How do I juggle more when I don’t like juggling?

Posted by Sarah Hobbs

Juggling tasks is an inescapable demand of organisational life and, depending on how you work and your strengths, it will either stress you or energise you. It’s important to realise that organisations don’t want people to burn out – and managers recognise that there is huge value in having teams where there is scope for focused attention on complex pieces of work.

With that in mind, if you find juggling is really difficult for you, recognise that at times you need to be able to do it. You’ll need to find ways to contain and manage this juggling so that it doesn’t interfere too much with your enjoyment of work and your productivity.

1. Do you actually have to juggle more? You may feel the pressure to be constantly on the case, juggling more and more different activities, but it’s worth taking a moment to consider whether that is really true. Are you just putting yourself under pressure to say ‘Yes’ to everything? Is the real problem that you aren’t managing expectations well, so people constantly come round checking up on their project because they are worried you’ve forgotten it? And if there’s a genuine need to juggle more, is this temporary or a result of taking on larger responsibilities? If it’s temporary (for example you are understaffed due to a head count freeze) – can you establish new service level agreements about what you can deliver until you are fully staffed? If you’ve taken on a bigger job, do you need to delegate more, or work at a higher level? Your colleagues and boss may be able to give good advice on how to handle the workload efficiently.


2. Can you clump the work, so that there are parts of the day where you juggle and parts of the day where you focus? For example, I know that my best time for focused work is first thing in the morning. When I have important work to do, I often choose not to look at emails until 11.00. Emails are fatal for distracting you and propelling you into juggling activity – and I like to have done a solid chunk of work before I let that happen. Can you take control of the day, setting certain times aside for focused thinking – and making sure this isn’t broken by pings or animations indicating incoming email? Can you divert your phone to your mobile – and turn it off for an hour? Can you work in a different part of the building? Then set other times of the day when you are in ‘juggling mode’ – holding meetings, making calls, answering email, and moving from one thing to another. How can you arrange your day into clearly marked ‘spaces’ that give you the best of both worlds?


3. Remember that you can only work on one thing at a time, and manage your energy. It’s been scientifically proven that people can’t focus attention on multiple things. Instead, juggling is just working on one thing at a time for very short periods. How long can you stay in high adrenaline action mode before it takes its toll on you? Do you need a break and a short walk to keep your energy high – or to calm down enough to shift into work that requires focused attention?


4. Stay in control. One of the best ways to manage multiple tasks is to keep clear lists of what you’re working on and what needs to be done. If you are in focused mode and a demand comes in that must be dealt with today, park it in a list until you are ready to deal with it.

TAKE AWAY
Juggling is mainly a state of mind. Take proactive action to control distractions and you’ll be more productive in both your focused time and your juggling time. And if colleagues understand how you plan your time – they’ll often fit in, knowing they’ll always get a quicker response after 11.00!