Whether you’re a proven team manager, young executive, or entrepreneur, there’s a good chance that you either feel overwhelmed or that you will soon. In fact, a recent study from the Families and Work Institute found that more than half of U.S. employees feel overworked at least some of the time. Managers are statistically the least happy and most stressed category in the American workforce, but overwork is a problem at all levels. There’s simply too much work to go around and not enough time to do it, and our always-on society isn’t helping matters, either.
There are signs you can look for to determine whether you’re just temporarily busy or if you’re truly stuck in a rut of overwork. To evaluate your own situation, ask yourself these questions—we’ve even included some points for each if you like quizzes.
If your results point to a need for additional support, it might be time to hire college students who can work as Micro-Interns and take one-off projects off your plate so you can focus on more important things.
If you want to succeed in your career and grow your company, you need to focus your time where it’s most valuable. Your time should be spent on projects that you’re uniquely suited for, not tasks that just about anyone could do. Should someone who can close deals really be crunching lists? Should a CEO really be posting on social media? Should a recruiter really be pulling demographic data on universities?
If you have too much work on your plate that someone else—like a more junior team member, intern or freelancer—could handle instead, you need to find a way to delegate so you can focus on what matters most.
Sometimes, putting in long hours can be rewarding. But that’s only true when you’re doing interesting, mentally stimulating work. Few people feel a sense of accomplishment after spending countless hours on tasks that don’t excite or challenge them, and that’s especially true if you’re in a management or leadership role.
Why spend your time bogged down by work that doesn’t fulfill you when you could hire college students for short-term projects and free up your time to focus on work that fires you up?
Work/life balance means different things to different people. For some, it means having time to pursue hobbies and build fulfilling personal relationships. For others, it’s about prioritizing mental and physical wellness and self-care. And many people simply care about having a fulfilling career that adds value to their lives.
But whether you’d rather fill your evenings and weekends advancing your career, socializing, or learning to play the violin, if you’re spending too much time on menial tasks, your work/life balance is going to feel off-kilter.
That’s a bigger problem than many realize. Why? Because work/life balance is crucial for not only personal happiness and health, but also for job performance. Happy employees are 20% more productive and may also be more creative and better at solving problems.
Whether you’re newly promoted or simply continually gaining recognition for your contributions at work, you’re progressing in your career for a reason. You’re talented and driven. But do you feel that every time you take a step forward professionally, your performance struggles to catch up?
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. In fact, only 11% of managers feel like they’re prepared to handle their new responsibilities and challenges.
There’s always a learning curve when you take on additional responsibilities, but if you’re still handling old tasks or drowning in small projects, you don’t have time to master those new responsibilities. When you’re too busy trying to keep your head above water, you just can’t do your best work.
As you move up in your career or grow your company, the way you think will become at least as important as the work you do. But if you’re stuck in the weeds, it’s hard to be innovative or strategic.
What are the proactive projects you’d like to tackle or changes you’d like to make to further stand out to leadership or help your company grow? Building a new sales strategy? Interacting with clients and driving innovation? Developing your status as a thought leader by participating in speaking engagements and conferences? These are the things you’re always saying you or your company should do, but you seem to constantly struggle to actually get around to. They may not be critical to your company’s day-to-day operations, but they are critical to real, proactive growth and, in many cases, a company’s survival.
You need to free up some of your time for deep thinking, brainstorming and exploring innovative and proactive solutions to your company’s challenges. That’s how you’ll truly add value and position yourself and your company for future growth.
Now, tally up your points.
You don’t have to suffer in silence. You can hire college students and recent grads for projects as needed. They would love to help as Micro-Interns so you can keep moving forward. And unlike temps or overseas freelancers, these career launchers are highly motivated to work on these assignments not for the pay, but because they want to demonstrate their skills and prove themselves. As a result, the quality is outstanding!
It’s not a sign of weakness to get the support you need to succeed in your role. And it shouldn’t have to be a financial or logistical burden for your company to respond to your request for additional resources.
With Parker Dewey, it isn’t. Using our tool, you can hire college students and recent grads to take work off your plate on a project-by-project basis so you use your time and skills where they’re most valuable. Just like you would go to FedEx Office to get presentations made instead of spending an hour doing it yourself, you can leverage students and recent grads to take on the tasks that don’t make optimal use of your time and skills.
Why should you use Parker Dewey?
So what are you waiting for? If you’re feeling overworked and understaffed, go ahead and post a project on Parker Dewey today.