You’re struggling to manage your workload. How can you take control of your day?

I would add that in this era of "fire drill" leadership, unfortunately it has become difficult to parse from leaders what is actually urgent or important. Using the Eisenhower matrix in today's context will often result in a ton of "DO" activities. To narrow those down to something more manageable, I filter the Urgent+Important tasks through another lens: Is this NECESSARY and is this ACHIEVABLE? Do we have what we need to succeed or is this task blocking other progress? Often this helps the teams I work with sort and delegate more decisively.

Tools such as the Eisenhower Matrix are very helpful... but you can use something similar of your own making to allow you to prioritize your activities. Whatever the tool make sure that it works for you and you optimize your performance using the tool. Finally, don't be afraid to change your approach if things are not working.

Prioritizing is critical, and understanding how to prioritize your work. You may need input from other staff members, which creates beneficial communication. Be honest with yourself in what is actually reasonable to accomplish in a day. Do not over promise and under deliver. There are also incredible time saving tools out there, depending on your position. Perhaps these are not used in your organization. Research and request, showing the benefits, for example cloud based inventory, accounting, scheduling, etc programs. Huge time savers and accuracy creators.

I kinda agree with this approach - I would modify and suggest that planning in a high level way - identify the two or three most important priorities and keep you internal and external constituents in mind. Remember we are talking CHANGE MANAGEMENT here - the key word is CHANGE. We need to be flexible and ready to reshuffle our activities if necessary.

A meeting invitation should not be an obligation. Confirm an agenda and concrete outcomes with the organizer when you receive any invite, both to ensure enough planning has happened AND see if your attendance is essential. Provide relevant insights ahead of the meeting and ask what additional value you need to prepare. Often meeting organizers have called a meeting to do a collaborative "group think" which is costly in terms of both calendar time and morale. Group think meetings often don't elevate the right voices or end with concrete actions, just moving the project or issue into the future. Pushing back both protects your time and helps others do the same while ensuring projects are moving forward efficiently. Win-win!

Delegation means trusting your team. Give them a change to realize the satisfaction of accomplishment. Give your team meaningful assignments and challenges that stretch their development. Avoid giving people the simple tasks. Leverage highly engaged teams to tackly big, challenging initiatives. There can be tremendous fulfillment in succeeding as a team.

Here are some good practices which could help you navigate & stay on top of your daily workload struggles: (1) PICK YOUR BATTLES. Don't need to win every battle with everyone. Accept the fact that sometimes you need to lose some to win more. (2) DON'T SWEAT OVER SMALL THINGS. Learn to let go of things which are not worth getting worked up on. Instead, focus on significant things which you can control. (3) NO NEED TO PLEASE EVERYONE ALL AT THE SAME TIME. It's just not pragmatic & realistic. Instead, think of making most people happy most of the time. (4) STOP BEING A PERFECTIONIST. Again, this is just not pragmatic & unrealistic. It's ok to make mistakes & fail. (5) LEARN TO SAY "NO" WITH A SMILE. You know your boundaries and priorities.