Let’s be honest, it’s been a bizarre 18 months, many of us have taken very little time off this year and we’re starting to feel it during the workday. So, if you’re starting to feel burnt out before you’ve even had your lunch break, here are some tips to get through the day with ease.
1. Get the tough stuff out of the way first
If you’re waiting until the second half of the day to tick the biggest thing off your to-do list, you might be screwing yourself over in the long run. If you can, make it a habit of doing the three most important things on your to-do list first thing in the day. It might not seem super exciting at first, but once you’ve gotten those things out of the way, it’s smooth sailing for the rest of the day.
If you’re finding sticking with one task to be a bit boring, you can try juggling between tasks. Try setting a timer and giving each project a set amount of time, like 20 minutes, before you move on to the next one and so on to keep things fresh. This is not to be confused with multitasking, which can actually cost you time and make projects take longer than you originally planned.
2. Organise meetings for the morning
Try organising your meetings for earlier in the day before your energy starts to wane and you still have all the spark from your morning coffee. Even better – why not make them walking meetings? Research from Stanford University shows that walking increases creative thinking by 80% and creative problem-solving by 50%. Plus, you know what you can get outside? More caffeine. Keep in mind, this works best with two or three people.
If you can’t get outside, that’s fine, but try to remember the ‘two pizza’ rule when it comes to meetings – if you can’t feed all the attendees with two pizzas, then you probably have too many people involved, and some ideas will likely be drowned out or not heard at all.
3. Delegate, delegate, delegate!
We’ve all been in that situation where we’re stressed out of our minds, but there’s that one colleague who never seems to have anything on and spends half the day on social media. So, if you’re going through your to-do list and there’s something that can be completed by someone else while you work on that huge project that’s due by 5pm, it’s time to pass that work on. Maybe your workmate will even be happy to have something to do! One team, one dream, right?
4. Reward yourself with some downtime
If you’re smashing through your tasks for the day, you deserve some me-time! While it’s tempting to stay chained to your desk all day, it could actually harm your productivity in the long run and result in burn-out – not exactly ideal. Find what works for you, but if you can, maybe take five or 10-minute breaks throughout the day to allow you to recharge and clear your mind before you get onto the next task. You could get some fresh air, or maybe you could organise a little bit of fun for your team with a little friendly office competition?
The Red Bull Office Games site has a bunch of fun games you can play with your team, plus you could even score some sweet prizes for the whole office like the ultimate Red Bull Office Party!
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