Q: What are the main reasons why people let themselves get overwhelmed at work? 
David Allen: People tend to both over-commit and to be inefficient. Few people know exactly how much work they actually have, and therefore must take everything on that they think about and that others ask them to do. Their integrity forces them to agree to take things on because, not being real clear how many projects they already have on their plate, some part of them thinks they actually MIGHT be able to do it.
And, most people are inefficient because they don’t force themselves to decide what things mean and what they are actually going to do about them when they first show up. So they are constantly rethinking the same things over and over and not making any progress in doing so–only adding to their stress.
And when they DO finally decide what to do, it’s usually because they have allowed the situation to get into “last-minute” mode, and they now have to go deal with things as a crisis, one at a time, instead of in an orderly, timely, manner. (e.g. when you are talking to your boss about the urgent thing, why not also talk to them about the five things you need to talk to them about, before they are urgent?) Most people are not that good at making next-action decisions and organizing the results effectively. The inefficiency creates greater inefficiency, and it can get out of hand easily.
There is another reason why people overcommit besides not knowing how much they’ve already committed to: the desire to be pleasing or helpful. Peter Bregman of Harvard Business Review blogs had a great post on this topic today. Interested readers can read it here: http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2010/04/the-worth-your-time-test.html
Best wishes,
Tara
Yes. Yes, Yes!!! And it’s amazing how once you DO make a decision, things either fall into place or at the very least, you get to pass it like a hot potato to someone else once you’ve taken the first step! I have been procrastinating on putting a proposal together for a partner. Finally did it last night and hit send. I know that it will take her at least a week to review it, so I don’t have to worry about it again until she bats it back over the net!
And …?
What can/ought one do to resolve/avoid this?
I can’t speak for anyone else, but that sure describes what is going on in my life!
Thanks for this insight David. The part about not truly knowing whats on your plate and being driven to accept more responsibilities and projects is very true of me.
The suggestion about discussing the non-urgent things with the boss along with the urgent is also a good one. I have a question though, and maybe you can point me to another article, but what if your boss is living ‘La Vida Urgente’ as well, and the only time you can get his/her attention is when its urgent? They barely take time to listen to the urgent, let alone allowing you to squeeze in the other non-urgent things that need to be discussed.
Thanks!!
I did not find this helpful. How about some practical steps for overcoming overwhelm, even when one DOES follow the GTD principles, DOES break things down into next actions, etc.