How to Diagnose When You're Overworked

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If you’re in the same space as me – online business – it’s very easy to fall into the trap of overloading yourself. There are too many opportunities out there to make money. The next best thing is always around the corner, and it’s easy to get distracted from that big thing that you might have already been building up. The constant chase can leave you feeling overworked.

I’ve mentioned that working for yourself isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – relying on yourself for everything can leave you a bit stuck when you get ill – but the freedom to work to your own schedule is a very attractive prospect. Before you get to this stage, you may be juggling a business and a full-time job, and it’s very easy to drain your batteries.

If any of these things feels familiar, you may be overworking yourself:

You lack energy
You have become forgetful
You don’t have much social time
It takes some time to fall to sleep
You’re ill more often than usual
You struggle to focus
You feel isolated

So what should you do if you’re overworked?

Step 1: Have a Break

It probably sounds like the last thing you want to do, and you’ll fear that work will build up, but it’s the best way to recharge your batteries. Just take a step back from all that you’re doing. Don’t engage it in. Don’t think about it. Distract yourself for a few days. If possible, get away.

Step 2: Write Down Your Priorities on Paper

It’s one thing to do it on your phone or on an online to-do list, but writing down what you need to do on paper can brings things back to perspective. There may be things you deem to be extremely important right now, but this simple action will brings things back to reality. Every time I do it, it inspires me to push some projects to the side and focus that attention elsewhere.

Step 3: Plan Your Next Moves

Set some targets, goals and timelines to give you as much direction as you can. Once you have a process that you can follow, it makes it a lot easier to cope with your workload. This is where you’re able to make cuts – ridding yourself of the arduous tasks that sap your time and energy without giving you enough reward back. Take that energy and use it to form a plan for the projects and tasks that you know will pay off.