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This week, we’re going to talk about how to handle being overwhelmed in 3 key areas: home, work, and obligations to others. Today, we talk about work.

If you ask anyone how work is going, they’ll probably answer “busy”. It’s just the standard response because if we say anything other than busy, others might assume that we’re not busy and don’t have enough to do and that just looks bad. No one wants that. At least that‘s how it was for me when I worked in a traditional office.

Besides not wanting to look bad, I liked being busy at work. I figured if I was going to get up, get dressed, put on makeup, get my daughter to daycare, spend 9 hours away from her every day, and sit in traffic, I better have a lot to do. Otherwise, I felt my job was a waste of my time, regardless of the paycheck I received every 2 weeks. Usually, I was pretty good about finding work to do. If I wasn’t working on a project, I would tweak my training program, write case notes (when I was a probation officer), edit reports…any little task that needed to be done but often got pushed aside for the major tasks. And yes, I would read the news and blogs and maybe browse Amazon. Even busy people need breaks!

For the most part, I maintained a system that kept my workload manageable and the quality of my work up to my standards.

However, I had one particular job that managed to keep me overwhelmed on a daily basis. This job, as a social services administrator (state lingo for “we don’t really know what to call this job so we’ll give it an important sounding title that’s not really important at all”), kept me busy to the point of being chronically overwhelmed. We’re talking so overwhelmed to the point that on some days, I just didn’t do anything because every project was a top priority and no matter which one I worked on, it was going to be wrong. So I did nothing. All day. Maybe some days I cried. Maybe some days I yelled. Most days I looked for a new job. But until I found that job, I had to find a way to manage the overwhelming workload and the complete lack of direction and input from my supervisor.

I know I’m not the only one who’s been in that position. Many people I’ve talked to over the years have, at one time or another, been so overwhelmed at work that they just can’t function. They miss deadlines, make mistakes, forget meetings, and slip up in other ways that negatively impact their performance reviews and potential bonuses and raises (and promotions). Enough mistakes and you can be out of a job.

And that really, really sucks. (Unless you really, really hate your job and then you’re thinking of getting fired as sweet relief. That’s totally okay, too.) Since most of us aren’t fortunate enough to be so wealthy that we can forgo employment, it’s crucial to learn how to handle being overwhelmed at work. Here’s a few ways to do that:

1. Ask for help. If you’re tasked with something you just don’t know how to do, seek out someone who knows how to do it. Sitting at your desk, staring at the information you can’t process will only make you more frustrated and overwhelmed. It’ll make you do shabby, incorrect work, particularly if you’re just guessing at what you need to do.  Then you’ll have to redo it all and that’ll just make you angry and cause mistakes and the cycle will repeat. So, instead, just ask for help. Remember, though, if you are going to ask for help, don’t ask someone to do the task for you; rather, ask if he or she can show you how to do it. Make sure to schedule a meeting and put it in writing. Also, make sure to come to the meeting prepared with specific questions and information.  Not only does this make you look more professional, it shows a respect for the person’s time which may make him more apt to help you in the future.
2. Close your email. Leaving your email open all day is not only a complete distraction but it’s a surefire way to get overwhelmed. Imagine you’re working on a big project and in the midst of it, an email from your boss pops up. You feel that, because it’s from your boss, you need to attend to it right away.  So you stop what you’re doing to deal with the email, come back to the abandoned project three hours later, forget what you were doing and freak out that you’ll never finish in time.  That’s not good for anyone. So, close your email. Eliminate that distraction for the time being and when you’re done, open your email back up and deal with those new tasks at that point. Believe me, if your boss wants something from you that badly, she’ll interrupt you anyway.
3. Take breaks. I’m not talking about calling out sick every time you’re freaked out about your to-do list or the 16 mandatory yet pointless meetings in 2 days or the major presentation you need to put together and deliver in front of an entire department. I’m talking about stepping away from your desk, getting some fresh air, going out to lunch with a co-worker, or anything else that gets you away from the never ending list of items to finish. Getting away, doing something fun and non-work related allows you a mental health reprieve that, when it’s over, leaves you feeling empowered to return to your desk and deal with whatever it is that’s staring you in the face. Having that break snaps you out of the sinkhole of overwhelmedness that causes you to freeze in the middle of a task, or worse—stop caring about the quality of the work you do. And, while it’s important to take breaks no matter what your industry, it is essential to do so if you work in a service oriented field like social work or retail.

Being overwhelmed is not a fun feeling. It’s even less fun at work. It’s important to learn how to manage that feeling in this environment because when you can’t, those negative emotions seep into other aspect of our lives. And that really sucks.

Readers, what are some ways you handle being overwhelmed at work, whether you’re self-employed or work for someone else?