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Let’s face it life gets challenging juggling work, family and life commitments. If you ask anyone how they are or how their day was their reply will almost certainly be “busy.”

We have more things competing for our attention than ever before it’s no wonder people are feeling overwhelmed and like their world is an ongoing cycle of chaos.

I encourage my clients to reframe the word busy to being “productive”. Ask yourself “am I busy being busy or am I being productive or profitable?” Busy has a hustle and bustle feeling to it without a clear sense of order or purpose. Whereas productive and profitable has a feeling of order, purpose and achievement.

Here’s 5 simple strategies you can implement to move your life from chaos to calm.

Plan and prioritise your day

Starting your day without a plan is like heading to an unknown destination without a GPS.

Write out the tasks you have for the day and prioritise your 3 most important tasks for the day. Pick out your most unpalatable task and circle it. This task is called Eat that frog. Eating your frog first thing will energise you for the day, as it limits procrastination and with your most difficult task out the way, the rest of your tasks will be easier to accomplish.

Focus on one task at a time

Multi-tasking might seem like a great way to get things done and it may feel like your accomplishing many tasks at once, but research indicates that multi-tasking doesn’t make us more productive or efficient. A study conducted at Stanford University concluded that multi-tasking impairs your cognitive process impacts your performance in the following ways:

  • Decreases your efficiency in prioritising
  • Makes you less productive and efficient while multi-tasking
  • Less productive when you’re not multi-tasking

Do, Delete, Delegate

I’ve vlogged about this topic before, applying this simple practice helps you to get more done.

Do the important high priority tasks first.

Delete the tasks, activities, committees, emails etc. that are taking up your valuable time and not moving you forward. It’s easy to busy yourself in tasks and activities that are fun to do (and sometimes not so fun!) that are no longer serving you. Delete them, you’ll feel an instant sense of relief.

Delegate, if someone else can do the task delegate it. One of the best things we can do for ourselves and our team is to allow others to help.

Leave space in your day

Start your day right by allowing yourself at least 30 minutes to yourself, this can be to walk, meditate, sit in silence, do whatever energizes you and “just be”. Avoid reaching for your phone to check emails that may have come in overnight or see what’s happening in the social media world.

Cramming your diary full of appointments and tasks sets you up to be in reactive mode all day. Block out space in your diary to give yourself a time buffer, if appointments run over, tasks take longer, or an unexpected job comes up it doesn’t completely throw you off your groove.

Remember to Breathe

If you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed, hit the pause button, bring your awareness to your body, if you notice your jaw is clenched, your shoulders are tight, or you have tension anywhere in your body, allow your body to relax, focus on your breathing. Stopping for as little as 10 full deep breaths will help reduce your stress levels, increase your energy and give you a moment to recharge. Try this exercise

What will you do to encourage healthy behaviours in your workplace?

How will you motivate, guide and nudge your team to live and lead healthy lives so they are calmer and more productive? The answer to this will be different within each workplace. One of the best ways to achieve this is by working with a workplace wellness expert.

I take on an exclusive number of workplaces every year. If you recognise the value of investing in your greatest asset, your people and you’d like to have a chat on ways I can help, please get in touch.