Better
Workload Management = Same Hours, Less Stress
(Overworked? Overwhelmed? Learn tips to manage your workload.)
By Karen Porter
The
Administrative Professional
Job Performance and Career Success Coach
Assisting Administrative Support Professionals Since 2004
You want to do a
good job at work and excel in your career. But it seems that you're always
one step behind your workload. And you can't even begin to think of ways to
excel in your career because you're just too busy with day-to-day tasks on
the job. How can you talk to your boss about professional development and
career path direction when he's busy asking you the status on a project he
needs at the end of the day (or yesterday)?
It's a fact these days that administrative professionals are being asked to
support multiple managers and sometimes their manager's staff. And if that's
not enough, some administrative professionals carry an extra load too. For
instance, consider the admin who must fill in for an absent co-worker on
sick leave or vacation leave.
Or how about the admin who fills in for a nonexistent co-worker; that's when
your company hasn't hired enough staff to manage the existing daily demands
at work and instead hands a bigger workload off to you (tasks that may not
even be directly relevant to your position). So you juggle your workload to
compensate for this staff shortage.
What can you do? The workload isn't diminishing. And your boss is asking you
when you'll have this done. And this. And that. And, 'oh yea, can you do
this too today when you're done with that.'
The solution? While you might like to scream 'can't you see I'm busy', 'just
leave me alone today,' or 'I only have two hands today, just like yesterday
and tomorrow,' those aren't professional options. You can think those
phrases. But don't say them aloud.
Instead, take some advice from Erin O'Hara Meyer, president of
Administrative Excellence, Inc., (www.adminexcellence.com). Prior to her
position as an international trainer and consultant specializing in personal
and professional development techniques for administrative professionals,
Meyer worked in your shoes.
And now she sees and advises many administrative professionals (and their
bosses) regarding these same workload dilemmas. Here are just a few of her
suggestions for better managing your workload....
...This complete article is available in
Presenting Just The "Gold" From The Effective Admin Archives .
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