8 Things You Absolutely Must Do When There Is Too Much to Do

Do you want to know the 8 things you must do when you have too much to do?

Have you ever felt there was just too much to do and not enough time to get it all done? As an adult, we manage multiple responsibilities that are urgent and important to our lives and those connected to us. When the merging of those important and urgent properties happens all at once our responsibilities start to feel unmanageable.

As a grad student, full-time school leader, and long-distance caretaker I have had my share of moments where I’ve felt overwhelmed because I had too much to do with very little time. Whether you are a student, parent, professional, or all three you can use these tips to help you manage when time gets short.

This post details exactly what you need to do when there is too much to do and too little time.

Allow me to set the scene. It is 5:00 pm on Thursday and you are preparing for a presentation you have to deliver tomorrow. You have to clean your house for a dinner party you’re hosting Friday night, after work. You still need to purchase a present for your friend’s baby shower that you are flying out of town to on Saturday morning. What are you going to pack? How will you style your hair? When are you going to prepare for the dinner party? Questions start to swirl in your mind and you feel the pressure of all the priorities. Considering all the things you need to get done, you can not figure a way out of it. There’s just too much to do! I have been there more than I’d like to remember. Along the way, I have learned a few things from trial and listening to the wisdom of others.

8 Things You Absolutely Must Do When THERE IS too Much to Do

1) Stop.

Your flight, fight, or freeze kicks in. Whatever you decide to do next could set you back even further because you aren’t thinking strategically. My mother often said, “Haste, makes waste”. This is not the time to make extreme decisions or have tough conversations. Your emotions are high, talk yourself off of whatever ledge you are on and simply stop in your tracks. Give yourself 15 focused and calm minutes to organize the next few days and hours. Stop what you are doing, grab a writing utensil, take some paper, and don’t take any calls. Allow yourself 15 minutes to think, plan, and prioritize.

A great way to get focused during this time is to play focus music or retreat to a silent area. You want to make sure you are in an interruption-free calm space so that you can think strategically about the upcoming days.

2) Write Down Your Plan.

After you find an interruption-free space take 15 minutes to organize and plan your strategy. You must write down all the things you need to do during your crunch time. Think about the small things like preparing dinner and the big things like presenting to the department leaders. To make the items that you include on this list actionable, ensure that each item starts with a verb. Otherwise, you run the risk of not writing down an action, but an idea. When you try to“do” an idea you still need to figure out the action you need to take to address it.

Use this time now to write down the actions you need to take. Do your best to capture all the tasks, deadlines, meetings, and priorities that you have coming up. Writing down what you have to do takes everything that you are holding in your head out. It relieves you of the responsibility of remembering your plans and tasks. This is why I recommend that you learn to plan your week by determining your priorities, tasks, deadlines, and appointments ahead of time in my time management activity book. That way you can get ahead of a busy week in advance.

Make sure this paper is spacious and gives you enough area to edit and update. This sheet will become your best friend for the next few days until you have completed all the things that you have set out to accomplish.

3) Plan and Prioritize.

Now that you have made an actionable list of all the things to do, it is time to prioritize. Have you heard of the Eisenhower Matrix? The Eisenhower Matrix is a task management methodology that organizes tasks based on urgency and importance. Forbes has a detailed article here explaining the methodology and practice of using the matrix. Basically, the methodology recommends prioritizing the urgent and important things first and the non-important and non-urgent things last. Then fill in the tasks that are important and nonurgent and the tasks that are unimportant but urgent. When I think of importance I think of the scale of impact a given task has on life, work, and relationships. Urgency is measured by the deadlines that are created by requests or by their relation to other tasks.

Consider the tasks that you have written down and go through each task to determine if they are urgent or nonurgent. If the task is urgent write an “A” next to it, and if it does not have an emerging deadline write a “B” next to it. Start again at the top of your list; identify the tasks that have a greater impact and write “1”. Give a “2” to the unimportant tasks. Ideally, tasks labeled A1 should be the top priority; they get the most attention, energy, and urgency. Tasks that are labeled B2 are the items that should be deprioritized to a later time.

Check out the example table I made below using the scenario above.

There are quite a few A1 tasks that are listed and less B2. When you are in a crunch, this is to be expected. This exercise helps you to distill your list of to-do’s even further. Preventing you from being sidetracked by the things that aren’t the best use of your time.

4) Out Source.

If you have the resources and you need to free some time and energy, outsource your tasks. Common things that you can outsource are laundry, house cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, and car maintenance. These tasks can be a huge time suck. When I lived in New York, I used a laundry service to wash and fold my clothes. I had so many other competing priorities, this service was a lifesaver. It was less expensive for me to wash my clothes on my own. Having an extra 3 hours over the weekend was much more valuable. Even if you don’t use a service regularly, think about keeping a few in your back pocket to reference when you need to broker more time from your schedule.

Review the tasks that are on your list and choose the ones that you can outsource. If you have to wash clothes for your trip it may be worthwhile to hire a service. Instead of cooking, this may be the night when ordering out is most appropriate. Having the gift wrapped and delivered to the location ahead of your arrival may be the best option for you. Outsourcing your task when you are in a crunch can save you time to focus more on higher priorities.

5) A B- is better than a F.

When I worked in New York, I had a job requiring constant prioritization and reprioritization because there were many tasks. Working in a school serving over 350 students and families never provided a dull moment. One of the two lessons my supervisor shared with me that I haven’t forgotten is to be okay with a B-. While we want to provide an A+ product in everything that we do, sometimes it is wiser to go for the B+. Some items must be A+ and some don’t. For example, the research and content of your presentation should be A+ but the graphics don’t need to be. That may sound counterintuitive and crass, but taking the B- will allow you to get more done.

The key to this idea is identifying what items you can spend less time perfecting. For example, if you are employed at a graphic design firm you actually may not be able to turn in B- slide graphics. Whereas, if you work in an industry that doesn’t value aesthetics over readability, choose to give B – effort there. Focus your time on perfecting what is important to those that your responsibilities impact.

6) Manage your Energy.

Contrary to the tendency to put ourselves last during crunch time, this is the time when we need to check in with ourselves the most. There have been times when I needed to put in more hours to complete a project by the next day. Since I was aware that I work best during the morning, I decided to go to sleep sooner to wake up earlier to give myself more time. I was able to double the rate of my work production by understanding how to manage my energy.

Identify when you should work on your most urgent and important tasks during this crunch period. Dedicate the time when you are most energetic and clear to your A1 to-do’s. Make decisions to optimize your energy for your high-priority tasks.

7) Use a Lifeline.

Sometimes deadlines have to be adjusted. Reserve this as a very last resort and only use it rarely when the situation cannot be avoided. The goal should be to plan out and advocate for adjustments well in advance, however, that doesn’t always happen. Identify the tasks that are not important but urgent; can those deadlines be moved? Tasks in the A1 category are at a level of importance and urgency that these deadlines should not move except for an emergency.

In cases when you need to have a deadline adjusted choose the deadline with the least impact on others. Be sure to communicate why you need the deadline moved, your plan to have the work completed, and an updated deadline.

8) Phone a Friend or an Enemy.

Communication is key! When your deadlines are tight and you have a lot on your plate, communicate the status of your work and deliverables to the necessary parties. Whether it’s your children, boss, or friends, letting them know where you are in your progress can give them context on your situation. My former boss would always say the absence of communication breeds negativity. The extra step of communicating your progress builds trust and clarity so others can provide support and insight. When we don’t communicate our challenges, we don’t allow the opportunity for help to find us.

When working on a project or planning a trip for your family plan in touch points to communicate your progress. However, when you are in a crunch and haven’t communicated consistently, it may feel worrisome to start. Regardless, as soon as you can communicate it is best to do so. When you share your challenges include 2 – 3 solutions and the route you are planning to take.

8 Things You Absolutely Must Do When There Is Too Much to Do

Do you want to know the 8 things you must do when you have too much to do?