Feeling like your to-do list never ends and your workload is spiraling out of control? You’re not alone. In this episode, Sarah shares practical tips and mindset shifts to help you manage your workload, protect your boundaries, and avoid burnout.

With over 15 years of coaching experience and a background in HR leadership, Sarah provides actionable strategies you can use right away - whether you need help with prioritising, delegating, or simply creating more headspace to breathe.

If you’re ready to move from overwhelm to control and start thriving again, this episode is for you.

Show Notes

[00:00] – Welcome & Intro

[02:00] – Why Overwhelm Happens

Why heavy workloads and mental load outside of work contribute to burnout.

[03:00] – Strategy 1: Get It Out of Your Head

How writing everything down helps create clarity and calm.

[04:00] – Strategy 2: Setting Boundaries

Why boundaries matter and how to communicate and stick to them at work and home.

[07:00] – Strategy 3: Managing Emails & Interruptions

Simple techniques to stop email overload from derailing your day.

[09:00] – Strategy 4: Time Blocking for Focus

How chunking your day creates space for deep work and reduces stress.

[10:00] – Strategy 5: Delegation & Empowerment

How delegating helps your workload and develops your team at the same time.

[12:00] – Strategy 6: Stop Saying Yes to Everything

Why resisting the urge to take on more work is essential for your well-being.

[13:00] – Strategy 7: Prioritisation Techniques

How to focus on what truly matters and learn to say no effectively.

[15:00] – Strategy 8: Redefining Success

Creating new measures of success that protect your time and energy.

[16:00] – Watch Out for Burnout

Why asking for help is essential if overwhelm is affecting your health.

Useful Links

Sign up for Weekly Career Inspiration

Learn about Leadership & Advancement Coaching Programmes

Book a Free 121 Clarity Call

Join The Love What You Do Facebook Group

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

Rate & Review the Podcast

If you found this episode of Unstuck & Unstoppable helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Sarah know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: sarah@careertreecoaching.co.uk

Welcome to Unstuck and Unstoppable,

the podcast for ambitious female

2

leaders who want to create more impact,

income, and influence in their careers.

3

feel connected to their passion

and purpose, but without

4

selling out or burning out.

5

I'm Sarah Archer, a leadership coach

and career strategist, helping women

6

like you thrive in leadership roles

while staying true to your values.

7

I'm the founder of CareerTree

Coaching and have over 15 years of

8

coaching experience and significant HR

leadership experience to share with you.

9

I know as a female leader it can

be hard to find time to focus

10

on your career aspirations.

11

The day job can be all consuming.

12

Plus, no matter how senior you are,

there are always going to be times

13

when you feel stuck, when you have

self doubt, or feel like an imposter.

14

And that's where unstuck

and unstoppable comes in.

15

Each week I'll be sharing practical

strategies, insightful interviews and

16

inspiring stories to help you boost

your confidence, lead with purpose

17

and achieve sustainable success.

18

If you're ready to stop playing

small and unlock the incredible

19

potential you have within you and feel

unstoppable, you're in the right place.

20

Let's get started.

21

Welcome to episode 42.

22

As always, I'm really

glad you are here with me.

23

Today's, episode is about how to cope

when your workload feels overwhelming.

24

And this topic comes up a lot

with clients that I work with.

25

In fact, I've been working

with somebody recently.

26

She's a senior leader around this

very topic 'cause this is so front

27

and center for her, and we've worked

through some of the ideas that

28

I'm gonna share with you today.

29

And there's quite a lot of different

ideas in here, none of which are new.

30

, You'll recognize all of them, but

it's to give you a bit of a toolbox

31

to either experiment with some new

things or to revisit some things that

32

maybe aren't working for you, and just

be able to tighten things up a bit to

33

make sure that you are able to manage.

34

Your workload effectively.

35

It's challenging, isn't it?

36

Because, We all have huge workloads

nowadays and we never ever get

37

to the bottom of our to do lists.

38

But that, pressure to feel like

we've got to deliver everything

39

that's on our to do list is huge.

40

And , particularly as women, we also

have a huge mental load in terms

41

of other things in our life that we

have to get done as well, don't we?

42

, The family stuff.

43

Or the logistics around your kids,

if you've got kids, or caring

44

responsibilities, even just , what

am I going to eat tonight?

45

What am I going to cook

for the family tonight?

46

All of those things we're carrying,

around in our heads, as well as

47

all things we have to do for work.

48

So it can feel, hugely overwhelming.

49

I'm going to run through some ideas about

how you can tackle that feeling that

50

, I've got so much to do and so little time.

51

The first thing I think that is really

helpful is to get it out of your head.

52

Write down either a list or mind map it,

whatever works for you, all the things

53

you've got to do, both at work and at

home, because actually seeing it on paper

54

can be a way of then , Understanding

what you could drop or not do.

55

And also helping to plan out when

you're going to do some of these things.

56

Because otherwise everything's

going round and round in your head.

57

And this feeling of I've got

to get everything done can be

58

debilitating in terms of our energy.

59

So get it out of your head, write it down,

and then you can see what's possible.

60

Then the second thing is doing a check

in around your boundaries, because

61

often our boundaries can either slip and

be eroded, Or we can not be very good

62

at setting boundaries for ourselves.

63

Boundaries are a great way

of training other people how

64

to get the best out of you.

65

Putting boundaries in place is helpful for

other people, because then they know when

66

you're available, when you're going to be

able to see them or do things for them.

67

Putting boundaries in place, both at

work and at home, can be a successful

68

way of creating space for you, because

if you don't have boundaries in place,

69

then what tends to happen is other

people's priorities take precedence

70

over your priorities and then at the

end of the day you're thinking I've

71

got nothing done on my list, I've helped

all these other people, or I've given

72

all this information for other people,

but I've still got all my stuff to do.

73

Being boundaried can be really helpful

for yourself, but also for your

74

team , knowing that you're not alone.

75

That actually, you do have an open

door policy, but at certain points

76

in the day, your door is going to be

closed, metaphorically, unless there's

77

an emergency, because you need space

to be able to focus on things that

78

you've got to do, rather than being

available for everybody all the time.

79

Think about what do you

want your boundaries to be?

80

Are your boundaries going to be around

your working hours, in terms of what

81

time you start, what time you finish?

82

Are your boundaries going to

be around whether you work in

83

the evenings or at weekends?

84

Which I would recommend you don't do.

85

Are your boundaries going to be around

things like response times, when

86

you're going to get back to people,

when you're going to answer emails.

87

You can set quite strict boundaries

around some of those things, which

88

means you can create space for

yourself to work on things where

89

you need the headspace to do that.

90

Then you have to be consistent with

your boundaries, which can be tricky.

91

But, , you could brief your team, if

you've got a team, or you're part of

92

a team, about your boundaries and ask

them to to help you to create those

93

boundaries and be consistent with them.

94

You can put your boundary

timelines in your emails as well.

95

So in your email signature,

you could put your working

96

hours or when you're available.

97

You could also let people know when

you will respond to email requests.

98

, Let other people know

what your boundaries are.

99

This is super important when you're

starting a new job, because when you start

100

a new job, you can think, I've got to

be available for everybody all the time.

101

But you're creating

expectations of what you'll do.

102

If you're in an existing job

and you've let your boundaries

103

slip, you can reestablish them.

104

You've just got to be really consistent

about enforcing those boundaries.

105

Organizations will take as

much of you as you will give.

106

Okay, so you have to be the

one in control of your time and

107

in control of your boundaries.

108

If you work at weekends, then you're

creating an expectation from the

109

organization that you'll be available

at weekends or in the evenings.

110

And if you don't want to do that, then

you have to put those boundaries in place.

111

Linked to that is thinking

about your emails.

112

Because we're so online

all the time, aren't we?

113

That we think we have to be available

for email responses at the drop of a hat.

114

And we can also get sucked into

responding to emails or checking

115

emails on a regular basis.

116

And what happens is then you get derailed.

117

Because somebody else's priority

or their urgent thing then

118

becomes distracting for you.

119

And you think, I've got to respond

to that person straight away.

120

And the thing that you were maybe planning

to work on goes out of the window.

121

You can think about having

certain points in the day where

122

you will check your emails.

123

And ring fencing that time for emails.

124

So maybe allowing 30 or 40 minutes

at maybe two or three points

125

during the day when you're going

to check and respond to emails.

126

Now that might feel a bit like,

What if they really need me?

127

But if you think, okay, if I was

in a meeting for two hours or with

128

a client for two hours, People

wouldn't be able to get a hold of me.

129

They'd have to wait for me to come back

to them on that email when I'd finish

130

that meeting or finish that, client call.

131

People can wait.

132

If it's super urgent, if there's

an emergency, people will find

133

a way to get in touch with you.

134

Experiment with what's it like if

I don't check my emails until 11

135

o'clock and then again at 3 o'clock.

136

And just before you go home in

case there's anything you want

137

to check before you leave.

138

Or whatever time suits you.

139

And allow the time for

that email checking.

140

Then you can actually work on

what you want to work on, not what

141

the people want you to work on.

142

You can, let people know that's the

way you're going to be working, which

143

can help with managing expectations.

144

. Then my third tip, and I use

this and I find it super helpful,

145

is to do some time blocking.

146

I break my day down into

chunks, and I allocate certain

147

things against those chunks.

148

That can be simply okay, ten to eleven,

I'm going to do some prep for my live.

149

Maybe eleven till twelve,

I've got a client.

150

Twelve till one, do my live.

151

Have some lunch, 1 o'clock till 2,

client, 2 till 3, strategy work.

152

So I've planned out my day , but I've

also chunked out the time that I'm

153

going to allocate to those things.

154

And things can be

flexible, things come up.

155

But I know that I'm going to spend

time on these things during the day.

156

And when I'm doing my strategy work,

I'm not going to be available to other

157

people because I need the headspace

to focus on that strategy work.

158

If I had a team, which I don't, I

might let my team know I'm not going

159

to be available between two and three

because I'm focusing on strategy.

160

And I'm not going to check

emails during that time as well.

161

Time blocking means that you can see

When you're not going to be available,

162

you can actually alert people to that.

163

And you know you've got the

headspace and the time to focus

164

on that really important thing.

165

Have a think about whether time

blocking could work for you.

166

All of these techniques, it's worth

just experimenting with and seeing

167

what works and what doesn't work.

168

Then, there's the obvious

thing about delegation.

169

If you've got a team.

170

Where you can delegate work.

171

Then that's.

172

Worth making the time to thinking

about what can I delegate?

173

Just because you can do that thing

doesn't mean you should do it.

174

And , if you can reframe delegation into

empowerment, then you can actually empower

175

and develop your team by delegating

certain aspects of work to them.

176

Sometimes as managers, and I know I

used to be guilty of this when I was

177

working, at HR team, I'd be thinking,

I don't wanna overload them or,

178

actually, I should be working on this.

179

I shouldn't be giving it to them.

180

But , it's giving them a chance

to do some stretch work, to

181

maybe work with you on a project.

182

A lot of people really enjoy that

feeling that their manager trusts them

183

to delegate aspects of work to them.

184

And even though , you might think, I'm

going to need time to explain to them,

185

and I could do it myself in that time.

186

In the long run, you're upskilling

take on more work to to ease your load.

187

Review whether there are

things that you could delegate.

188

Even if it's aspects of work,

like doing some research for you.

189

Then we've got the whole meetings thing.

190

If one of your strengths is helping others

or your motivation is to help others.

191

If in meetings, people are looking

for someone to take on a piece

192

of work, whether you're a senior

leader or whether you're middle

193

management or part of team, whatever.

194

There's a tendency to in that silence.

195

And if you find it's often you going,

yeah, okay, I'll take on that piece

196

of work, or I'll put my hand up to

organize that, whatever it might be.

197

You've got to get used to sitting in

that silence, sitting on your hands, and

198

not volunteering to take on extra work.

199

And even if , you're the leader,

and you think nobody in the team is

200

volunteering, you've got to Resist

that urge to say, okay I'll do

201

it myself then and really push for

somebody to take on that aspect of work.

202

So that you're not the person

who's ending up coming out of

203

that meeting with more to do.

204

So you could experiment that as well.

205

And then prioritization.

206

Because as I said, we never get

to the bottom of our to do list.

207

Everything feels urgent.

208

But , we know, realistically,

we can't deliver everything.

209

And so it does come back to making

some time to be really clear

210

about what your priorities are.

211

Sometimes urgent Tends to trump important

and , if we're clear about what's

212

important to us, it's much easier for us

to judge whether somebody else's urgent

213

thing actually is more important than

our important thing, and it helps you

214

to be able to say no to certain things.

215

Make some time to look at your priorities

and work out what are the key things

216

that I have to deliver and what else

could, go either to somebody else or

217

could be reprioritized or even dropped.

218

And if this is something that

you struggle with, then having

219

a conversation with your boss.

220

Or your team to, get other people's input

into what is important for us to deliver.

221

What could we actually say no to?

222

Can be super helpful because

otherwise in our heads, it's

223

I've got to deliver everything.

224

Everything's important.

225

I've just got to make it happen.

226

And that's setting yourself up to

either fail or to get completely

227

overwhelmed and burnt out.

228

Asking for help in prioritizing

your workload can be super key.

229

And I've got a little technique

which can help with this in terms of

230

your motivation to say no to things.

231

And it's just asking yourself

a question, if I say yes to

232

this, what am I saying no to?

233

, So if I say yes to delivering this huge

piece of work that's just suddenly come

234

into my inbox, what am I saying no to?

235

And you might be saying no to, okay,

I'm not going to be able to go to the

236

gym for the next three weeks, I'm not

going to be able to pick the kids up this

237

week, I'm not going to be able to have

that Saturday off because , I can see

238

I'm going to have to work the weekend.

239

That's what I'm saying no to.

240

Having that understanding of, , the impact

of me taking this piece of work on is

241

that it's going to impact my life outside

of work in this way, can help you then,

242

think about okay, if I'm going to say yes

to it, I'm gonna have to drop something

243

else at work or say no to it because I

don't want to compromise those things that

244

are really important to me around family

or my health or whatever it might be.

245

You can also flip that question to

say if I say no to this piece of work

246

or no to this urgent request from

this person, what am I saying yes to?

247

And that might be I am saying

yes to being able to have a free

248

weekend where I can book myself

something to make me feel good.

249

Or I'm saying yes to be able to pick up

my kids this week from after school care.

250

Or yes to be able to go on

that night out with my friends.

251

It's a good question to be asking

yourself because it isn't either or.

252

If you say yes to taking on more

work, you are definitely saying

253

no to something else in your life.

254

Try that as well.

255

And then, what else have I got on my list?

256

Oh yeah thinking about success.

257

What success means to you at work?

258

Being able to reframe success a little

bit in terms of success might be able to

259

leave on time three nights out of five

or switch my laptop off when I'm working

260

remotely at five o'clock or six o'clock.

261

and actually I would think

that's a success for me.

262

Reframing success can help

you also in terms of managing

263

some of those boundaries.

264

My final thing would be to

Think about your well being.

265

If you're feeling that your, workload

is completely overwhelming, and the

266

thought of putting some of these

things in place that I've been talking

267

about feels like another thing to do,

and I just don't have time for it,

268

then , you could be getting dangerously

close to burnout, and you definitely

269

don't want to go down that avenue.

270

If that's something that you're

worried about, that you are, getting

271

close to burnout, then do think about

having a conversation with your boss.

272

Your employer has a duty of care to, to

look after your health and well being.

273

If you can't talk to your boss,

then , go and talk to the HR team

274

about it, but get some help because

you don't want to be risking your

275

health and well being for work.

276

Work will still be there.

277

But your health and well

being is really precious.

278

Do make sure that if you feel you

can't put any of these suggestions

279

into place, it's not going to help

because you just don't have the time,

280

then recognize that is a red flag, and

you need to get some support from your

281

organization, because they won't want

you to burn out, they want you to be

282

able to deliver and, support your team.

283

And if you're a very stressed out boss,

that's not going to help your team.

284

It's not going to help the organization.

285

So make sure you get some help.

286

And I'm always here.

287

If you need a, a confidential

chat about how you approach that

288

conversation, do get in touch.

289

Make sure you are looking after yourself.

290

And let me know how you get on with

some of the suggestions around how

291

you can manage your workload more

effectively so that you're not

292

feeling completely overwhelmed.

293

Thank you so much for listening

to this episode of the Unstuck

294

and Unstoppable podcast.

295

I have lots of free resources you

can access on my website, ww.career

296

tree coaching.co

297

uk, and I'll also put

links in the show notes.

298

If you found this episode

helpful, then please subscribe

299

so you don't miss the next one.

300

And please do share it with a

friend and leave me a review

301

and I will personally thank you.

302

Remember, you're capable of more

than you know, shine brightly.

303

Lead boldly and unlock the

extraordinary potential within you.

304

Be unstoppable.