There are phases where it simply becomes too much.
More emails keep coming in. Open items pile up. Deadlines get closer. New tasks arrive faster than old ones can get done.
And that’s exactly when something dangerous happens: you stop planning and start only reacting. The next urgent email. The next call. The next appointment. Just quickly solving this one problem too.
You work more and more — and at the same time feel less and less in control of things. That’s a strain, and over time it can lead all the way to burnout.
In my view, the answer isn’t to pedal even faster. I first need to regain control.
The blunt scissors
That reminds me of a simple image: someone is cutting fabric with blunt scissors. It keeps getting harder.
I tell them: “Why don’t you sharpen the scissors first? It’ll go much easier and faster afterwards.”
Their answer: “I don’t have time for that. I have to cut.”
That’s exactly how we sometimes behave at work. We have no time to organise because we have too much to do. No time to prioritise because everything is urgent. No time to plan because we’re already behind. And yet this is exactly the moment to sharpen the scissors.
What that means for me
For me, that means: capture everything. Create an overview. Prioritise. Delegate. And sometimes also have the courage to decline something, or to say early enough: this will take longer than promised.
Most of us are fortunate enough to work in an environment where it’s not a matter of life and death. So: relax, organise, prioritise — and then work with focus. Because hoping that someone else has also forgotten your appointment or your promise is bad advice.
Only when I know everything that’s on my plate can I actually prioritise properly.
Where easydoo comes in
I don’t know how I’d manage this without easydoo. It probably would have overwhelmed me long ago.
easydoo knows the principles of effective and efficient work organisation and helps me work by them: capturing open items, prioritising, delegating, keeping deadlines in view, and organising everything in the right context. That way, easydoo doesn’t just help me get things done — it helps me stay in control of my work.
And no matter which tool you use: precisely when you think you have no time for organisation, that’s when you should make time for it. Sometimes an hour of organising is the most productive hour of the whole week.
When everything is piling up on you: stop cutting for a moment. Sharpen the scissors first.
