How to Manage Work During Crunch Times and Not Feel Burned-Out?

Crunch times, the stressful hours of work, can generate an inordinate impact on your businessâ€™ success. Although they are important for your organizational culture, any success that comes at the cost of the mental or physical health of your employees isnâ€™t a success.

Successful leaders understand this and know how to maintain a streamlined workflow during crunch times. Here are a few things they suggest to manage those hectic â€œcrunch timesâ€.

Check Yourself First

Honestly speaking, as a manager, you have to lead your employees to the eye of the storm. Your role is to guide them in their journey, but you are also going through that same storm. After all, leaders can also face stress in the form of crunch times.

To lead others, you need to be a powerful guiding force first. So, keep yourself in check while balancing everyoneâ€™s workload. Try to analyze the situation and pinpoint the factors that sabotage your energy. The best advice is to share your concerns with your teammates.

Be Empathetic

Your employees appreciate honesty as much as you. Be upfront when it comes to talking about the grinds. Address red flags as soon as they appear. For instance, your team might not be able to respond during meetings. So, talk to them before such things occur and take preventive actions. Be accessible to your employees and let them know you have their backs during crunch times.

Make Crunch Times Enjoyable

Crunch times are often overwhelming. While youâ€™re in the middle of something, you may feel anxious about what needs to get done. Hereâ€™s what can be done at that moment:

Allow yourself to enjoy different aspects of that task.
Avoid putting your personal interests over your team.
Try to make things productive when tensions run high.
Take intermittent breaks to improve collective intelligence.

Break Deadlines into Pieces

The main problem with deadlines is that they are everywhere, whether itâ€™s submitting an article or troubleshooting something critical in a software. Though they are important, having deadlines after deadlines will only pull you down in crunch times. Also, it will affect your mood negatively. The solution is to:

Break up the tasks that matter most.
Create arcs to manage the workload.
Ensure your team can regroup and analyze the situation.

Give Rewards for Completing Difficult Tasks

In order to stay productive throughout your day, you should reward your team as well as yourself for completing difficult errands. This particular approach is much-needed to boost up yourself during your workday, ensuring that you stay motivated while still being productive. Set goals and for your team and celebrate accomplishments with them. Be judicious when it comes to incentives.

Concluding Remarks

Crunch times can result in a demoralized and burned-out staff, especially when the leadership is poor. We believe a leaderâ€™s ability to balance these tough times determines organizational success. Hopefully, you agree.