Watch those plates!

Do you ever get the feeling that you have 'too much on your plate'? Of course you do... Having too much to do at the same time is a major cause of work stress for me and I am sure for you to.

Why do we always end up with being responsible for TOO MUCH?

Ironically enough, it is precisely the fact that we tend to take on so much responsibility that makes us successful in like. But this strength is also our greatest weakness when it comes to managing stress.

All of us with typical Type A personalities (and if you don't know if you are type A or not, take this quick quiz on this link:
http://www.managing-stress.org/stress-tests/assess-your-type-a-behavior/) suffer from the same malady - we pride ourselves in our abilities and we tend to take on a lot of responsibilities. This sometimes leads to stress at work since it means that we are trying to juggle too many tasks at the same time.

Being aware of this problem is the first step towards doing something about it. Here is a good tip for making sure that you do not take on too much responsibility at work.

If your work situation is such that your boss tends to overload you with work, start keeping track of all your responsibilities and activities associated with it. It is a good thing to have this written up somewhere. If your boss asks you to take on another responsibility or do a specific activity, refer him or her to your list of responsibilities and ask him/her which one should be dropped in favor of the new task or responsibility. Point out the amount of time that each task or responsibility is already requiring to prove that the new task or responsibility can just not fit into your schedule.

If you tend to take on responsibilities yourself, try and keep track of how much time you have to spend on all your responsibilities. Do not ever make the mistake of thinking that you can handle 'just a bit more'. It is a common problem with Type A personalities to under estimate the amount of time required to do things.