How to Make Peace with Your WorkloadA. Swamped (忙碌的), under the gun, just struggling to stay above water...; whatever office cliché (陈词滥调) you use to describe it, we"ve all been in that situation where we feel like we might be swallowed up by our workload. Nonetheless many a way may be used to manage your to-do list to avoid feeling overwhelmed. How to make peace with your workload once and for all goes as follows.B. "Clear the deadwood out of your desk and keep your office in shape. It enhances your capability to handle other tasks and raises the probability that you"ll find the items you do need faster and easier," says Jeff Davidson, a work/life expert and writer of more than 50 books on workplace issues. "When something can be tossed, let it go. Most of what you retain is replaceable." Joel Rudy, vice president of operations for Photographic Solutions, with more than 30 years of business management experience, believes that keeping organized is a must. "Messy work areas are nonproductive in some measure. Provided that you can"t locate a document or report easily because it"s lost in a pile of mess, then you have a problematic situation," he says. "Thereby you are supposed to take the time to tidy up your work areas and keep your important files, manuals and reports in an accessible location, which will maximize your efficiencies."C. Jessica Carlson, an account executive at Bluefish Design Studio which is an advertising consulting firm, urges her team to utilize to-do lists to stay on track and highlight items that are a priority. "Cover up the list, with the exception of one high-priority task at one time," she suggests. "This will allow you to focus better on the task at hand; otherwise, it will be easy to get overwhelmed if you"re reading through a to-do list that spans an entire page. Concentrating on a single item will make your tasks appear like they are more doable," Carlson says. It may sound strange, but it works.D. Despite what you may consider multitasking, it"s counterproductive. Unless you"re drinking coffee while scanning your morning e-mail, you"re not saving any time by attempting to do 10 things at once. "If you find yourself getting involved in too many things, it may be of much necessity of you to re-evaluate your involvement," Rudy says, "because mind will wander from one topic to another and you may end up never accomplishing a thing." Rudy recommends the best way to stop multitasking is to create priority lists with deadlines. "When applicable, complete one project before you move further on to the next one," he says.E. Deborah Chaddock-Brown, a work-at-home single morn, says she"s frequently overwhelmed by the demands of maintaining order in her residence and running her own business. Still, she manages to "do it all" by setting a time limit for each task. "I have the type of personality that flits (掠过) from thing to thing because I do have so much on my plate," Brown says. "As a consequence I assign time slots (一段时间): For the next 15 minutes I will participate in social media for the purpose of marketing my business (not sending photos or playing Farmville) and that is the only thing I am about to do for the next 15 minutes. When the time is up, I move on to the next task. That way, at night I don"t end up with a pile of tasks to accomplish even though I felt busy all day."F. "Quite often, people are working on things that are no longer a top priority, but someone forgot to tell them (that they"re no longer important). There are usually clear priorities in the manager"s head; he or she has just not done a great job communicating those with the employees," says Holly Green, CEO of The Human Factor. Green"s suggestion unfolds in this manner: "If you find yourself confronted with too many responsibilities, sit down, note the significant things you are in charge of, and go to your manager to have a conversation to discuss priorities, trade-offs, time commitments and interdependencies required to do each thing well, and then ask what you should stop working on or work on less so you can get the right things done." Green says managers should be willing to help sort out priorities, so long as employees have a can-do approach and aren"t just complaining about their workload.G. "If interruptions are keeping you from your responsibilities, learn how to deal with them accordingly," says Eileen Roth, author of Organizing Jot Dummies. Roth proposes the following suggestions to combat disruptions: "Use voice mail to cut down on telephone interruptions, turn off the alert that says "You"ve got an e-mail" and give staff members a set time to visit with you." Justin Gramm, president of a real estate agency, exemplifies Roth"s point. "E-mail had been a big time waster for me in the past because it was a constant interruption, causing me to lose focus on the task at hand," he says. Since determined to check his e-mail only twice a day, Gramm says he has become much more efficient. "If people want to get more work done, they need to stop checking e-mails and get to work," he says.H. "The paradox of today"s work environment is that the more you do, the more that"s expected of you," Davidson says. In order to better assess your workload, Davidson suggests asking yourself the following questions before agreeing to undertake new responsibilities. Is the task aligned (使一致) with your priorities and goals Are you likely to be as prone (有……倾向的) to saying yes to such a request tomorrow or next week What else could you do that would be more rewarding What other pressing tasks and responsibilities are you likely to face Does the other party have options other than you Will he or she be crushed if you say noI. Most of our experts recommended books for additional tips on how to maximize efficiency, but one book was mentioned again and again. Check out The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People for more information on how to make the most of your time and come to terms with your workload.