I started a new job at a national charity about two and a half months ago. It’s been very exciting, but after some initial successes, I’ve gotten steadily further behind on my project deadlines, even though I’m now working 10 to 12 hour days. There’s just so much going on all at the same time that I can’t seem to get a breath and get organized. I’m getting a little worried about my three-month probation deadline coming up. Can you help?

It is time to take a breath – you’ve been working solidly since you started, and you could be getting physically, emotionally, and psychologically worn out. But the good news is that you have recognized this (often difficult for many of us to do) and you can now do something to get control back.

Take some time to re-evaluate and plan

When you started, you were likely given a prioritized project list and jumped right in and began working. As you became more integrated with the organization, other tasks and interruptions were added, likely compounding the complexity of your work and taking time and focus away from your main projects. You need to take time aside and review your plans – try going for lunch on your own where you can get perspective and do some uninterrupted thinking.

Get back to the basics

Start by looking back to your job description – what are you supposed to be doing for your organization? Then look back over the past week and determine what you have been actually doing during your day. For example, you may be involved with many more meetings than you really need to attend, or have picked up time-hogging side tasks that are not part of your core workload. You will likely see a large discrepancy between what you are actually doing and what you should be doing. Use the 80/20 rule – are you spending 80% of your time on the least important 20% of your projects, or the other way around? Obviously, you should be dedicating most of your time to your most important projects.

The rules of work

In order to get things back on track, I suggest you look at using the following self-management rules:

Maintain balance. Consistently working long hours is not a long-term solution to most work problems, and only leads to burnout. Working SMART is a much more preferable choice. While short-term emergencies should be tolerated, not allowing yourself to have a proper work/life balance is a recipe for unhappiness and failure. You owe it to yourself, too. Since you are living your life at the same time as you are working, you should be enjoying it.

Plan your day. Set time aside, either at the beginning or end of each day to plan your activities for the coming day. Seeing your tasks written down provides perspective on your priorities, and helps avoid some of the regular “distraction” tasks that come up (you can add these tasks to your list also). Try to schedule similar types of duties together during the day to avoid “changing gears” too frequently. Certainly, you may find times when nothing that you planned gets completed, but these should be rare occurrences.

Delete or delegate whatever and whenever you can. When reviewing your list, evaluate each task and consider deleting tasks that don’t add value to the organization. If tasks can’t be deleted, consider delegating them to subordinates where appropriate. Many time-constrained professionals are the primary cause of their own problems because they are perfectionists or “control-freaks” who can’t let go. This is generally a bad strategy for success.

Automate and systemize. All tasks should be reviewed regularly to determine whether they can be accomplished more easily, and take up fewer resources. Start with the activities that take up the most time, and work down from there. Reuse automation solutions that have worked in the past wherever possible.

Look at project priorities. When planning your day, week, or month, you should assign priorities (A/B/C works well) and focus on the important ones first. It is important to regularly obtain your supervisor’s input on what he or she feels are your most important major projects. Try setting up a regular weekly or bi-weekly status meeting to ensure you are communicating effectively with your boss. They can often provide good advice, and help you with any obstacles you may face in achieving your goals.

Ask for help! Once you have included your supervisor in your planning, if you have both determined that you are still working too hard, it is not considered a failure to ask for some help now and then. You can’t do everything, but you should focus on top priorities at all times.

Good luck!

Michael Mayne, M.B.A., CMA, is Managing Partner and a Certified Professional Career Counsellor at Catalyst Careers, a Career Transition, Counselling, and Outplacement firm. Michael has been involved in the not-for-profit sector for many years, and is Past President and Treasurer of ALS Canada. To contact Michael, visit: www.catalystcareers.com.

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Disclaimer: Advice and recommendations are based on limited information provided and should be used as a guideline only. Neither the author nor CharityVillage.com make any warranty, express or implied, or assume any legal liability for accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided in whole or in part within this article.