What do you do if your own tasks are overwhelming your ability to support your team's productivity?

If your tasks are overwhelming your ability to support your team's productivity, it's crucial to reassess your workload and prioritize effectively. Delegate tasks where possible and communicate with your team about your capacity constraints. Implement time management techniques such as setting boundaries, breaking tasks into smaller chunks, and utilizing tools to streamline workflows. Seek support from colleagues or supervisors if necessary, and don't hesitate to ask for help when needed. Remember to focus on high-impact activities that align with team goals, and be willing to adjust your approach as needed to maintain balance and support your team effectively.

If my tasks are overwhelming my ability to support my team's productivity, I would first prioritize and delegate tasks effectively. This involves assessing which tasks require immediate attention and which ones can be delegated to team members based on their skills and capacity. Additionally, I would communicate openly with my team about the situation, seeking their input and support in managing workload effectively. It's crucial to set realistic expectations, establish clear goals, and provide necessary resources or training if needed. Regular check-ins and adjustments to workload distribution can also help maintain team productivity during challenging times.

Remember the 2 minute rule. If you can do it yourself in 2 minutes, do it now. Don't waste the time and create the clutter in your priority list, by adding something that is so quick to execute.

Don't be afraid to shorten or cancel a standing meeting. It may concern you at first, but reality check time, the team probably doesn't need all that meeting time and will secretly thank you. Try a simple move first and shorten 60 minute meetings to 30 minutes. Or 30 minute meetings to 20 minutes. Everyone will be "encouraged" to show up on time and to be more productive

Identify tasks that can be delegated and provide clear guidance and resources for your team to execute them effectively. Empowering your team fosters growth and development while lightening your workload.

Setting clear boundaries was a big difference for managing my tasks while supporting my team. I learned to distinguish between urgent and important tasks, focusing on what genuinely required my immediate attention. Delegating effectively became crucial, as it empowered my team and freed up my capacity to provide them with the necessary support. Implementing "no-interruption" hours helped me concentrate on high-priority tasks, ensuring I was more available and present for my team afterwards. Being transparent about your limits fosters a culture of mutual respect and understanding, ultimately enhancing productivity for everyone.

A different way to look at boundaries is through our personal energy levels. As a leadership & team coach, I've witnessed when high performance leads to busyness but not necessarily effectiveness. In these moments to move forward leaders will push beyond their energy limits, why? When we are not effective we become stuck we may procrastinate, have greater uncertainty, and become unfocused...resulting in overwhelm. Prolonged overwhelm leads to stress and continued stress will ultimately lead to burnout. A strong boundary would be to assess how much energy we have on a day-to-day basis, because each day varies and then working within those energies, allowing ourselves to rest and reset when our energy is spent is a healthy way to work.

There is no magic formula to taking care of yourself. As a leadership coach, I help leaders build a toolkit to be used during different moments of challenge, overwhelm and uncertainty that comes with high performance. We are individuals a mindful moment of washing your hands, and watching the bubbles from soap build as you wash them can be enough to reset, but for others being grateful for their loved ones can lessen the pressure. Experiment, notice what works best for you and have a top 3 you use frequently; build your neuropathways up so the tools become more innate this will help in those moments of overwhelm, you are automatically taking that breath, walking away from your desk, or grounding your feet.

If your in tasks are overwhelming then you need to see how are you managing your time in prioritizing tasks. There may be overlap somewhere with teams productivity Adjust accordingly

When I supervised in corporate, the work, emails, and daily interactions were overwhelming. I knew that the agency culture was busy from the moment the day started until everyone left for the day. I decided not to participate in the overwhelm and to do my work to the best of my ability. I did this by reminding myself that the job would never end, so I prioritized the best I could. My breaks were to myself and checking in with the team when needed. I supported my team because my time with them (individually and as a group) was embedded in my work. I managed my expectations of myself for my sanity and my team's culture.

The culmination of these tips listed above is to schedule deep work time for yourself. 1. Prioritize your most urgent and important tasks. 2. Set the boundaries with the team "don't disturb me between 10-12 unless there is a dumpster fire" 3. Switch off notifications on everything else, other than whatever emergency channel you have. 4. Put on headphones, use a focus app like Endel to provide you with the focus and tempi. 5. Fly through your list. Everyone is different, but I tend to manage 1-2 hours of this type of focus in one go. Your productivity during these sprints of concentration is multiplied dramatically. Therefore, the list diminishes quickly and so does your anxiety.