I recently gave a lecture at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. I spoke to their Speech Therapy graduate students about how to recognize, prevent and manage burn out and stress during grad school and into their professional careers. I spoke to them about mindfulness, self-care and gratitude practices. I also spoke to them about the things that might become stressful once they start working – paperwork, caseloads and productivity. These are the top 3 things that stress out most people I have worked with and talk to. For most SLPs, these are the biggest sources of stress and the main reasons they are either wanting to quit or questioning if they are in the right field at all. Despite being pretty different and concrete things to be stressed about, when you boil it down, they all come from the same source of stress – there is not enough time in the day to finish everything you need to do.

Paperwork is a constant. It is something that most SLPs want to make sure is finished at the end of the day, so they can be caught up or start fresh in the morning. It is also constantly changing, with new guidelines or additions each year. Caseloads can also be a huge source of stress. For some, it is the huge size of the caseload. For others, it is the constant flux, with times when there are not enough patients to keep up the hours or meet productivity standards. And for others, it is sometimes a caseload with patients/clients/students that you are not as familiar with treating. Productivity levels seem to become more and more rigorous, and the stress and anxiety to make sure you are doing enough for your patients, in the most efficient manner, can be grueling. All if this makes time of the essence, and something that you constantly seem to be fighting against.

This lack of time isn’t just for SLPs and other Helping Professionals. It is a huge issue for everyone and can lead you to being burnt out very quickly.

As a society, we are made to view busy-ness as business. If you aren’t constantly busy and working on more than one thing at a time, then you aren’t working hard enough. If you aren’t overwhelmed by the demands of your job, then you aren’t a good enough employee. And if you aren’t constantly cleaning, cooking, organizing, taking care of your kids or planning for their day tomorrow, then you aren’t a very good spouse, caregiver or parent.

Having free time to relax and recharge is viewed as laziness. But more and more research is being done to show that unwinding, instead of pushing through, is exactly what we need to be more efficient and productive at work. It helps create more time and space in your day, so you have a chance to get it all done and still have time to sit back and relax.

But finding time to relax is usually where the struggle occurs. If there is so much more work to be done, and so little time to do it, how can you possibly sit back and relax?

One way is to stop working in the manner you are used to. With our societal push to stay busy and keep working, we are often pushed into multi-tasking, but as many psychological studies show, there really is no things “multi-tasking”. According to an article from Psychology Today, when you are multi-tasking, your brain is actually “task-switching”. This is due to the fact that you really can;t do more than one thing at a time. You can have more than one task you are working on, but you are actually switching back and forth between them, not working on them simultaneously. This little shift back and forth can often take time (swapping papers or materials, opening up new windows, etc.) and it can also take more brain power (shifting your focus back and forth or the part of your brain you are using), which takes time. According to the article, this can add up to about 40% productivity loss in our day. become more efficient overtime. So all of that time you feel like you are “saving”, you are actually using up by switching back and forth between tasks.

In fact, multi-tasking can not only cause us to lose some efficiency and productivity, it can also cause our brains to become less efficient and may even decrease your IQ overtime. According to The University of Southern California, multi-tasking causes a drop in IQ similar to if you stop sleeping or develop a pattern of staying up all night. This is because if you are trying to absorb information from more than one source at a time, you are unlikely to absorb much information from either at all. If you work in a school or healthcare setting, this means that listening to your patients doctor while charting, or attending an IEP meeting while also trying to work on another project, you will be likely to miss out on key information or leave information out that could be necessary for their care.

Multi-tasking has become so ingrained in how we work and do things, that it seems impossible to work any other way. If you are looking to become more efficient and focused in your work, and much more present throughout your day (which will help lead to more satisfaction, contentment and time to recharge), here are a few simple ways to stop multi-tasking:

• Must-Do List in the Morning:
  • To-do lists often get a really bad rap. They are seen as things that can lead to frustration and anxiety, or are just a “Type A” way to look more organized. They can also bring satisfaction, though, and help you to do one task at a time.
  • In the morning, or before you start work, make a list of things you “must-do” today, as well as a few things you would like to do if you are able. I usually separate this into “must-do today” and “want to do this week”.  It helps me to remember what I want to accomplish, as well as sort out which things I need to tackle first.
  • When you start to tackle your lists, focus on just one item at a time, instead or trying to do two or even three at once. Then cross it off when you are finished.
• 20 Minute Intervals:
  • As you start to work through your “must-do” list, try working in intervals. Give yourself 20 minutes, or whatever time you have and can stay attentive, to work on a task. When that time is up, get up and stretch, hit the restroom, grab food or drink, and then move onto another task for a set interval. This will help you to stay focused on one thing and give you a set time to complete it before moving on.
• Put down your phone/tablet/email:
  • How many times do you sit down at your computer or meeting or TV and immediately pick up your phone to check Facebook, Instagram or emails? Even though this can sometimes be part of a “fun
    task and not work, it still takes time to shift your focus away and back, which can affect your attention and productivity.
  • When you are working on a task, put everything else away. If you aren’t looking at your phone to see notifications, they are less likely to distract you and make you want to check them immediately. Once you get started on the task, wait until your interval of time is over to give check anything you need to.
• Focus on the present moment:
  • Being present to the moment helps to feel like time expands a bit. think about multi-tasking during a movie or TV show. You miss a lot, it goes by really quickly and it might be enjoyable, but not very “wow!”. Now think about the times you have sat down to watch a movie or TV show with no other distractions. The same length of time seems to last much longer, you get absorbed into what you are doing and you fully enjoy it and soak it up. It is a huge “WOW”.
  • This same feeling can happen when you fully absorb into your work. You get more done, but seem to have more time to get everything accomplished.

Now it is your turn to give it a try. See how you can start to do more with less distraction and time. It might be more difficult at first, but over tie, you’ll end up with a stronger focus, more efficient work habit and greater productivity at work. You’ll also have more satisfaction, which can help you to relax a bit more with the time you have created.

If you are ready to give multi-tasking the boot, make sure to check the “SLP Toolbox” for a few tools that will help you get started and stay one one task. You can join below.

Leave a comment below or in the SLP Stress Management FB group and share your experience with multi-tasking, resistance to stopping and experience with one task at a time.

You can also learn even more about reducing overall stress and rethinking your work day while earning hours towards your certification (CEUs and CMH available) with these webinars:

3 Common SLP Stressors and How to Manage Them  on Xceptional ED (1.5 CMH Hours)

Managing Common SLP Stressors before Burn Out Occurs on Northern Speech Services (2.5 ASHA CEU hours .025 units)

3 Biggest Stressors for SLPs and What to do About Them on SpeechPathology.com (1.5 ASHA CEU hours .15 units

Much Love,