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Declare Your Independence Day – Top 12 Strategies to Fight Overload

Ready to declare your independence from the pandemic of overloaditis?

It’s a highly contagious epidemic, from which no one is immune.

Are you showing any symptoms?

Consider which of the following are true for you:

I feel like:

• I’m working all the time, but not getting that much accomplished.
• I’m working on 10 projects at once, but none get finished.
• My ‘to-do’ list never gets completed.
• I’m in meetings all day and don’t have time to work.
• I bring my laptop to meetings and pretend to take notes while surfing the web.
• I’m answering email all day and don’t have time to work.
• I answer email during conference calls and in meetings.
• I have less and less time to plan, not to mention free time.
• I have less and less time to learn, not to mention creative time.
• I can never get to things quickly enough.
• I sit down at my computer and end up doing something different than I planned.
• I am eating lunch at my desk, mired in my virtual inbox.
• I make calls while driving, and even send the occasional text, even though I know I shouldn’t.
• Vacation? What’s that?

Beware Overloaditis.

If you checked off three or more, you’ve got the disease. 8 or more, we need to rush you to an unplugged vacation. All of the above, you need a sabbatical!

But let’s look at what else you can do to give yourself some needed relief. Right now.

1. First, don’t be ashamed of this disease. You’re not alone. One study puts the number of people reporting feeling burned out at their current job at 77%!
2. Second, don’t let yourself become like the proverbial boiling frog. The reason I began this article with a list of overload symptoms is to help you become aware of the signs before, bit by bit, they gradually take over your life.
3. Third, begin to address the symptoms.  Try to take a view from the balcony and see what your personal modus operandi looks like from up there. Productive? Effective? A good use of your time? If you were advising someone else behaving as you do, what counsel would you offer?

There’s a cure.

And what better time than Independence Day (if you’re in the U.S.A. — otherwise, any day is a good day) to set yourself free?

Seriously, don’t just read this list and toss it aside for later. If you’re overloaded, later seldom comes. Right?

Commit to doing just one of the 11 strategies below in the coming week . Personally, I suggest beginning with #1; most of us fool ourselves on this one. I also really like #2; see if you can do that over the next week or so. And #4 is a really good project to put on your calendar this week for some date in the coming month, making a commitment to decluttering.

Or pick your favorite!

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