Overwhelmed at work

Today I was greeted with 6 urgent tasks and one major, and very urgent, project to start my day. looking at the stacks of paperwork on my desk made me feel a little overwhelmed at first. It was oddly demotivating seeing all of this work that I had to do. I really wanted to skip the 6 smaller tasks and focus on my large project but I new the smaller tasks needed to get done so I couldn't just blow them off.

I took a few minutes to get a cup of tea, gather my thoughts and organize the 6 tasks. While it looked like a lot of work at first glance, I estimated that each task would only take about 20 minutes each. I closed my email and web browser to minimize distractions and began working my way through each task. An hour and a half later I finished the last of the tasks, went to the gym for a quick workout, got some lunch and then had the afternoon to work on my larger project.

The next time your faced with something that looks overwhelming at first, take a deep breath to relax and look at the situation calmly. It may not be as much work as you think and if you remove the things that commonly distract you (phone, email, web surfing, texting etc) you probably can get things done faster then you first thought.