How Office Organizing Strategies Can Help Reduce Burnout
What is burnout? It’s defined as a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. A Gallup poll of 7,500 full-time employees indicates that one in four employees feel burned out at work very often or always, while nearly half report feeling it sometimes. Burnout can overpower your work life – your productivity is reduced, it’s difficult to focus, and you have little to no energy each day. The unfortunate fact is that it doesn’t just stop there – burnout can spill over and affect your home and social life, too. This NYC Professional Office Organizer is sharing office organizing strategies to help curb burnout and put you on the path to a productive and efficient workday.
Implement Boundaries
Often when people are feeling burned out, it’s because they have so much on their plates. They are taking on a lot of work, attending back to back meetings, and have a backlog of phone calls and emails to address. Start by saying “no” to requests for your time, specifically those not related to your current projects. Work with an assistant to prioritize the backlogged calls and emails and have them handle some, if not all, of the responses. Remember, when you say no to one request, it can free you up to complete a task on your list and to say yes to the commitments you really do want to make. Proactively block time on your calendar – if you want to enjoy a work free weekend, then make sure to schedule time Friday afternoon to clear your desk and complete last-minute tasks before heading out of the office.
Set Priorities
When your to-do list is a mile long and there is no end in sight, the state of overwhelm can completely engulf you. Combat this by setting priorities. (prioritizing blog link) Start by looking at your to-do list and your calendar and pick out the 1-2 most important tasks that are due first. Focus on only these and don’t worry about working on other tasks until these are done. For any task that you specifically don’t have to complete, consider outsourcing or delegating it to someone else on your team. Once your priorities have been clearly identified, you’ll feel less overwhelmed on a daily basis.
Utilize Less Technology
We know that communication technology is important to productivity. Set guidelines for yourself, your team, and your clients to follow that will make it easier for you to turn off your phone and put work aside for a while. Turn off your cell phone ringer during family time. Remove the social media apps from your phone so that you aren’t tempted to scroll through posts when you should be working on a task with an imminent deadline. Schedule specific times of the day to process email – turn off your notifications for emails on your phone so you aren’t tempted to check whenever the alert sounds!
Take Care Of You
If you aren’t taking care of yourself, there is no amount of organizing strategies that will fix the bigger picture. Make sure you are eating regularly, sleeping the recommended hours per night, taking time to do things you enjoy, and exercising frequently. If you’ve got your workload and office organized, you are taking care of yourself, and you still feel burned out, then it’s time to seek out professional help. Your health is important and it’s a good idea to ask for help if you need it.
Burnout is a real concern for today’s workforce, but by implementing organizing strategies you’ll feel more productive and less stressed, hopefully leading to less burnout down the road. For more office organizing strategies and support, reach out to your NYC Professional Office Organizer today.