84 brilliant stress management
guidance and leaving me anxious and exposed, with a risk to me,
to the organisation, and to you, if I get something wrong.
Commitment
Check that I understand what you want, am able to do it, and
am committed to taking it on. In return, give me your commit-
ment to provide me with the support I need, to do the job well,
to do it safely, and to learn from my experience.
Monitoring
The task started off as yours, so the ultimate responsibility for it –
and now for me – lies with you. So, periodically, check in with me
to nd out how I am doing and give me the support I need. Set the
frequency and style of your monitoring to match the level of risk,
the importance of the task and my needs for support and guidance.
Feedback
When I am nished, review my performance. Give me good
feedback on what I have done, that will help me learn and build
my condence. Thank me for my work and give me praise for
what I have done well.
Dealing with overwhelm
Sometimes there is just too much to do and you are frozen by a
feeling of being overwhelmed by it all. You need to grasp control
and here is a simple ve-point plan to do just that.
1 Make a list of all the things that are overwhelming you
This will look like a To Do list, and it is important to get every-
thing down so that you can manage the problem.
2 Apply the Urgent and Important categories
For each task, assess whether it is urgent or not and whether it
is important or not. Now be bold: delete every task that is not
Control your time 85
important. If this feels just a little too scary, before you delete
them, place them on to a new list: a To Don’t list. You can then
le this away so that you won’t lose sight of those tasks, but,
equally, they won’t distract you from the important ones.
3 Divide the remainder into three lists
A Urgent and Important and quick (Type A)
These are the things you can do in a few minutes.
B Urgent and Important and substantial (Type B)
These are the things that will need some focused effort.
C Important but Not Urgent
These are the things to save until you no longer feel
overwhelmed.
4 Clear the Urgent and Important things first
Use the ‘Boxed Burst and Break’ (BB1B) method:
1 Frenzy
Allow exactly 15 minutes to clear all the quick things (Type
A) you can.
2 Burst of work
Now do 40 minutes of intense work on one of the more
substantial things (Type B). Aim to make some real
progress in a strict 40-minute slot.
3 Now take a break for ve minutes
This must include one glass of water and some time outside
in the fresh air.
5 Repeat step 4
Continue the BB+B method until you feel in control of your task
lists and you are no longer overwhelmed. Take a more substan-
tial break after three or four cycles. You will probably nd that
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