MENTAL HEALTH: Juggling too much?

Have you ever felt that you are neglecting some aspect of your life? That something isn’t getting the attention that it should, but you can see no way of correcting this? If so, you are not alone.
Often people feel stressed or even guilty if they find themselves in this situation. Trying to juggle too many responsibilities comes with a significant mental and psychological load it and on occasion can lead to anxiety or fatigue.
Can you recall any experience where you had multiple responsibilities to juggle? If you can, reflect on it and consider if, with hindsight, there is anything differently you would have done to manage the situation better?
If you’re like me, you may rely on multitasking, However, the latest view is that multitasking is not as effective as was once thought. Experts have highlighted how it can, on occasion, lead to decreased productivity and burnout. It may be okay to practise every now and again if it’s the only mechanism you feel is available to you, but multitasking is not a sustainable or reliable way to move forward. In the long run, it will likely lead to more negative issues than positives unfortunately.

Prioritising
Strategies to help you cope with multiple responsibilities include getting good at prioritising. As with everything, getting in the habit of prioritising tasks will take time. You want to get to a place where you can identify what truly matters at a point in time, and be strong at parking anything else to one side to focus on the task at hand.
Is there any way you can categorise tasks that need urgent attention? Could they be ‘scheduled’, ‘delegated’ or ‘disregarded’? These classifications are based on the Eisenhower Matrix, which is a relatively simple tool to help you in setting priorities and may be a helpful resource.

Saying no
Something a lot of us are not very good at is saying ‘No’. However, there is real power in being able to say no when warranted, and it will help you avoid getting caught up in things that are outside of your focus or won’t play a part in propelling you forward.
If tasks don’t align with your priorities, it is absolutely okay to decline. It can be tricky if you’ve always been a ‘yes’ person, but getting used to saying no will lead to the word eventually becoming less foreign to you.
Trying to manage responsibilities is a problem for many people. It’s an ongoing challenge, and like so many things in this world, there is unfortunately no one-size-fits-all answer or approach you can take. However, this is a good thing as it allows you to find your own balance that will make your life easier.
You will drop the ball on occasion, and this is absolutely okay, so don’t be too hard on yourself when it happens. The key thing to remember is that you are working towards cultivating a more sustainable way of managing the responsibilities and demands that are placed on you. The good news is that any improvement made here will be significant and lead to lowering the stress or anxiety in your life.

Sadhbh Dunne is a qualified life coach based in Westport. She is the founder of Ember Coaching (embercoaching.ie) and can be reached at sadhbh@embercoaching.ie.