Managing the Overall Work Load

Ask someone to talk about whether or not they like their job, how satisfied they are and to talk about what they actually do for work and they will likely share with you information about the "work load." Many of us evaluate our jobs based on how challenging and manageable the overall work load is but many of us have no idea how to actually manage and control our work load.

Most of us want jobs that are somewhat challenging. This means that we want a work load that keeps us busy so that we do not get bored but many of us do NOT want a job that is so overwhelming as to be exhausting and stressful all the time. Of course, we may expect that there will be stressful times and times when the temporary work load is overwhelming, but not many of us want to be stressed and overwhelmed on a regular basis.

Variety is normally good, and if you can control the variations of your work load, you will likely be happier on the job. This means that there might be days when you can handle a larger workload and other days when you will need things to be lighter. If you can control this in your job, take advantage of the opportunity to control your overall work load and divide it up into more manageable variations.

Try to combine the new, interesting or unique tasks with the dull and repetitive ones. Unless you have a job where you are doing highly repetitive tasks all day, mix things up to make the work load more varied and interesting. This will help to hold your focus and may also boost creativity since you will not get bogged down doing the same boring things for hours on end.

One of the elements that can influence and affect work load manageability is social interactions. Depending on the type of work that is being done, mixing in some conversations with others whether in terms of work groups, breaks, or other social contact can also help to make the work load satisfying. If there are others who you can work with or turn to when things are overwhelming (or dull and boring), it can help to share the workload and shake things up a little during the work day. Most of us crave at least some social interaction and it is one of the elements cited by individuals when they evaluate how happy and satisfied they are at their jobs.

Managing your overall work load means having enough "say" to add variety, utilize some time management and work in other positive experiences like social interaction to make the work day pleasant and productive.