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We all experience the desire to have more hours in the day or the wish to magically reduce our workload, which almost never happens, if anything, it is the opposite. Now I am by no means an expert in managing my workload, I don’t believe anyone is, but I have some methods that have helped me and maybe they could help you too.

 

1 – Minimise the number of locations your tasks are found

 

It makes it much easier for me to prioritise my workload when I can see my full list of tasks in 1 or 2 places, so I ensure that all my tasks are either in my emails or Personio. Teams message with a request? screenshot it and email it yourself. Asked something in person? Send yourself an email. This way, I don’t have to worry about remembering things, I can see all my open tasks in one place and that not only helps me prioritize but also helps me see when I need to say no or ask for help due to being at max capacity.

 

2 – Find what works best for you

 

Leading on from the above, you need to do what works best for you. It may not be keeping everything in your emails, you may want to use an app or excel to keep track your workload.  I find that I prefer sorting my emails by categories and then filing away any completed tasks whilst colleagues of mine prefer keeping everything in their inbox and flagging what they need to complete. All this to say, not everyone works in the same way but once you find what works for you, stick with it.  

 

3 – Know when to say no

 

I have had a journey learning when to say no, I don’t think anyone finds it easy. Sometimes, requests come my way that whilst I could help with, but either I don’t have capacity or they are too time consuming and I simply know I wont be able to achieve them in a reasonable timeframe. This is when I either have to say no, or pushback and set reasonable expectations for when the task will be complete.

 

4 – Be firm with your time

 

We all know people who will add a meeting into our calendars into any available spot, and it usually ends up being over lunch. Whilst it can seem more productive to work through your lunch, taking breaks throughout your day will help you re-energize and re-focus, boosting productivity and helping you work down your list faster. If you find yourself regularly working through your lunch, schedule it in and be strict with yourself taking it, you’ll notice the difference.

 

5- Ask for support

 

Even if you don’t have a large team, or any team, there will always be someone in your business you can reach out to for help. Having 1 or 2 tasks taken off your plate, or an extended deadline can reduce stress and make a world of difference when it comes to tackling the rest of that mountain of tasks.

 

Do you have any tips for tackling your workload? I’d love to hear more!

​@People Person, this is such a thoughtful post! I especially like the idea of minimising the number of locations for tasks - I definitely need to adopt that more myself.

The point you made about learning to say no really resonated with me because it’s something I’ve struggled with too. Saying no is never easy, but I’ve found it becomes much clearer when you have a strong sense of the bigger picture - what’s truly critical for your team or organisation. I don’t just mean a list of top priority projects; I mean a set of decision-making principles - what I’d call Identity Anchors that guide you through the tough calls.

For example, when I worked in therapeutic manufacturing, our team operated under a clear principle: 'on spec is better than on time.' This gave us the clarity to confidently say “bin it,” even though the product cost more than a house. This was because we knew delivering something safe for the patient was more critical than meeting the shipping deadline. Another company could legitimately have the opposite principle, but what matters is that ours included a clear trade-off: THIS is better than THAT. It wasn’t a statement like “high quality is better than low quality,” which sounds good but doesn’t help with the really tough decisions.

In my experience, the most aligned organisations operate with this level of clarity, and it transforms decision-making. It becomes easier to confidently say “yes, absolutely” or “no, not now.”

I know this isn’t as immediately actionable as your top tips, but I wanted to add a different perspective that might complement your advice - especially for those in a position to drive this kind of change.

@People Person  
This is a great article Zoe!

I would love to contribute some insight. 

When managing multiple demanding priorities, it can be helpful to apply a decision matrix.  One of the most common and simple versions is 4D’s - known as The Eisenhower Matrix. 

Create your task list, then a grid of four quadrants.  Plot each task in the chart, and then allocate priority.  Depending on the activity, apply headlines (two elements, with opposing qualities) that work for you. 

The classic Eisenhower Matrix uses Urgency (Urgent / Not Urgent) and Importance (Important / Not Important). Once tasks are plotted, they are then allocated into categories Do, Decide, Delegate and Delete and listed by priority and resource availability.

For projects, I tend to use: Impact (High / Low) and Effort (High / Low). Once tasks are plotted, they are then allocated into Now, Next, Soon and Revisit and listed in the same way.

I created a quick video explainer too! (Apologies for the sound issues - I didn’t have my proper recording mic with me!)

For Personal Task Lists: Necessity (Absolutely / Kinda) and Desire (Wanna / Don’t Wanna)  🤣 

Nicole Donne, Operations Executive at Goodlord

My most effective way of managing workload has been to prioritize and ensure that I stick to the timelines against my priority activities. It requires discipline and commitment to manage workload.

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