Berlin and other stories

How to have your shit together with these 7 lists

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Wondering how other people's life can constantly seem so easy and put together? Use these 7 lists to coordinate your life and have your shit together.

Wondering how other people's life can constantly seem so easy and put together? Use these 7 lists to coordinate your life and have your shit together.

 

You might be thinking: “Lists are for people who are unorganized and don’t have their shit together”. And you are right. But most of us have countless responsibilities. There is the job, the house, the partner, maybe even the kids. And all of it is sitting on our shoulders, weighing us down. I mean, show me the girl who has never been laying awake at 2 a.m. making lists in her mind, right?

 
To me, lists are an excellent way to coordinate and systematize the chaos that is my life. And if I didn’t make them, I would probably be running around like a chicken with its head cut off, to be honest. A list just gives me a sense of direction. You see, I am very passionate about my lists. Let’s be real, I writing a list about lists right now 😀 . But honestly, if you have ever felt like your head is going to explode because you are trying to not forget 1 billion things, keep on reading Babe. 
 
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How to have your shit together with these 7 lists

 
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To-Do List

 
Let’s start off with a no-brainer and one that has been my friend for years. The To-Do list is a thing I either put together in bed before I go to sleep or write down before I genuinely start my day. It contains everything that needs to be done that day. And it has check marks because checking a check mark is one of the most rewarding things ever. Feel me? 
 
So I put EVERYTHING on that list. From bringing out the trash, to finishing a big project to calling my mom (don’t worry, I go to the bathroom without needing to check-mark it 😉 ). Your list, however, can consist of whatever you want. Some people work great with only having a rough outline of their tasks. I, on the other hand, need to plan out ever little detail of every task. Everyone is different. 😃 
 
 

Gift Ideas

 
I’ve talked more in depth about this in the post “8 ways to improve yourself in your twenties”, but I am determined to become the most amazing present giver in the universe. Well, maybe not the universe, but you get the gist. However, I am not one of those people that have a great memory, when it comes to other people’s wishlists. Because of that, I keep a simple memo app (the one that’s usually already installed) on my phone. It’s called “Gift Ideas” and locked with a password for obvious reasons. And it works wonders. 
 
I mean we’ve all been there one week before Christmas, going crazy because we still don’t know what to buy this uncle or that friend. And if you are as lame as me, they generally get the “real special bottle of wine” again. Well, not anymore my friend. With the memo app, you have all year to write down ideas whenever you’re with them or thinking of them. It’s gold, believe me. 

 

 

Meal Plan

 
Since working full-time, I struggle even more with eating healthy. You just don’t have the time and energy to cook elaborate meals every day. It’s a luxury. And let’s be honest, it’s so much easier to get a quick bite on the way home. After the tenths Falafel in a row, however, I finally got fed up with it. Me and my thighs both. 
 
I now take the time to plan out our weekly meals. Every Sunday, like a good housewife, does 😉 . But it is actually nice. I found some great recipes that are fast to make and healthy. And by planning them I don’t have the daily struggle of “What do we eat for dinner?”, “Do we still have enough tomatoes at home?”, “What can you make with an apple and an egg?”. Liberating!
 
And that brings me to the next list …  
 

 

Grocery List

 
The time I have spent in grocery stores running around looking for “inspiration”. Ridiculous! Since having my meal plan, I also have my grocery list. It’s so grown up that it makes me proud and shocked at the same time. haha. But it does save a lot of time. I include everything I need for the weekly meals and then add everything else that comes to mind, that we might also need. Sure, I still have the occasional “Ups, no milk in the house”-moment. But those are an exception now. 
 

 

Cleaning Schedule

 
Also a very grown up list. But quite handy, especially if there is more than one person living in the household. In my case, it is only two, which makes it a lot easier. I tend to be a neat freak only if I want to be. Doesn’t make sense? Well, it doesn’t to my boyfriend either. So I have found that splitting the tasks up evenly and knowing when they are supposed to be done and by whom, makes everything go over a lot smoother. Also, the house is way cleaner. 
 

 

Birthdays

 
I am a little embarrassed that I even need to put this list here. But since we are all human I might as well put it out there. I regularly forget birthdays. All birthdays. And now I hope there are some of you out there who are as horrible as me. Come on, don’t leave a girl hanging here 😉 . 
 
Because I have this habit and my mom keeps getting more annoyed at me for it as I am getting older, I have a list. Facebook is a nice little helper, but it doesn’t help me when it comes to grandparents and others. For that, I keep a list on my phone. It consists of all the birthdays of friends and family. At the beginning of every month, I make it a priority to transfer the birthdays into my calendar. 
 
Why do I not put them there in the first place? Simple. If I did I wouldn’t think about them until the day of. And that brings us back to the gift debacle. With the list, however, I have thought about the birthday at the beginning of the month. That way, it stays in the back of my mind in a natural way and I can get the presents ahead of time.

 

 

Doctors Appointments

 
There are certain doctors appointments that need to be done once a year or every few months. But the way life keeps you busy and throws you things, it is the easiest thing in the world to forget about them. I live in Germany, where keeping up with doctors appointments is especially vital when it comes to the dentist. The government graciously gives you a kind of discount on your dental fillings. But only, if you’ve kept your yearly appointments for a certain amount of time (depending on the discount it varies anywhere from 5 years up). For that, you get a little book where the dental assistant marks of your appointments. Leave it to me, to go too late every year. That’s real money, I’m losing there. 😮
 
But even if you don’t get monetary refunds for going… we all know those appointments should be kept. The best way to stay on top of that is by creating a list. I personally do a checklist, where I can check off the appointments I have already dealt with. Not only does it help to clear up space in my mind- it actually keeps me more healthy!
 
 
 
Those are the lists that make me feel like I have my shit together. Lists that keep me organized and help to free up the mind space I need. I hope you enjoyed the suggestions and they might even help you to coordinate you own life. Do you have certain lists that help you have your shit together in your daily life? Let’s chat in the comments!
 
xx
Nico
 
 

How to make your Day Off count

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Daily Schedule to make your Day Off count

Daily Schedule to make your Day Off count

 

We’ve all been there. You have a day off from work or school and there is not a single thing you can think of, that you could possibly do. Last week I had one of those magical days. After working full time for three months whilst blogging and maintaining a social life, I was so excited to have one day all to myself. A day, where I didn’t have any appointments, commitments or assignments. When that day came, though, I had no idea what to do with myself.

Being busy all the time, it’s almost like we have forgotten how to use our free time. We are wired at all times, sometimes doing three things at once. Therefore “just” sitting on the couch or “just” reading a book seems like wasted time. We don’t realize, that doing nothing can actually be quite productive at times. In this case, though I was so annoyed with myself because I really wanted to be productive. Get all the things done, that I never get to do during work weeks. On the other hand, though I also wanted time to slack off. I didn’t know how to cope with this day, so I just sat in the kitchen waiting for a magical To-Do list to pop up in my head and tell me where to start.

To make your life a little easier and spare you from this horrible feeling of not knowing what to do with yourself I created a list (because that’s apparently what I know and do best). A daily schedule to make your day off count and give you a feeling of productivity and accomplishment whilst also taking the time to relax like a pro.

 

A Daily Schedule to make your Day Off count

 

9:00 a.m. – Time for Coffee

This is your day off. You deserve to sleep in a little and take some time for yourself to really enjoy your morning coffee and get started with the day. Since 9 a.m. is still considered one of the morning hours you are not sleeping half way through your day off. On the other hand, it’s also better than your usual wake-up time, am I right?

So take your cup of coffee and enjoy an hour of “me-time”. If you are a breakfast person, this will probably be a good time to also get a little something in your tummy. For me, Morning-Coffee-Time is usually the part of the day, where I pop open a magazine (since I just never actually have time to read a magazine) or browse through my Pinterest.

 

10 a.m – Do some chores

Remember that sweater you wanted to wear last Thursday or the cute flower dress that would have been perfect for last Saturday? Catch up on your washing. The machine does the work for you, therefore it will only take a couple of minutes. But you will thank me later when it’s time to find something to wear to work. 😉

While the washing is on, how about 30 minutes of bathroom cleaning? I realize this is not a fun thing to do on your day off. But believe me, it’s so much better than having to do it after a full day at work. So let’s buckle down and get to it.

This chore can obviously be followed and/ or substituted with other tasks, such as doing the dishes, vacuuming and dusting the living room, cleaning out the fridge etc. Whatever your little heart prefers. I personally love changing the bed sheets on those days. Don’t get me wrong, I hate changing bed sheets. But the reward at the end of the day is always worth it.

 

12 a.m. – Enjoy your lunch

After all this cleaning it is time to get some real food in your stomach. Remember, today you actually have time to eat and enjoy your lunch. So be good to yourself and prepare something nicer than those sandwiches you usually get across from the office. Maybe something a little bit more healthy, maybe not. But definitely, a meal that has you sitting down and relaxing for a while.

 

1 p.m. – Nap time

This is my favorite part of the day. I LOVE taking naps. It is such a luxury to be able to lay down in the middle of the day and just sleep for an hour to recharge your batteries. Especially after a big and yummy lunch, this is gold. I genreally take the book I am reading at the moment and cuddle up on the sofa. After max. 30 min I often can’t keep my eyes open anymore and am happily snoozing away.

 

 It is such a luxury to be able to lay down in the middle of the day and just sleep for an hour… Click To Tweet

 

 

3 p.m. – Clean out your closet

Alright, break time is over. Time to be a little more productive again. You wanted to make your day off count, remember? 😉

Cleaning out my closet is something I NEVER have time for. And to be honest, when I do I really, really dread it. But we all know it needs to be done once in a while, so why not today? And just think about all the space you will have for prettier, new clothes … 😃

Depending on how big your closet is, this can take a while. However, it’s not like you have anywhere to go, so no excuses.

 

5 p.m. – Coffee break

Before we tackle the next task, it is time for a short coffee break. After all, this is a day to relax. So finish the article from this morning, or play some Candy Crush while sipping your coffee.

 

5.15 p.m. – Manage your personal documents

This is one of those tasks I always wish I would’ve done. Do you have those? A task I never truly want to do, but every time I look for an important piece of paper or try to do my taxes I just hate myself for never taking the time to get a little organized with my personal documents.

Consequently, this is what you will be doing right now. Get out your folders and some cute stationary out to make this task a little more fun and then start organizing bank statements, old post, cell phone bills etc. etc. Your life will be much easier afterwards, I promise.

 

6 p.m. – Make a nice dinner

We all have those days, where we get out late at the office and just grab something on the way home, or eat yet another frozen pizza. Well not today my friend. Finally, you have time to cook something really nice for yourself. It doesn’t have to be fancy or hard, but just take the time to prepare a good meal. It will be worth it.

I also think that cooking is a great way to wind down and relax. You can put on some music, dance around in the kitchen and really let loose.

 

 Put on some music, dance around the kitchen and let go of all stress. Click To Tweet

 

 

7 p.m. – Organize your month

Before we get into the relaxing evening mode, let’s do one more productive task to finish up the day on a high note. Take 30 minutes and plan out all you have to do for the next month. Appointments, meetings, calls, trips. Put it all to paper (or whatever digital device you prefer). It will give you a sense of clarity and calmness to know that you have your life figured out.

 

7.30 p.m. – Watch some Netflix

Finally, time for fun again: This is also a part of the day that I thoroughly enjoy. I am addicted to TV shows, so I always have something to catch up on. To me, it’s just a great way to rewind, and switch off from my own daily problems. So magical. I generally go overboard with watching Netflix, hence the following time stamp. But you can obviously do this as long as you enjoy it. It’s your day off and you schedule it however you like.

 

10 p.m. – Take a bath / or steamy shower and get ready for bed

The best way to end the day is taking a bath or a really hot shower. Washing off the day and relaxing for five minutes will help you get sleepy and is always good for body and soul.

After you are clean and comfortable, get out a fresh pair of pyjamas and cuddle up in your new, clean bed sheets. Isn’t it the best feeling in the world?

Now go to sleep, you had a big day. 😃

 

I hope you enjoyed my daily schedule for a maximised day off. It has definitely helped me over the helpless feeling of not knowing what to do with myself. Let me know if you tried it out and what you think about it. What is your daily schedule to make your day off count? Any tips? Let’s chat in the comments.

xx
Nico

 

 

Daily Schedule to make your Day Off count

 

 

Gmail hacks for ultimate productivity

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Check out these 10 ultimate hacks to improve your Gmail game

Check out these 10 Gmail hacks for ultimate productivity

Especially since I started working full time, I feel like I am on my email provider at least five hours a day. I am not even kidding you. I mean, I kind of like writing and receiving emails, but it just takes up so much time. And then between writing work Emails, I check my phone for personal or blog related Emails … it just never stops! 

 
So a few days ago I decided to transfer all the non-work Emails into one Mail account: GMail. Why? First of all, because I just got confused and overwhelmed with all those different addresses and providers. There were literally four Email apps on my phone. I couldn’t even deal. The second reason was the handy operating system of GMail. Bless Google for their easy to use products. The design is very simple and adaptable to my needs, which is amazing. But the biggest reason for switching everything over was the great hacks that GMail provides, that just make my life (and soon yours) so much easier. 
 
So let’s get right into it. I will make you acquainted with the 10 GMail hacks for ultimate productivity, that I use and love daily. 
 
 

 

1 Change the Time Stamp

I am one of those people that can concentrate and work way better at night time. Which was fine while I was at school or Uni, because nobody else cares about what time you actually study as long as you do it. Now, however, people do not appreciate you sending them mails at 2 o’clock in the morning. Weird right? So after I got a weird look from my boss, asking me why I was working so late at night a few months ago, I did the one thing every smart night owl should do: I started using Boomerang. 
 
Boomerang is a free extension to your GMail, that allows you to write an Email at whatever time you choose and then schedules it to be sent at a more reasonable hour. That way it will look like you’ve arrived early to work at 7.30 am when you actually send your Email at 11pm at night. It literally changed my life. Or at least made me look a lot more professional. 
 
 
HOW TO CHANGE THE TIME STAMP
 
Basically, Boomerang adds a “Send Later” button under the usual “Send” button you already know. Once you press this button, it gives you some pre-installed options of when to send your Email like “Tomorrow morning” or “Monday”. If you need your message delivered at a certain time, you can also specify the date and time of your choosing. And that’s it already. Your Email is scheduled and you don’t need to think about it another minute. The extension will even send your Email if you are not logged into the internet at the time. Amazing, right? 
 
Check out these 10 Gmail hacks for ultimate productivity 

 

2 Undo send Emails

Ever wrote an Email to your boss and then detected this hideous spelling error AFTER you hit send? Or starting writing an Email and accidentally hit send mid-sentence? No more! GMail has this amazing feature now, that lets you unsent an Email in the thirty seconds after you send it. Now every time you hit send, a little message pops up that says “Your message has been sent” with an “Undo” button right next to it. This is what we’ve all been praying for, guys. 
 
 
HOW TO UNSEND AN EMAIL
 
To enable the feature, all you need to ist click the gear-wheel icon in the top right of your GMail Dashboard. Press “Settings” and it will take you to the adjustment page. If you scroll down a little bit in the general settings area, you will find a section that says “Undo Send”. Just click the box next to “Enable undo send” and adjust how much time you want for unsending you Emails. The timer goes up to 30seconds. 
 
Check out these 10 Gmail hacks for ultimate productivity 

 

3 Tidy up your subscriptions

These days it feels like every blog and company has their own subscription mails. And I used to almost drown in them. Some of them I actually signed up for because I love getting the info they send out, most of the time though they are unwanted Emails that I delete before even reading them. So all they are doing for me is mess up my inbox. Unroll.me is an app that takes care of these subscriptions for you once and for all. They have two features that made my Email-life a lot more easy and organized.
 
 
HOW TO TIDY UP YOUR SUBSCRIPTION
 
After you have signed up to Unroll.me, you will see a list of all your subscription Emails. The first feature I absolutely adore is the option to unsubscribe to Emails without even opening them. Next to the name of every subscription there is a little green check mark. When you hover over it becomes a red x, which you only have to click and the subscription is gone. Yes, it is that easy!
 
Now that you have sorted out the unwanted, let’s take care of the subscriptions you actually do want to read. In my case, thanks to all the amazing blogs out there, there are still a lot of Emails left, which lead to a still messy inbox. And now we will come to a feature of Unroll.me that blew my mind. Listen: With The Rollup, you can combine all of your subscriptions in one Email! Let that sink in for a second. One Email instead of hundreds! It still amazes me. 
 
By the way, if you want to sign up to Berlin and Other Stories, all you need to do it click the button below 😉
 

 
 

 

4 Use Gmail offline

Another game changer for me is the opportunity to use GMail anywhere I go with GMail Offline. I live in a big city, where I get to work using the subway. And what better way to use this time sitting in the dark than catching up on your Emails right? Well, because of the bad internet connection in the tunnels this wasn’t possible for me until I discovered GMail offline. This Google Chrome extension allows you to read and respond to your Email as well as search for mails and archive them without needing even the slightest bit of internet connection. It’s such a time saver. 
 
 

 

5 Backup your data

 I probably don’t need to tell you, how important it is to backup your data. But if you need a little reminder anyway, read up on this post I did about it. I personally back up my data once a month just to be sure everything is safe and sound.
 
 
HOW TO BACK UP YOUR DATA
 
The first thing you want to do is sign in to your account. Next step is to visit the Takeout Page by Google, where you can select which of the Google Products you want to include in your backup. After you have chosen press the “Next” button. On the following page, you can pick the file format that you want your information to be downloaded in. I always download as a zip file, since they don’t take up much storage space. Now click on the button “Create Archive”. Google is now bundling up all of your selected files. Depending on how much you have chosen, this might take a while. After the process is done, a button will appear that say “Download”. Press it and the files will be downloaded to your computer. 
 
 

 

6 Delete in Bulk

One thing that has always stressed me out with pretty much every Email provider is deleting more than one Email at once. We’ve all been there, where we had to click the little square next to the Emails one after the other. And god forbid you messed up than all of your hard work was done. Most frustrating thing ever! GMail also has those little squares and it drove me crazy. Until somebody told me that there is actually a much easier way to do this. 
 
 
HOW TO DELETE IN BULK
 
Press “Control” on your keyboard and instead of checking the boxes, you simply click on the individual Emails, which is much easier considering the difference in size. 
 
 

 

7 Mute Email 

Mass Email about this one work project, that you are not a part of? Email invite to a party with 200 people that you can’t attend? And everybody replying in ten-minute intervals? Here’s a quick way to finally shut them up!
 
 
HOW TO MUTE EMAIL
 
To stop mass Emails from clogging up your inbox, you select the Email you want to mute. Above it gives you different choices on what to do with it. Instead of deleting it and having to deal with five more responses to the mail later, you click on “More”. Click on the option “Mute” and you’re done!
 
Check out these 10 Gmail hacks for ultimate productivity 

 

8 Pre-assemble your responses

Have you ever sat in front of an Email thinking “I must have sent that same response about a hundred times by now”? If you have, then save yourself some time and nerves by using canned responses.
 
 
HOW TO SEND PRE-ASSEMBLED RESPONSES
 
Go to your settings through the gear-wheel on the top right corner of your GMail Dashboard. In the column “Labs” you will find a few useful tools. The one we want to go to right now is “Canned Responses”. Enable the feature. Whenever you have composed an Email now you can save to your canned responses. Simply click the button in the bottom right corner, to show you more options. When you open it, choose the row “Canned Responses”. Now you only need to save it and for the next Email, it’s all there waiting for you in the bottom right corner. This has saved me so much time. 
 
Check out these 10 Gmail hacks for ultimate productivity 

 

9 Simplify Email Addresses

Ok, when I got this information it blew my mind. You know how some people have super complicated Email addresses with lots of dots between the individual words? Here it comes: The dots don’t matter!!!
 
In their help forum, GMail explains that they actually don’t recognize the dots in the Email addresses. so if I was berlin.and.other.stories@gmail.com or berlinandotherstories@gmail.com, it’s all the same. So next time you have to type in this complicated dotted client Email, just leave out the dots it and it works the same!
 
 

 

10 Make it pretty

Now I realize this does not actually help anything when it comes to productivity or organization. So let’s call it an extra tip. Because what’s that saying? You eat with your eyes first! I am a huge fan of a nice, simple design as you can probably tell by the blog design. It helps me declutter my brain. 
 
 
HOW TO MAKE IT PRETTY
 
The first thing I do, before actually changing the design, is make my inbox look more uncluttered. You can achieve this by clicking on the gear-wheel. It gives you the different options for the display density. Change your density to comfortable and your inbox will instantly look more friendly to you. 
 
Now we come to the fun part. Again through the gear-wheel button, you will get an option called “Themes”. Here you can choose different designs for your dashboard. Choose whatever design makes you feel a little better when opening your GMail and our work here is done. 
 
 
 
Alrighty love, that was all my cumulated wisdom about GMail hacks for you. Let me know if you got any tips from this post. Or do you have any Gmail hacks for ultimate productivity that need to be added to the list? Let’s chat in the comments. 
 
xx
Nico
 
 

Must-Have Productivity Tools

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Trying to become the best version of yourself is hard. Here are 4 of my must-have productivity tools to help you become the best boss girl you can be.

Trying to become the best version of yourself is hard. Here are 4 of my must-have productivity tools to help you become the best boss girl you can be.

 

Last week I had an afternoon-coffee-break-chat with someone from the office. He tried to explain to me the concept of Buddhism and his beliefs about life. While the whole topic was very interesting to me, one of the Buddhists principles stuck out the most: Try to be the best version of yourself, every day.

This really got me thinking. I mean, obviously, we all want to achieve certain goals and become someone we can be proud of. Often we link the achievement of our personal and professional goals to our own happiness. But actually being the best version of yourself every day and in every aspect?!? That can get very exhausting very fast.

While I can not help you with the development of your character or moral, I can, in fact, assist in the business sector. So I gathered a few of my must-have productivity tools to help you become the best boss girl self every day!

 

 Trying to be the best version of myself every day. Click To Tweet

 

1 Asana

After I launched Berlin and Other Stories in march, my To-Do list seemed to be exploding. I had my daily planner for personal things that needed to get done. Then there was my Google Calendar for work related stuff, a notepad for Blog To-Dos and hundreds and hundreds of sticky notes everywhere. Not the ideal way to plan your life, you’re thinking? Right!

After browsing around on the web for a while I found Asana. I am not going to lie, it did catch me because of ist beautiful design (I am a sucker for branding, I know) but what kept me going was its effectiveness. Whether you are working by yourself or in a team, Asana has amazing functions for not only task management but communication and team management as well. The tool is so easy to use … and so pretty … 😉

 

2 Self Control

I talked about this tool before in How to Follow Through but I could rave about it any day when it comes to being more productive. The application basically lets you blacklist certain websites for a set amount of time. So take me for example, writing this post right now: I set Self Control to one hour and blacklisted Facebook and YouTube because I know whenever I get in a writing rut, I will „just check something real fast on Facebook“ and be distracted for the next hour. Don’t judge, we’ve all been there 😉

If you use a Mac Computer, Self Control is already installed in your applications. For the windows user, there are alternatives, like StayFocusd, which is a Google Chrome extension, and many more. I actually just came across an amazing page, that shows you how

I actually just came across an amazing page called the freelance effect, that explains step by step how to use Self Control so none of your productivity shall ever be wasted again. Check it out!

 

3 Dropbox

A huge pet peeve I have is unorganized folders and files that are dispersed everywhere. It literally gives me a headache. Trying to find a file that I thought was in a certain folder, only to find out 30 minutes later that I backed it up to some hard drive that is in my handbag hanging on a coat hanger at home. Isn’t that just the most frustrating thing ever?

Because of that, I am a huge fan of Dropbox, where all my files are neatly backed up into the cloud but still all in one place. I especially love the function to share your folders and files with different people, since it makes team management much more effective.

 

4 Pinterest

Like the rest of the interweb peeps, I am so in love with this website. Pinterest has become my „Five-Minute-Break“ from the To-Do list, my „Creative-Recharger“ and my „Inspiration Booster“. I mean, not going to lie, it can be the biggest distraction, ever created. But I try and set aside up to 10 minutes every few hours if I feel the need for a work break. And it keeps me more productive by filling my head with all those inspirations that just make me want to work more and more to make them all happen. In every way better than getting out your phone to play Candy Crush in a break, am I right?

 

I hope you enjoyed this post and maybe even found a tool or two to help you get more done and become the best boss girl version of yourself. What are your must-have productivity tools you can’t live without? Let’s chat in the comments.

xx

Nico

 

Stop feeling overwhelmed at work

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How to stop feeling overwhelmed at work in four simple stepsHow to stop feeling overwhelmed at work in four simple steps

How to stop feeling overwhelmed at work in four simple steps

 

Last week was just one of those weeks. Because we had a holiday on Monday I was off from work. Which sounds nice and definitely was a hoot while it lasted, but getting back to work on Tuesday was brutal, I can tell you that much. The amount of E-Mails in my Mailbox led me to believe that other people either did not have a holiday or just simply like to work on their days off, which is a very preposterous idea if you ask me. Anyway, it got clear to me very quickly that it was not humanly possible to get all the work done that had piled up in the office and on my blogging schedule in only four short days.After I figured out how long I would need to work to manage every assignment, I did the only thing I knew to do: I panicked!

I know, this is probably not what you want to hear, but listen, sometimes having a 5-minute breakdown is actually very liberating and necessary before tackling the shedload of work that is sitting right in front of you.

So a few minutes and one coffee later I sat down and got my act together.

 

Here are a few tips, that helped me not to lose my mind on a very painful Monday morning. I hope they will help you too to stop feeling overwhelmed at work:

 

How to stop feeling overwhelmed at work in four simple steps

 

Step 1 Organize your desk

Yes, I realize this sounds silly. You’re probably thinkin ‘Why would I waste my time on cleaning up my desk, when there are so many things to do today?’, right? I know there are a ton of tasks lying in front of you, calling you or sitting in your E-Mail folder right now. Forget them! Organizing your desk will only take you a few minutes. Considering the time you will save during your workday because you don’t have to find your calculator, that really important paper, and your favorite pen, this is nothing. Also, organizing is a task that does not require any brain power. So after that short break down (I know, you did it too 😉 ) it’s a good way of calming your nerves and settling down.

 

Step 2 Prioritize

Again, this may seem like a total waste of time, when you could have already started tackling your To-Do list, but I urge you to do it anyway. Having set priorities will help keep your head straight and not get overwhelmed by tying to do everything at once.

Just recently I have read an article by Larry Kim, who states that our brain is actually not build to multitask. People who are supposedly multitasking are simply switching from one task to another in a very fast manner, because quite unlike common knowledge, our brain can only focus on one thing at a time. Multitasking therefore only leads to making the brain work slower.

So get out your calendar and To-Do list ready and figure out which tasks are the most urgent and what deadlines need to be met. That way you will do one assignment after another in a very brain friendly fashion.

If you want to read it, the article is called „Multitasking is killing your brain“. 

 Finally, an excuse why I can't multitask. Click To Tweet

 

Step 3 Get to work

Now this might not be what you want to hear, but after our prepping and planning, you will actually need to buckle down and do the work. I know the start is always the hardest part. But remember, once that first assignment is done, the others will follow so quick. There is nothing more I can tell you, but: Make it happen!

 

Step 4 Take breaks

Every few hours you really need to step away from the computer. A short break is not going to hurt your productivity but rather further. In order to get a quick recharge in and spruce up your brain cells the following things are vital: Get up, stretch and take a few steps. Open a window or take a quick walk outside. And most importantly, get something to drink. Really use this time (even if it is only five minutes) to think and do something totally unrelated to your work assignments. It will help gather your thoughts and refresh your body and mind.

 

Alright, that is it for my tips on how to stop feeling overwhelmed at work. This really helped me through my manic Monday last week and I hope it can help you too. Do you have anything that you do, whenever you are overwhelmed at work? Let’s chat about it in the comments.

xoxo

Nico

 

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