Career Coach: Ready to jump off the treadmill?

Believe that you can take back your life. Otherwise, it will continue to seem overwhelming and out of control. Photo / Thinkstock

The 24/7 nature of our lives has many people feeling like they are spinning out of control, running on a treadmill that won't slow down. We are bombarded with messages all day about things we have to get done immediately (or at least we feel that way).

Washington Post staff writer Brigid Schulte, author of the funny and relatable Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time, offers suggestions and examples of what others have done (particularly working mothers) to find time. Here are some of her ideas, along with others:

• Figure out what is most important to you and schedule that first on your calendars.

• Carve firm boundaries to protect uninterrupted time at work and undisturbed time with family. One of my colleagues preserves one day a week for herself to do her "real thinking" and serious projects.

• Set aside time to recharge. Someone once told me to take my cellphone with me when I run, but for me, the whole purpose is to let my brain relax and wander - that's when I do some of my most creative thinking.

• Delegate the parts of your job you find less satisfying (if possible).

• Create realistic expectations of what you can and cannot do.

• Clear your desk and office from all the visual clutter. It is overwhelming to walk into each day.

• Control when you check your email. When an executive I coached finally blocked the popups and notifications on his computer, he was able to calmly handle his tasks. It also helped when he started checking email only once a day instead of all day.

• Never check email first thing in the morning if you have a big project looming. Get that project done first.

• Keep a "worry journal." Free your mind by jotting down all the things you are stressing about, to feel like you captured them and won't forget about them.

• Block off periods of time each day to focus solely on work or home. Switching back and forth is distracting and makes it difficult to accomplish anything well. There is no such thing as multitasking - it is "switchtasking" and we lose a lot by doing it.

• Focus on the one thing that is most important to do each day and do it as early as possible when you are freshest. Authors Stephen Covey (First Things First) and Tony Schwartz (The Way We're Working Isn't Working) both argue for this approach.

• Find some quiet time each day to meditate, take deep breaths, practice mindfulness or yoga, or just be alone. Go to the restroom at work if you need five minutes to recoup. Your brain needs this time.

• Get enough sleep. We need seven to eight hours each night to refuel and recharge.

• Believe that you can take back your life. Otherwise, it will continue to seem overwhelming and out of control.

As most everyone who has written on the topic of time management has said, your to-do list will never get done. But what is important is feeling like you are living the life you want, you are making a difference and having an impact, and you are able to get off of the treadmill.

Russell is the vice dean at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and director of its Executive Coaching and Leadership Development Program. She is a licensed industrial and organisational psychologist and has more than 25 years of experience coaching executives and consulting on leadership and career management.