Coping with deadlines is not only difficult, but also stressful, draining, anxiety-causing, and just straight up the absolute worst. During the holiday season, this tasks seems even more daunting, as it is one of the busiest times of the year. How on earth are you going to wrap up multiple projects, end-of-year billing, attend company parties, entertain clients, get all of your holiday shopping done, and still make time to watch the movie Elf? We’re happy to share with you that all of this is definitely possible. Trust us, dealing with and hitting deadlines is our job 24/7. We’re all too familiar with the phrase, “Hi, I have this order, and I needed it done by yesterday.” So, do yourself a favor and listen to us when we say, YOU’VE GOT THIS. You’re going to be able to get everything done, and not lose one strand of hair on your head in the process. Here’s how to cope with deadlines during busiest season of the year.
Take a break and tidy your desk
Regardless of how many hours it’s going to take you to complete a project, breaks are necessary. If you’re working on a screen the entire time, your eyes are going to get bloodshot and your vision spotty if you don’t look away from time to time. Give yourself 3-5 minutes per hour to step away from your screen. But make sure you don’t take this time to look at another screen, a.k.a your phone. Put the phone down and go for a walk, get some water, go to the bathroom, or tidy up your desk. We recommend a quick clean up because not only will this get you moving about, but you will be more productive and able to think more clearly if your desk is nice and orderly.
Ask for help
One rule of thumb when working on a tight deadline is don’t do anything that someone else can do. If you have a teammate that can help you with an element of the project, such as quickly editing a photo, downloading a file, or picking something up for you at a nearby store, it will allot you more time to work on the part of the project that only you are capable of doing. It might seem like it’s easier and faster for you to do a task yourself, but taking a minute to explain what you need done (and having another person go do that) will help you be more efficient overall. This will save you energy, time, and allow you to check one more thing off of your to-do list as your deadline approaches.
Snacking is your new hobby
In order to produce the amount of energy needed to hit multiple deadlines, you’re going to need to eat a lot of good food, and often. Snacking is going to be your best friend that gets you through this. Now, before you starting munching on a bag of potato chips, see this list of healthy snacks that will speed you up rather than slow you down. Lucky for you, there are some delicious and festive choices, such as raspberries, dark chocolate, and peppermint. Continue to lightly snack throughout the entire time you’re working, and you will have plenty of energy to focus and do some serious work.