Have you ever felt overwhelmed with how many things you need to do and there is just not enough hours in a day? Looking at next week hoping it will be an eight-day week rather than seven? Hands up, I am one of these people!
Learning how to say no to things have been a bloody hard journey for me. I think learning how to say no and prioritise yourself is something that applies to both full-timers and freelancers.
Personally, I love doing different things. Djing, producing music, scoring for short films, etc. It is incredibly hard for me to manage all the things I want to do at the same time as I am working full time. Do not get me wrong, I love my job, and I would not have anything different (Except for maybe an eight-day in the week), but sometimes I just do not have the time for it all!
Not only do I want to do these other music-related things, but I also want to see friends, have fun, and exercise as well! Being able to cook food at home, have a day off, and just do absolutely nothing. The list goes on.
The truth is, all of these things will not happen. At least not at once. And we need to learn to accept this. I have accepted that there are different things at different times and stages of life! Some weeks I will have time to exercise and time to cook proper food that will nourish me. Other weeks I will eat fast food for a week, and the thought of exercising is just not happening. And that is OK!
The only way to manage workload is to try and plan ahead. Try and stay on top of things, prioritise what is important, what can wait, and so on. At university, I was taught the traffic light model. Some of you might be familiar with it, some of you might not be.
With the traffic light model, you put things into categories:
Red is off track and urgent.
Yellow is not incredibly urgent and is relatively on track.
Green is on track and projects can wait.
When I was taught this in university, everything felt urgent & off track in my life.
I just could not let go of the idea that I needed to do everything and everything at once. But now a couple of years later I truly understand the importance of this and the importance of saying no or “this can wait” to not burn myself out.
There are things in life we need to deal with urgently, whether it is your personal life or work-related. And we should deal with these things immediately! We might have gotten sidetracked, found the task boring or it just felt stressful to deal with it. But the longer we wait, the harder and more stressful it will be to deal with it. Ask for help if you need to.
I would say, look at your life as a DJ mixer. Just try to avoid going into the reds. There is nothing good happening there. Try and stay in the greens & yellows. Evaluate your life, where are you right now? Incorporate an admin hour or two in your day/week, so you can properly sit down and have a look at where things are at. When you take control of things in your life, you are less likely to feel overwhelmed, and you will make time for the essential things in your life. And the most important thing in your life should always be yourself and your well-being.