Avoid Getting Crazybusy

Dr. Edward Hallowell, a Sudbury psychiatrist, has written a book about the world we live in in regards to information overload and the attention deficit disorder it causes.

“They're juggling deadlines, games, rehearsals, and school meetings,” says Hallowell. “They're worrying about how the grocery shopping, cooking, and laundry will get done. People want to do all these activities. But they take on more than they can reasonably do. E-mail tends to facilitate the overscheduling.”

In his book, CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap - Strategies for Coping in a World Gone ADD, Hallowell outlines a few tips to keep from getting frazzled.

• 1. Set aside time to work before you check your e-mail or snail mail or voice mail, before you allow the world to intrude on your fresh and focused state of mind.

• 2. Do not allow the world to have access to you 24/7. Turn off your BlackBerry and cell phone. Stretch or have a five-minute conversation. When you sit down again, you'll be focused.

• 3. Prioritizing is crucial. If you don't, you'll find yourself spread so thin you'll only be able to see your good friends on the first Tuesday in February.

• 4. Give yourself permission to end relationships and projects that drain you.

• 5. Do what you're good at and delegate the rest. This is important, because when we do what we're good at, the work can take on the quality of play.

• 6. Keep in mind that some of our best thoughts come when we're doing nothing. Downtime is a forgotten art.

FEEL LIKE YOU'VE GOT ADD? Solutions for the Frazzled and Overwhelmed - [BusinessWeekOnline] Via - [ToDoOrElse]