3D Coaching

Juggling 368: Let the Train take the Strain

Claire writes: "I came back from a week working away to find 260 emails in my inbox - after the junk and the circulars had been fitered into other boxes. And it's hard to catch up when you also delivering other work. Yesterday, still struggling to catch up, I had to catch a train to York to run the Action Learning Facilitator Training. This time I took the laptop and a fancy cup of coffee.

Within two hours, I was arriving in York with 37 emails left, and they are all waiting for a response from other people. Diane talked the other week about making tme to read. It's also valuable to make time to catch up. The 6.34 train goes too early to make phone calls, and I couldn't get up and displace, so they got dealt with.Next time I get a backlog, I am tempted to book a return ticket to Edinburgh! Sometimes we have to come up with creative solutions to manage overflowing lists or piles or commitments.

Clearing your head can allow you to focus on work in a new way. This week's discovery which enabled that to happen more easily was a free software programme which allows you to put electronic postits on your screen. You can even attach them to documents and email them to other people! Take a look at http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/index.html if you want to know more.

Meanwhile, is there something simple you can do this week to tackle tasks which are stressing you? "