Deadline season is upon us and without a doubt, it is one of the most stressful times of the year. It is very easy to feel overwhelmed when there are deadlines around every corner. I am going to share my top tips with you to hopefully help you feel less overwhelmed this deadline season!
1. TAKE A BREAK
First and foremost, TAKE A BREAK!!! The best thing you can do when you are beginning to feel overwhelmed is to put the work away. Whether you decide to go for a walk, meet some friends or whatever you find helps you relax, that is what you should do! I find taking a ‘brain break’ allows me to calm down and get myself back into the headspace to work. It is so important to make sure you don’t burn yourself out in deadline season – so when you don’t think you have time for a break, make some time!
Your time is valuable, so in order to make sure you are using this time wisely, the best thing to do is to make a list of everything you need to complete. Once you have that list you can organize it to ensure you are awarding your time to the most important tasks. I find titles really help – rating from urgent tasks to ones which can be completed last. This really allows you to focus on what is needed to be done first and help you tick a few things off!
3. ‘Three things a day’
This is something I began doing in my first year at University. Every day I would write down three reasonable things to accomplish – from a set of reading to little chores I needed to do. This sets you a basic structure to your day and if do them, it makes you feel like you have been productive that day (no matter how little the tasks may be).
4. Give yourself some credit
You are working hard, give yourself some credit! Whether you are completing a degree or doing anything in life, you are still doing something and you should feel good about that! It is soooo easy to fool yourself into thinking you aren’t working hard enough because you haven’t reached your end goal yet – but you are on the way! Small steps are still steps!