Do you ever feel overwhelmed at the office or at home? You know the feeling, head constantly at the below water line or just keeping ahead of day to day tasks? Stuck looking at the trees and not the forest when it comes to planning?

It’s OK, we all have. Saying yes is, well easier than saying no. It’s more rewarding to help someone out than asking for help.

While in theory it sounds noble it’s actually pretty dumb. In participating in this type of “yes” mentality we inherently, often willingly, spread ourselves too thin – sucking out productivity.

To be successful or get out of the vicious minutia cycle we have to stop feeding into the yes mentality however hard it is to say no. At the end of the day good feelings of this kind do as much good as a Monopoly dollar at a vending machine.

So how do we collectively avoid being spread paper thin?

Repeat after me – Superman is not real. Batman is not real. Wonder Woman is not real. OK, now that we’ve gotten that over with, we call all accept reality. Super heroes are a thing of fantasy someone who can work all day, fight crime at night and nab the girl all at the same time. It’s OK to admit it, doing one of the three is good enough for all of us. Plus none of us should be wearing tights out in public.

Say no – two letters, yell them out fast. See, wasn’t that easy? Now I am not saying say no to everything, just things that you cannot handle or do well without sacrificing something that you need to do, like eating lunch or getting home in time to see your kids to bed.

Ask for help – Audit the work that you have on your plate. What are the things that you cannot delegate or get assistance on? What are the tasks that you should have passed along long ago? Who on your team should be helping you? Once you have that drafted out figure out how to get that in place. This can be anything from a team brainstorming session to asking a boss or coworker for advice. The first step though is realizing that others can help and that it is OK to ask for help.

Have you ever found yourself spread thin? If so, how did you get over it?

Image: hollykl

Do you ever feel overwhelmed at the office or at home? You know the feeling, head constantly at the below water line or just keeping ahead of day to day tasks? Stuck looking at the trees and not the forest when it comes to planning?

It’s OK, we all have. Saying yes is, well easier than saying no. It’s more rewarding to help someone out than asking for help.

While in theory it sounds noble it’s actually pretty dumb. In participating in this type of “yes” mentality we inherently, often willingly, spread ourselves too thin – sucking out productivity.

To be successful or get out of the vicious minutia cycle we have to stop feeding into the yes mentality however hard it is to say no. At the end of the day good feelings of this kind do as much good as a Monopoly dollar at a vending machine.

So how do we collectively avoid being spread paper thin?

Repeat after me – Superman is not real. Batman is not real. Wonder Woman is not real. OK, now that we’ve gotten that over with, we call all accept reality. Super heroes are a thing of fantasy someone who can work all day, fight crime at night and nab the girl all at the same time. It’s OK to admit it, doing one of the three is good enough for all of us. Plus none of us should be wearing tights out in public.

Say no – two letters, yell them out fast. See, wasn’t that easy? Now I am not saying say no to everything, just things that you cannot handle or do well without sacrificing something that you need to do, like eating lunch or getting home in time to see your kids to bed.

Ask for help – Audit the work that you have on your plate. What are the things that you cannot delegate or get assistance on? What are the tasks that you should have passed along long ago? Who on your team should be helping you? Once you have that drafted out figure out how to get that in place. This can be anything from a team brainstorming session to asking a boss or coworker for advice. The first step though is realizing that others can help and that it is OK to ask for help.

Have you ever found yourself spread thin? If so, how did you get over it?

Image: hollykl

Do you ever feel overwhelmed at the office or at home? You know the feeling, head constantly at the below water line or just keeping ahead of day to day tasks? Stuck looking at the trees and not the forest when it comes to planning?

It’s OK, we all have. Saying yes is, well easier than saying no. It’s more rewarding to help someone out than asking for help.

While in theory it sounds noble it’s actually pretty dumb. In participating in this type of “yes” mentality we inherently, often willingly, spread ourselves too thin – sucking out productivity.

To be successful or get out of the vicious minutia cycle we have to stop feeding into the yes mentality however hard it is to say no. At the end of the day good feelings of this kind do as much good as a Monopoly dollar at a vending machine.

So how do we collectively avoid being spread paper thin?

Repeat after me – Superman is not real. Batman is not real. Wonder Woman is not real. OK, now that we’ve gotten that over with, we call all accept reality. Super heroes are a thing of fantasy someone who can work all day, fight crime at night and nab the girl all at the same time. It’s OK to admit it, doing one of the three is good enough for all of us. Plus none of us should be wearing tights out in public.

Say no – two letters, yell them out fast. See, wasn’t that easy? Now I am not saying say no to everything, just things that you cannot handle or do well without sacrificing something that you need to do, like eating lunch or getting home in time to see your kids to bed.

Ask for help – Audit the work that you have on your plate. What are the things that you cannot delegate or get assistance on? What are the tasks that you should have passed along long ago? Who on your team should be helping you? Once you have that drafted out figure out how to get that in place. This can be anything from a team brainstorming session to asking a boss or coworker for advice. The first step though is realizing that others can help and that it is OK to ask for help.

Have you ever found yourself spread thin? If so, how did you get over it?

Image: hollykl

Do you ever feel overwhelmed at the office or at home? You know the feeling, head constantly at the below water line or just keeping ahead of day to day tasks? Stuck looking at the trees and not the forest when it comes to planning?

It’s OK, we all have. Saying yes is, well easier than saying no. It’s more rewarding to help someone out than asking for help.

While in theory it sounds noble it’s actually pretty dumb. In participating in this type of “yes” mentality we inherently, often willingly, spread ourselves too thin – sucking out productivity.

To be successful or get out of the vicious minutia cycle we have to stop feeding into the yes mentality however hard it is to say no. At the end of the day good feelings of this kind do as much good as a Monopoly dollar at a vending machine.

So how do we collectively avoid being spread paper thin?

Repeat after me – Superman is not real. Batman is not real. Wonder Woman is not real. OK, now that we’ve gotten that over with, we call all accept reality. Super heroes are a thing of fantasy someone who can work all day, fight crime at night and nab the girl all at the same time. It’s OK to admit it, doing one of the three is good enough for all of us. Plus none of us should be wearing tights out in public.

Say no – two letters, yell them out fast. See, wasn’t that easy? Now I am not saying say no to everything, just things that you cannot handle or do well without sacrificing something that you need to do, like eating lunch or getting home in time to see your kids to bed.

Ask for help – Audit the work that you have on your plate. What are the things that you cannot delegate or get assistance on? What are the tasks that you should have passed along long ago? Who on your team should be helping you? Once you have that drafted out figure out how to get that in place. This can be anything from a team brainstorming session to asking a boss or coworker for advice. The first step though is realizing that others can help and that it is OK to ask for help.

Have you ever found yourself spread thin? If so, how did you get over it?

Image: hollykl