Balancing Workload Effectively

Are you struggling in an under-resourced #workplace? Inadequate staffing has been cited as one of the biggest stressors in today's business world. As employees struggle to manage the job responsibilities of 2 or 3 people, exhaustion happens first. Long working hours, with little to no downtime, leads to mental and physical fatigue. In the long term, it’s the pressure to continue to meet high expectations, even though the workload is unmanageable, that causes #burnout. At this stage, employees either collapse or quit. As employees we know working like this is harmful and not sustainable, but we keep going. The fears of: ❗️ disapproval and judgement  ❗️ missing out on a promotion  ❗️ being seen as weak, imperfect or a poor performer  ❗️ letting people down ❗️ being indispensable ❗️ conflict or confrontation ❗️ rejection or job loss make us soldier on. The hope of change fuels us to keep going. But eventually, even that won't save us from burning out. If you’re in an under-resourced environment and struggling with your workload, standing up for your physical, emotional and mental needs is crucial. Otherwise, burnout will ensue. Take charge of what you can: ✅ Reduce overwhelm by creating a list of most critical/time-sensitive tasks and focus on those first. Break down larger tasks into smaller, manageable mini-goals. ✅ Block time for specific tasks, including breaks - eliminate distractions, and learn how to say “no” to additional workload and people (you can also say “I can’t do it now but I can do it *state time* or “colleague” can help you…) ✅ Communicate challenges and ask for guidance, tools and techniques from managers, mentors, HR, colleagues ✅ Learn/model influencing, selling and negotiating skills to increase your chances of making your needs heard and getting the resources or support you need ✅ Clarify your boundaries, communicate them and stand by them ✅ Seek professional help to work on what's stopping you from setting boundaries e.g. people pleasing, fears of saying no, perfectionism, FOMO, fear of job loss ✅ Update CV, LinkedIn profile, nurture your network, upskill to create psychological safety that if you lost your job, you’d find another one Sometimes the under-resourced state is temporary - and it's doing the best you can with the resources you have until the storm blows over. But if this is ongoing or permanent, and your employer isn’t willing to give you what you need to perform at your best, you must ask yourself: 1) What are you really doing this for? And 2) Is it worth it? What other advice would you give to anyone working in an under-resourced environment right now? #workstress #overworked #mentalhealth

A reality check for anyone who needs it:    (We all do, from time to time)   If you’re running on empty, everything suffers.    → Creativity drops. → Work slows down. → You get snappy, tired, and worn down.   And that’s not just stress.  That’s burnout creeping in.   So you need to make the effort to protect yourself.   Here’s how:   1) Set Boundaries ↳ Log off when your workday ends. ↳ Don’t let work bleed into your evenings and weekends.   2) Schedule Non-Negotiable Breaks ↳ Block 10–15 minutes between meetings. ↳ Step away. Clear your head. Guard that time. 3) Track Your Workload Weekly ↳ Keep an honest log. ↳ Spot the overload before it crushes you.   4) Say No Without Guilt ↳ Protect your time. ↳ If it’s not urgent or essential, let it wait - or delegate it.   5) Stop Overcommitting ↳ You’re not meant to carry it all. ↳ Do your job well - but stop trying to do everything. 6) Prioritise Sleep and Rest ↳ You’re not a robot. ↳ Sleep matters. So does mentally switching off.   You can’t do your best work when you’re burning out.   Step back.  Recharge.  Refocus.   Self-care isn’t lazy.    It’s necessary.   Do you agree?   ♻️ Found this helpful? Repost to help your LinkedIn network.   And follow Rob Dance for more LinkedIn content like this!

Most professionals don’t have a time problem. They have a priority problem. We overplan the year. We underplan the week. And we drift through the day reacting to other people’s agendas. Here is a simple rule I use myself and coach others on: 3 for the Week. 3 for the Day. That’s it. If everything is important, nothing is. 1. Pick 3 real priorities for the week Not 17. Not your entire to-do list. Three outcomes that, if delivered, will move the needle. Promotion-worthy work. Client-impacting work. Reputation-building work. Do the hardest one on Monday or Tuesday. Energy is highest. Courage is highest. Excuses are lowest. 2. Start each day with 3 tasks Before you open email. Before you check WhatsApp. Before the first meeting hijacks your brain. Write down 3 tasks that must get done today. And do the toughest one first. Hard work is not a slogan. It is a scheduling decision. 3. Finish before you start new things Most careers stall not because of lack of ideas. But because of unfinished work. Three weekly priorities. Three daily tasks. Finish them. Then expand. This is not cute productivity advice. It is an operational discipline applied to your career. Week by week. Brick by brick. ++++ What is the productivity method that works for you? 🤔

I can tell when I'm on the verge of burning out; everyone and everything irritates me, and my favourite things and activities give me no joy. Then there are the physical signs, too; migraines, indigestion, and a deep exhaustion that no amount of sleep or exercise can get rid of. I know people who are like me and can sense a burnout coming, and others who are blindsided by it. Burnout is recognised as an occupational phenomenon by WHO, and a global survey by Gallup found that 76% of employees experience burnout at some point during their employment. According to a study by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, approximately 1 in 4 workers in Europe report feeling burnt out. Burnout is often caused by stress and overwork, which are damaging to our physical and mental health, and affect our personal and professional productivity. As it so greatly and negatively affects overall health and wellbeing, here’s what I do to ensure an effective work-life balance to reduce the occurrence of burnout: 📌 Reduce overtime: I set limits on how often I work extra hours, or take work home. 📌 Take Breaks: I incorporate short breaks through the day to recharge, including walks outdoors, and I space out my vacations so I take them just before the tipping point. (Consider the Pomodoro Technique). 📌 Unplug: I try to set specific time slots to disconnect from work emails and messages, especially during evenings and weekends. 📌 Me Time: I consciously make time for activities I enjoy outside of work; hiking, shopping, spa/lunch/coffee with the girls, or just Netflix & chilling, and not just on the weekends. They're like a mental holiday. 📌 Set Realistic Goals: I have a high expectation of myself, meaning I’m usually overloaded with expectations that end up putting me under pressure. So, I make a conscious effort to set achievable goals, within reasonable timelines. 📌 Supportive Network: I try to surround myself with friends, family, and colleagues who understand the importance and are actively in support of work-life balance. It’s hard but I also ask for help and support when it all gets too much. Maintaining work-life balance is an ongoing effort and what works today may not work tomorrow so we have to adjust our strategies periodically, and stay proactive to avoid burnout and sustain a fulfilling professional and personal life. How do you deal/prevent burnout? Do you recognise the signs before it hits? ⚠⛔ P.S. If you feel like you're drowning, please seek help; speak to friends, family or a mental health professional. #VacationMode #LinkedInNewsEurope #Burnout #MentalHealth

Anyone else suffer from meeting overload? It’s a big deal. Simply put too many meetings means less time available for actual work, plus constantly attending meetings can be mentally draining, and often they simply are not required to accomplish the agenda items. At the same time sometimes it’s unavoidable. No matter where you are in your career, here are a few ways that I tackle this topic so that I can be my best and hold myself accountable to how my time is spent. I take 15 minutes every Friday to look at the week ahead and what is on my calendar. I follow these tips to ensure what is on the calendar should be and that I’m prepared. It ensures that I have a relevant and focused communications approach, and enables me to focus on optimizing productivity, outcomes and impact. 1. Review the meeting agenda. If there’s no agenda I send an email asking for one so you know exactly what you need to prepare for, and can ensure your time is correctly prioritized. You may discover you’re actually not the correct person to even attend. If it’s your meeting, set an agenda because accountability goes both ways. 2. Define desired outcomes. What do you want/need from the meeting to enable you to move forward? Be clear about it with participants so you can work collaboratively towards the goal in the time allotted. 3. Confirm you need the meeting. Meetings should be used for difficult or complex discussions, relationship building, and other topics that can get lost in text-based exchanges. A lot of times though we schedule meetings that we don’t actually require a meeting to accomplish the task at hand. Give ourselves and others back time and get the work done without that meeting. 4. Shorten the meeting duration. Can you cut 15 minutes off your meeting? How about 5? I cut 15 minutes off some of my recurring meetings a month ago. That’s 3 hours back in a week I now have to redirect to high impact work. While you’re at it, do you even need all those recurring meetings? It’s never too early for a calendar spring cleaning. 5. Use meetings for discussion topics, not FYIs. I save a lot of time here. We don’t need to speak to go through FYIs (!) 6. Send a pre-read. The best meetings are when we all prepare for a meaningful conversation. If the topic is a meaty one, send a pre-read so participants arrive with a common foundation on the topic and you can all jump straight into the discussion and objectives at hand. 7. Decline a meeting. There’s nothing wrong with declining. Perhaps you’re not the right person to attend, or there is already another team member participating, or you don’t have bandwidth to prepare. Whatever the reason, saying no is ok. What actions do you take to ensure the meetings on your calendar are where you should spend your time? It’s a big topic that we can all benefit from, please share your tips in the comments ⤵️ #careertips #productivity #futureofwork

I feel overwhelmed at times: - Overwhelmed by the thought of slowing down. - Overwhelmed by the fear of missing deadlines. - Overwhelmed by concerns about not being productive. - Overwhelmed by the feeling of losing control of the schedule. I rarely take time to think and reflect in the midst of balancing my packed schedule. Here are some targeted strategies to manage overwhelm and find balance: ➡ Time Blocking: Allocate specific blocks of time in your daily schedule for focused work, breaks, and personal reflection. Use a tool like Google Calendar to visually organize your day. ➡ Daily Review: Start each day by listing your top 3 priorities. Focus on completing these high-impact tasks first to maintain productivity without feeling overwhelmed by a long to-do list. ➡ Reflective Journaling: Dedicate 5-10 minutes at the end of each day to jot down your thoughts, challenges, and successes. This helps in processing your day and planning improvements. ➡ “Do Not Disturb” Periods: Implement periods during your day when you turn off notifications and avoid checking emails to concentrate fully on tasks or personal time. ➡ Use the Pomodoro Technique: Work in 25-minute intervals followed by a 5-minute break. This technique helps maintain focus and reduces feelings of being overwhelmed by breaking tasks into manageable chunks. ➡ Weekly Planning Sessions: Spend 30 minutes each week reviewing upcoming deadlines, tasks, and goals. Adjust your schedule to align with priorities and reduce last-minute stress. Incorporate one or more specific strategies might work for you and create a more balanced, reflective approach to your busy schedule. Take that needed break and Enjoy your Weekend 😊 #Timemanagement #Productivity #Balance #Reflection

A ‘LinkedIn Editor’ asked me the question ‘how can workers prevent themselves against burnout’?   My best strategy is to use a Burnout Beacon. A distinction between normal fatigue and burnout is that burnout does not improve with rest. Burnout significantly impacts on our daily activities, in work, relationships and personal responsibilities. Burnout will affect how we think (I shouldn't be like this, I'm useless), how we feel (frustrated, irritable, overwhelmed) and what we do (avoid activities, social self isolation, or worse, increase efforts to push through the pain) I suffered daily burnout after my brain was fried from a bomb exploding into it. For a few years I lived in a state of pathological exhaustion. A tool I was given in my brain rehabilitation was to use the traffic light system, which I renamed as my Burnout Beacon.     In order to cope with burnout we must first recognise it. Think about traffic lights: green, amber and red - easily recognisable.   Green light means balance, being able to cope with the pressures around you.   Amber light means the demands upon you have increased and your stress levels are elevated.   Red means burnout, you're crashing. You need to stop.   To cope with my daily burnout I was asked to draw three, vertical circles and colour them green, amber and red. At the time I thought this exercise patronising (I wasn't a good patient) but I'm so glad I finished the task.   Next to each light I then had to label and list: 1. Signs/Symptoms 2. Triggers 3. Management Strategies and then think about these in relation to each colour.   Green. How did I feel and behave at green? What was my workload? How did I manage this?   Amber. Signs may include yawning, thirst, losing concentration, irritability, eyes feeling heavy, headaches. What are my triggers that push me into Amber? Too much work, not resting, not Pacing? What do I need to do now to prevent this tipping over to a Red - how do I bring myself back to Green? Amber is the most important light. If you recognise you have stayed at Amber for a long time then you are likely to face burnout.   Red. Signs of exhaustion, intolerance, significant performance reduction, detachment. How did I get to Red? Have I taken on too much work? Did I lose control of work tasks? Did I lose balance between personal values and job responsibilities? Address burnout promptly. Rest, recover. Find support to manage workload, revaluate work priorities. Seek social support.   It is critical to address the Red.   I used my Burnout Beacon a lot during my early years of recovery. A key aspect was asking the people around me to list the Signs in each of my lights as they often recognised symptoms of burnout before me.   I still experience plenty of Amber moments but I have learned to recognise the signs and triggers that tip me over. I know when to make changes to my lifestyle, I know how to control my traffic lights so I can step back into Green. #burnout #burnoutbeacon

When I was CPO, I was frustrated that I was never meeting wth the right person or teams at the right time. My calendar was packed. Yet the person or team I needed to talk to was always scheduled for at least three days away. The team needs a decision, but you just had a 1:1 and won't meet your engineering partner for another four days. A controversial Product Review happens on a Thursday afternoon, and there isn’t time to get back together before Tuesday AM. I needed to create an operating cadence throughout the week that maximized productivity. After many years, here are some best practices: ➡️ Start the week with calendar review, emails, and logistics to set up the week well. If you have an admin, meet them then. ➡️ Executive team meeting early on Mondays to triage the weekend and the week. Weekly update meetings with teams on Monday afternoons, after the executive leadership meeting. This allows me to bring context, decisions, and asks from the leadership to the teams immediately. ➡️ Tuesdays are for external and cross-functional meetings. Having these meetings after the team and leadership syncs allows me to bring the latest updates and context to my cross-functional peers and externally. ➡️ Wednesday mornings are for large group decision-making meetings. This gives the team time in the week to prepare and have their pre-meetings. It also allows for any necessary follow-up meetings to happen during the same week. ➡️ Thursday is reserved for 1:1s. These are also the most easily moved if urgent, critical meetings come up from earlier in the week. ➡️ Friday is for interviews and org work. There is almost always at least one interview on Friday, and it’s a good time to think about people and culture. ➡️ Friday afternoon is when pre-reads, weekly updates, and any critical context sharing material are due to be emailed out for the meetings the following week. This ensures everyone who attends has the time to review and prepare. Remember, the intent is to try to create themes that allow you to better prepare for meetings and have the right information. When the week operates on a loose drumbeat, everyone is better able to prepare and have productive conversations. ----- 👋 Hi! I'm Yue. I am a Chief Product and Technology Officer turned Executive Coach. I help women and minority aspiring executives break through to the C-suite. 🚀  🔔 Follow me for more content on coaching, leadership, and career growth.

I've tried 100s of time management techniques.  This is by far my favourite: I used to work 80 hrs/week and call it "productive." When really I was: - Attending pointless meetings - Fighting countless small fires - Being involved in every decision Now I work less than 70% the time and get 4x as much done. The Eisenhower Matrix helped me get there.  It teaches you to categorise tasks by importance and urgency. Here's how it works: 1. Do It Now (Urgent + Important) Examples: - Finalise pitch deck before investor meeting tomorrow. - Fix website crash during peak customer traffic. - Respond to press interview request before deadline. Best Practices: - Attack these tasks first each morning with full focus. - Set a strict deadline so urgency fuels execution. 2. Schedule It (Important + Not Urgent) Examples: - Plan quarterly strategy session with leadership team. - Map long-term hiring plan for next 18 months. - Build a personal brand content system for LinkedIn. Best Practices: - Protect time blocks in advance. Never leave them floating. - Tie them to measurable outcomes, not vague intentions. 3. Delegate It (Urgent + Not Important) Examples: - Handle inbound customer service queries this week. - Organise travel logistics for upcoming conference. - Update CRM with latest sales call notes. Best Practices: - Build playbooks so your team executes without confusion. - Delegate with deadlines to avoid wasting time. 4. Eliminate It (Not Urgent + Not Important) Examples: - Tweak logo colour palette again for fun. - Attend generic networking events with no ICP fit. - Review endless “best productivity tools” articles. Best Practices: - Audit weekly. Cut anything that doesn’t compound long-term. - Replace low-value busywork with rest, thinking, or selling. If you are always reacting to what feels urgent,   You'll never focus on what matters. Attend to the tasks in quadrant 1 efficiently,  Then spend 60-70% of your time in quadrant 2.    That's work that actually builds your business. Which quadrant are you spending too much time in right now?  Drop your thoughts in the comments. My newsletter, Step By Step, breaks down more frameworks like this. It's designed to help you build smarter without burning out. 200k+ builders use it to develop better systems. Join them here:  https://lnkd.in/eUTCQTWb ♻️ Repost this to help other founders manage their time.  And follow Chris Donnelly for more on building and running businesses. 

Ever feel like you’re pouring your heart into enabling others while your own priorities slip through the cracks? At the end of last year, I used AI 🤖 to analyse six months of my journal entries 📖 to pinpoint what needed to change in 2025 to feel more confident in myself and the impact I was having: https://lnkd.in/gie3RA9d I discovered my biggest challenge: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 🎯, 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 🤝, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 📚. I felt scattered, stretched, and as though I wasn’t making meaningful progress. So, I borrowed a principle from my UX days that used to help me and my team deliver quickly and consistently: 𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 👉 Each morning, I use 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝟯 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 and reflect on my progress at the end of the day: 1️⃣ A Contribution Priority ↳ Something I can deliver that moves the needle on our team’s impact. 2️⃣ A Leadership Priority ↳ Something that improves our team’s productivity and performance. 3️⃣ A Professional Development Priority ↳ Something that strengthens my ability to contribute and lead effectively. ---- It’s like having a personal coach helping me build confidence by reducing scope to increase velocity. By focusing on fewer things more intentionally, I’m making more meaningful progress over time. Three months in, I’ve noticed something unexpected. Beyond just getting more done, I’m building a muscle for internal recognition - that feeling of "I did good today" 💪 that doesn’t rely on external validation. ---- For people professionals who constantly put others first, this kind of intentional prioritisation isn’t selfish; it’s strategic. It’s about designing your day with the same care you bring to designing experiences for others. 💭 How do you prioritise your workday? Have you found a system that helps you balance contribution, leadership, and growth without burning out? #PeopleExperience #DesignThinking #ProductivityHacks #Leadership