In the rush to be as productive as possible, it's tempting to push yourself to the limit. You spend many hours at work, skip meals, fail to take breaks, and ignore everything but the work sitting on your desk. That's when you start making mistakes, and are less productive. The worst part is that you may not even realize it's happening! But you can be sure that other people will start to notice your mistakes, observe your frustration and notice the decline in the quality of your work. So ask yourself… are you too committed to the projects and tasks currently hanging over your head? Here are 11 signs it's time to take a step back.
Must-do items are overlooked
Everyone forgets sometimes, but if important tasks are regularly overlooked, you should be aware of your personal deficit and take active steps to overcome it.
Your to-do list is going through the roof
You find yourself overbooked for meetings and your daily agenda keeps expanding because you hardly ever finish anything. Instead, make a list of “things not to do”. Take on tasks that distract you from your core tasks and that have little impact on business results.
You are distracted
You have to keep asking people to repeat themselves because you can barely concentrate. If you have too much on your mind, you won't be able to give your full attention to a single task. Your brain tells you to take a breath.
You don't remember the last time you said "no"
You don't want to turn down new clients or assignments, but sometimes a project is beyond your capabilities or resources. Before you start doing a new project, have it run by someone else. This person – who could be an employee, a mentor, or your partner – will help you accept a new project or sale.
Your service level has decreased
Should you apologize for not completing an assignment because deadlines were missed? When we notice that our quality of service to customers is dwindling, we have to ask ourselves why. If the answer is that you feel overworked, you should evaluate whether someone else can take over or find ways to get the job done more efficiently.
You don't have time to think about your time
It's hard to be efficient if you have no idea where all the hours in your day are going. Take a few minutes at the beginning and end of each day to evaluate your workload and think further, with weekly and monthly reviews. These moments should give you the opportunity to think about how efficiently you are working and whether you should give tasks to someone else, for example.
You start making mistakes
Whether it's simple mistakes with numbers or with spelling and grammar, when you're exhausted and stressed you can make these kinds of mistakes when you normally don't. Checking everything again for errors takes a lot of energy and time.
You forget to eat
When you're super busy, you can tend to skip meals. If you find yourself doing this, you're working too hard. Don't deprive your body and mind of what they need to function properly.
You spend more time but do less
This is one of the most obvious signs that you are overworked. The harder you push yourself, the more you end up compromising your true productivity. You start to spend more time completing items on your to-do list as it takes longer to complete each item. For example, when a task that normally takes one hour takes you two hours to complete, you know something is wrong.
Nothing outside of work gets your attention
What happens if you spend three extra hours working every day? You have less time to spend with your family, friends, personal projects and hobbies. All your obligations and passions suffer. These things are important. They give us meaning and happiness. If you ignore them for long periods, you will experience higher stress levels because your life is no longer in balance. It no longer feels like thankful for you.
You sleep too little If you also regularly put in extra hours at night in the time you would normally sleep, that's a big sign. You may think you can catch up on work that way, but that “strategy” has consequences that hurt your productivity in the long run. With less sleep, you wake up every morning drowsy and not rested. Your work becomes more difficult to tackle because you have less energy, less focus and are more likely to be distracted.
