Dealing with Work Overload

IT professionals have skills that are in high demand and it is easy to become over committed. Managing time becomes extremely important and doing it professionally can be challenging. The IT professional typically is getting hundreds of emails a day and constant requests.

How can the IT professional possibly manage in today’s busy environment and not let things slip through? The key is managing priorities and pushing back in a professional manner when necessary. Take action as quickly as possible and avoid “I will deal with this later.” Make decisions on emails – delete, take action or schedule. Keep very few items in your in box. Plan your week and if too much work is scheduled than find work you can delegate or eliminate. Communicate the work that will be incomplete – “push back”. Be focused on the priority work and not just the most recent request or the work that is making the most noise.

Time management and communications are the keys to managing through when there is too much work to be done. There will always be more work that can be done than hours in the day. Prioritize, communicate and use time management to accomplish more than expected!