Let's ditch the "too much on my plate" syndrome, shall we?

Here's a no-brainer: leaders and their squads are constantly battling the tidal wave of tasks. Sound familiar? It's the classic "too much to do, too little time" conundrum.

This scenario got me thinking:

Feels like déjà vu, right? Trying to keep a gazillion balls in the air is something we've all been through. And it's probably eating up your bandwidth as we speak. Since it's the same story everywhere, it's almost become our new normal. We've somehow convinced ourselves that being perpetually swamped is part of the playbook. But should it be?

Kicking off strategic missions with organizations, I dive straight into gauging 'intentionality.'

Intentionality, in this context, is all about aligning our daily grind with the grand vision of where we want the company to head.

Here's my go-to checklist:

• "On a scale from 1 to 10, how swamped do you feel right now?"
• "Are your current tasks in sync with what you consider top priority?"
• "How do your weekly must-dos line up with the company's strategy and mission?"

More often than not, here's the lowdown:

• People are stretched thin.
• There's an overflow of putting out fires instead of zeroing in on what really matters.
• Clarity on the company's strategy? That's a tough one for many, making that third question a real head-scratcher.

But let's not point fingers here. A mix of factors fuels this fire. For starters, culturally, we've been programmed to view this non-stop hustle as par for the course. Then there's the tech curveball—innovations and shrinking adoption timelines are speeding up our work cadence like never before. Customer demands and cutthroat competition are on our heels, pushing us to constantly add more to our already overflowing plates.

So, is there a light at the end of this tunnel? Absolutely.

Putting these questions to yourself and your team can offer a real eye-opener on how in sync you are with your strategic goals, paving the way for some much-needed course correction.

To get even more dialed in, ponder over these:

• "What's my company's game plan and key goals?"
• "How do we define (and measure) success?"
• "And how does that translate to what my team and I focus on?"

Making this a quarterly ritual can seriously amp up your strategic alignment, making every move more calculated.

And for the daily grind, ask yourself: "What's the one thing I need to nail today (or this week) to really make an impact?" Expand that to two or three if you're feeling ambitious. Prioritize these and kickstart your day/week on this note.

Sounds straightforward, right? But these simple questions are your secret weapon to cut through the clutter, zero in on what truly matters, and, ultimately, dial down the constant feeling of being in overdrive.

Caught in the whirlwind of juggling too much? Give this strategy a whirl and hit me up with your thoughts!