Feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin to organize your work?
We’re on what seems to be day 756 of lock-down. Children have only had 34 days of in-person school this year. While I am languishing, I also feel like I’m running on the fasted treadmill of my life. Perhaps you are experiencing something similar?
Nonprofit professionals notoriously wear many hats. In times like this, it’s okay to just hop from one urgent task to another at first, but this is unsustainable for strong program management. What’s more, when you actually do have time to work, it’s hard to know where and how to start. Follow these four steps to get started:
- Take a deep breath
- Go room to room, or department to department. This is a technique used for household management, walk into each space of your home, look around and write down all the things that need your attention. Think through each area you are responsible for and brainstorm everything that needs doing. Write down everything.
- In that list, give each task a time, and highlight the priorities.
- Tackle the list. You’ll feel accomplished for completing 5 hours of work in 5 hours. Don’t let the remaining 78 items on your list get you down.
The benefit of this list is you’ll know exactly what to turn to when you have a few minutes, rather than wasting that time feeling overwhelmed, frustrating, and possibly scrolling through email or social media, again.
If you need help brainstorming or getting started, connect with us. This is just one of the many ways were help you help others, for free.