Preventing Overwhelm at Work
Yesterday Ed and I had a conference call with Pete (our web developer) about some upcoming changes to our website (we’re constantly updating the site every month). The call lasted for a little over an hour. We talked about soooooo much stuff, both high level and small details.
At the end of the call, I remember feeling so excited for the website updates. For some reason, I just get all giddy about updating our website. I don’t know why, most entrepreneurs I know really dislike website updates. But me, I love them.
Anyway, at the end of the call I just felt really excited. However, I could’ve felt really overwhelmed. After all, we talked for a solid hour about additional tasks we need to get done! How overwhelming is that to add to an already long to-do list?!?
Well, it’s only overwhelming if you allow it to be overwhelming…
Here’s what I did to make sure I didn’t feel overwhelmed about our conference call and project at hand:
- I did my pre-planning – Before our call, I spent 15 minutes drafting a detailed outline of everything I wanted to discuss. This not only gave structure and purpose to the meeting, but it also made me feel more in control of the project at hand because I knew exactly what we needed to talk about.
- I took good notes – In addition to doing my pre-planning with a detailed outline, I took good notes while on the call. I wrote down anything important that anyone mentioned and I took note of any small details I didn’t want to forget. I also jotted down any updates in my notebook that I wasn’t aware of.
- I wrote down my tasks – As we got into the nitty-gritty of everything, we started discussing open tasks and new tasks. As new tasks were mentioned and as I took ownership, I wrote these things down at the bottom section of my notebook. These tasks eventually made their way from my notebook to my to-do list after the call.
- We discussed next steps – In addition to doing my pre-planning, taking detailed notes, and writing down my tasks, we also discussed next steps. What happens after the conference call? Who is responsible for what and when? What information do we need to send each other to start our new tasks?
By following these four steps we were able to have an effective and efficient meeting because we followed the pre-planning outline I put together prior to the call.
Adding to that, I felt so clear on what I needed to do after the meeting due to my detailed note taking. Having thorough notes on all your meetings and open tasks allows you to think clearly about the current project at hand. And when you’re clear about the project and open tasks you need to tackle, you feel less overwhelmed, even with larger projects.
So even though we discussed a LOT of tasks on our call, I don’t feel a bit overwhelmed. And that’s because I was able to get myself organized by following a few simple steps.
Anyway, if you are feeling overwhelmed with a “big” project at work, I hope this helps you next time you step into a meeting and/or pick up the phone for a conference call.
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