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Reduce Your Workload-Reduce Stress

Stress is the most common side effect of too much work. Even if you have been handling it well for some time, it doesn't mean you should continue to let it stress you. If you can't get through a month without feeling drained, you may need help with your workload.

Naturally, job responsibilities tend to grow with time, especially when enterprises cannot hire additional help due to economic condition. Instead of adding more people to the team, organizations expect the current employees to take on more responsibilities and roles. While you may be able to take care of these responsibilities for a short while, there's only a limit to how much a person can do.



Therefore, it is crucial that you create boundaries, or the increase in workload can be overwhelming and stressful. The best way is to stay ahead of the game and follow the tips below to keep yourself stress-free and motivated in the office,.

Set Your Limits
 
The first and most important step to reduce workload and its associated stress is to acknowledge your limits. If you are burdened with an unrealistically heavy workload, realizing and admitting that you can't manage it all is imperative to get the situation under control.

Even if you somehow complete today's workload, chances are that your inbox could be much loaded the next day Setting boundaries to how much you can work will help you control the situation. Learn to say 'no' to people who are trying to overload you with work, or at least make sure you communicate your boundaries with them, so they only set realistic expectations from you.

Taking on more work to catch up could affect the quality of your work. This could affect you and your job in the long run. It is natural to miss deadlines and experience exhausted health if you keep doing excessive work.

Prepare Your List
 
Don't be overwhelmed with mounting work. This will only make handling work more difficult. In fact, a great way to deal with the growing workload is to make a list and write down everything beforehand.

Make a list of tasks, meetings, subtasks, and researchfor the day. This 'to-do' list will give you a clear idea of how you should manage your day and map out the tasks accordingly. It allows you to see the bigger picture to figure out if the deadlines set for the day will be met.

Making a list will also help you prioritize tasks based onurgency level. You can pinpoint deadlines and set realistic targets to get work done in time without getting overwhelmed.

Learn to Prioritize
 
Now that your 'to-do' list is ready, figure out if you can manage everything that's listed down. If not, pick the tasks that require your attention first. Also, it is important to accept and be at peace with the fact that some of the tasks on the list could be left undone.

According to business experts, this process is also known as 'workload triage'. The idea is to assess the tasks to figure out the tasks needs to get done in urgency and tasks that can be taken care of later.

Remember one thing, the simplest task isn't always the most important one. In fact, it's a trap, and it can consume more time finishing off simpler and unimportant tasks than important ones.

Here's an effective method of prioritizing designed by Franklin-Cover. This method requires you to highlight tasks based on the following:
  1. Important and urgent
  2. Important but not urgent
  3. Urgent but not important
  4. Neither important or urgent
Pass every task down from A to D to prioritize your list and work accordingly.

Use Helpful Tools
 
Work gets stressful when you do not have enough support to complete it on time. While you can always ask your teammates and subordinates to help you around, you can also rely on technology to boost your productivity.

Look for productive tools to see if you can benefit from using them. You can find tons of communication and collaborative tools to help you with work. Depending on your role at the workplace, you can also use other practical advances like tools for printing deposit slips, payroll services, and taking care of other time-consuming paperwork.

Take your time and find out the best tools that help you complete all the tasks in time and reduce your workload as well as work-related stress

Focus On One Thing At A Time
 
For career-oriented individuals, it is very common to feel tempted to take on more tasks than they can manage. For them, it is the best way to improve their importance in the workplace. While some people are actually good at it, multi-tasking is not for everyone.

In fact, in situations where there are different types of tasks, it becomes even more difficult to focus on several things at once. Instead of saving your time, it can divert your attention and complicate tasks even more.

Even if you are eager to climb up the corporate ladder fast, it is best to do one thing at a time and move onto the next task once you are done with the first one

Gain Motivation
 
Positivity is the key to success, while negativity leads to failure. Motivation is the positivity that can help you deal with work-related stress. Do anything that motivates you. It could be obtaining new IT trainingor certification like CCIE Data Center Certification​, CCIE Collaboration​ certification, or learning to use new tech to help with work. Motivation helps harness positivity and helps you achieve career and personal goals.

Motivation also helps you figure out the main reason you are putting yourself through the stress. Unlock your value, build momentum, and stay motivated to reduce your workload

Final Word
 
Don't hesitate in asking for help. Save yourself before you are weighed down with deadly deadlines and the immense level of workload. Communicate your limitation to your manager and do not let workload or stressmess up your quality of work. Speaking to your authorities about your difficultiescan help you with your situation.

These simple tips can really help make a difference. So try them out today!