Controlled Chaos

Controlled chaos

Too much to do and not enough time is a pretty common story line in our fast-paced, on-demand world. We all have times when we have bitten off more than we can chew. When deadlines are looming larger than life, when we are pulled in too many different directions at the same time, when we are afraid we won’t be able to meet all of the expectations others have placed on us or that we have placed on ourselves - we feel overwhelmed.

This story is especially common among college students. It is the nature of college life to create these types of conditions. You have several different classes, a busy social life and probably a few (maybe more than a few) interests outside of class – sports, Greek life, etc. You also need to think about this summer and next school year to set yourself up for future success. It’s a perfect recipe for controlled chaos. Controlled is the operative part of that sentence. We all have to live with occasional (or maybe near constant) chaos, but there are healthy ways to cope with it.

I found myself in a situation of controlled chaos last week. I told you in my last blog that I had connected with a new school and been awarded a new teaching position. That was fantastic and exciting! Both of my classes were scheduled to start a little over a week after I was offered the position. Hence the chaos…. The situation reminded me strongly of when I was in college myself and had multiple courses and tight deadlines to manage for multiple classes at the same time. I’m happy to tell you that those two courses started on Monday without a hitch and I am really pleased with the way they turned out. I managed the chaos and created something I am really proud of. I’d like to share how I did it with you.

Coping with Chaos

Before I do that though, it’s important to recognize a few of the common maladaptive strategies we use for dealing with chaos so we can avoid them. When we feel like we are being pulled in a lot of directions, we tend to get distracted and jump between tasks. Those competing demands are each screaming for our attention which makes it hard to focus on just one. We can’t settle to a single task long enough to accomplish anything meaningful. We end up multitasking and as a result not getting far on any one task, but making micro-progress on many tasks.

If we are too overwhelmed to even multitask, we resort to procrastinating. It seems counterintuitive to procrastinate when you are overwhelmed by having too many things to do - we clearly don’t make any progress toward having fewer things to do while we are procrastinating - but when the problem is just too stressful to cope with, procrastinating allows us to avoid it and find some temporary relief. Unfortunately, the problem is even worse when we eventually have to stop procrastinating and face it. The deadline is that much closer and the task is no smaller.

There are several steps you can take to avoid the traps of distraction, multitasking and procrastination.

Make a list

The first one is to make a list. If you have taken any of my workshops you will know that I am a huge fan of lists. Your brain is great at having ideas, your list a perfect place for storing them.

When you have a lot of things to do, it can feel overwhelming just to try to remember them all. It could be disastrous if you forgot one! The sooner you can get an idea out of your head and stored on a list, the better you will be able to focus on what you need to be doing right now.

Prioritize

Once you have all of the things you need to do written down, make your list work for you. Prioritize all of the tasks on your list so you know what needs to be done today and what can wait, you know what needs to be done and what would be nice to get done, and you know which are mission-critical. A well-prioritized list can help you to direct your efforts when you are feeling distracted and can help you make good decisions when you are tempted to procrastinate. Instead of looking at a long list of tasks and feeling overwhelmed, you can look to the next most urgent or next most important item on your list and know exactly what you need to do. You can spend less time thinking about what to do next and spend more time doing it.

Focus

Once you have decided what to do, resist the temptation to try to do more than one thing at a time. If you have more ideas about things you need to do, write them on the list and then return to the task you are focused on. If you can stay focused on one task for 10-15 minutes you will reach a much higher level of productivity. Your mind can settle to the task. You can dive below the surface of the task and do the real work. The rest of the list will still be there when you have finished what you are doing, but if you can focus long enough to get a specific thing done, the list will be one item shorter. Instead of running in circles, you will be getting closer to your goal. It feels good to get things done! The reward of the feeling of accomplishment will help you focus on the next task.

Take care of yourself

When we get overwhelmed and there is just too much to do, it can be tempting to work through lunch, to shackle ourselves to our desks, or to stay up all night. The longer and harder and more you work, the more you will get done, right? Not exactly…. Studies have repeatedly shown that people get more work done and produce work of a higher quality when they take breaks. You are not a machine – you need food and water, sleep, exercise and down time. Take a break before you are exhausted! Reward yourself at the completion of a task with a ten-minute stretch break. Get some water, have a snack, breathe some fresh air. The next task will go so much more smoothly if you come to it relaxed and refreshed.

As you head into the end of the spring semester, take a moment to think about how you manage chaos and if any of these ideas would help you to do so more productively.