When will it get better?

I was with a coaching client (manager at a gym) recently, and she asked me before our appointment “When will it get better?” I asked her what she meant, and she said “I’ve got more responsibility, less resource, and more is expected of me each week… when will it stop?”

The short answer that she came to herself after a few minutes discussion was, “It won’t stop”. This was not very motivating, but knowing the answer to the (second) question was a start, and we moved back to making it “get better”.

Any number of time management courses or productivity techniques might help, but the first point we came to was to accept that you’re not going to get everything done. This lifts a weight from your shoulders, removes the worry of the never-ending task list, and frees you to get on with the most important task(s).

Mentoring over, we went back to coaching, and found (through some challenging questions) that there were quite a few areas that could be delegated, as well as some tasks that weren’t as critical as first thought.

We all seem to have more and more to do, and seemingly less and less time. There will never be enough time to do everything you have to do. Just don’t let this get you down. If you know what the most important things to do today are, there will always be enough time to do them.