon booked out just for writing blogs!!!!!
It makes me feel so much better knowing that I have time set aside to do it, otherwise it just sits in my mind and I stress about when I might be able to get it done.
Delegate
Believe it or not, you aren’t the best at everything. We employ people much cleverer to take the load off so we can concentrate on the things we are good at E.G. PRICING! not building a house or drafting plans!
We are not suggesting you need a huge entourage of people on the payroll….. but if you were to sit down and have a bit of a heart to heart with yourself regarding all the things you do, and if you are the best person to do them all, you may be surprised at the results.
Hiring people as subcontractors to do this work for you can have magical effect…. Your brain has the opportunity to open up. Not only do you have more time to do what you are good at, you also have time to spend on the business, rather than in it.
Think, marketing, social media, construction programming, accounts, pricing, health and safety….. what else could you get off your desk that you don’t love doing?
Lastly…
These are just a few ideas, and my last little nugget is for those of you who wake up at night or struggle to get to sleep because of all the business stuff that’s on your mind….. keep a notebook by your bed.