Sometimes we can become overwhelmed and even burdened by our workload which gets heavy either by choice (taking on too much) or feeling like what God has specifically tasked us with is above what we can bare. But I remind us with this verse:
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:30
Whatever God has led us to do, there we will surely find grace to manage, thus the ‘burden’ being light. And while I don’t think its impossible to still feel like what God has given to us is too heavy to carry, I do think if you feel burdened with what’s on your plate — it could be an indication that there’s too much on it in the first place.
So what do we do? Scrape off what’s not meant to be there, reshuffle things around and put in order based on priority or simply (or not so simply) perfect the art of multitasking?
I say yes to all three! And focus more on the multitasking part as even when we are solely operating in Gods will for our workload and life in general, balancing more than one thing is something that we will have to do anyway.
Below are 5 multitasking tips that can help you train yourself to multitask without hurting your productivity overall.
1. Eat
Maybe you didn’t expect to see this on the list, but food is an important element in the art of getting anything done, let alone multitasking. A car cannot run without fuel and neither can we. You will see either spike or a dip in your productivity and performance based on your body’s nourishment level. Have you ever tried to focus on work with a dry mouth and rumbling stomach? It is highly distracting! Similarly have you noticed how you ploughed through those emails, smiled through the children screaming for more snacks or survived that super long board meeting? Chances are your stomach was happy. So eat!
2. Plan
It isn’t scripture BUT the saying ‘fail to plan, plan to fail’ comes to mind. So planning your day – even if it’s a general outline can be very helpful. Put things in order of priority and don’t shy away from doing the tougher and tedious tasks first. Having a list that you can physically see helps you to focus on what needs to be done.
Side note: Even when we plan, things can still flop but take heart because God is still in control even when our plans don’t succeed.
A man’s heart plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9
3. Quiet Time
I find it helps to have a few minutes of quiet time before starting the day. Maybe the alarm didn’t go off or you thought you hit the snooze button (raises hand up, this is me lol ) just for those few extra minutes of sleep that when we wake up we rush into our day because we have so much to do, that we miss those few moments just to gather ourselves mentally and spiritually. Use this time to pray, read your word, find out what God has for you today as part of your daily bread (Matthew 6:9-13). This I believe helps to centre you and also gives you peace and reassurance to take on the day.
4. Reminders
Set reminders of things that must be done by a certain time throughout the day. You might be so busy with one task that you forget that you have to make an important phone call or post content on social media at a certain time. A great way to do this is by leaving an alarm with a reminder on your phone or another simple way is using coloured postfix notes that you can stick around places that are visible for you. If you want to be super efficient with managing multiple tasks, try out Trello — a web-based list-making application, that gives you one place to collect, organise and manage all your ideas and to-do’s.
5. Say No!
It is okay to say NO. Saying no can be one of the hardest words to say for some of us but it is one of the most effective. If you know you already have a long list of things to get through and you know it is a lot for you to handle already, why take on more?
God is our strength but we should exercise wisdom and be realistic with the amount of things we decide to take on. God cares about our spiritual, physical and mental wellbeing and even though His word tells us we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us (Philippians 4:13) it doesn’t mean we should now try to do ALL things.
With all this being said, whatever is on your plate be it schooling, entrepreneurship, parenthood, ministry or all of them – relax, take a deep breath and pray. Submit everything to God (Philippians 4:6-7) and get cracking on with your day. Adopting the tips above and more importantly sticking close to God, you’ll find yourself on the road to being a multitasking pro!
5 Tips On Multitasking 5 Tips On Multitasking 77Words by Delores Oblitey
