4 Schritte gegen Überlastung: Aufgabenflut: So entgehen Sie dem Burnout zum Jahresende

Towards the end of the year, many companies and teams face a similar situation. The final projects pile up, budget deadlines approach, several employees fall ill, and vacation time is about to begin. As career counselor Katharina Engelhardt observes, "Then a mountain of work arrives for everyone at the end of the year." Often, it's the reliable employees who end up with additional tasks and try to handle everything until they eventually become overwhelmed. How can one avoid this?

1. Recognize stress and question the drivers "The first step is to recognize that one is in such a situation," Engelhardt says. This can often be difficult: "Because in this season, one is already expected to be stressed." Warning signs may include poor sleep or irritability. If one notices that particularly much work has landed on one's plate, one should first ask oneself: "Is it really necessary for me to do all of this?"

Reflected thought about one's own drivers is helpful: Am I doing this to please others? Or do I think it's my responsibility, but haven't tried to distribute it before? Fear of asking if someone else could take over the tasks is also mentioned by Engelhardt. "Perhaps I get the tasks pushed onto me because I've always taken them up before," she explains.

2. Check what is really necessary Only when it's clear where the pressure comes from, it's time to tackle the tasks. Engelhardt advises examining each individual task: Do I really have to do all of this? Does it need to be done in this quality? Can it be done less intensively? It's also important to question the sense of seemingly urgent project completions by year-end.

Project plans are often ambitious, according to the consultant. A critical check reveals which tasks truly need to be completed, which ones may already be obsolete, and which ones might even wait until January.

3. Discuss workload in the team After reflecting on one's own situation, it may be beneficial for employees to discuss workload within the team. One shouldn't shy away from this due to fear of potential conflicts. Engelhardt advises, however, not to stop at the sentence "I'm overwhelmed, who can take on some of my tasks?" Rather, one should candidly present what tasks one currently has and seek the conversation.

Ideally, this should be done with practical proposals: Who could take on what? What can be postponed? And by inviting colleagues to report on their own situation, it's often more clarifying than confrontational. For projects that cannot be postponed, such as the year-end accounts, Engelhardt suggests distributing tasks specifically according to strengths.

This allows team members to better utilize their skills and experience the work as less burdensome. However, Engelhardt stresses that employees should still be able to prepare priorities and solution options. "If, however, there are binding commitments, deadlines, or resources involved, there also needs to be a decision from management."

4. Manage expectations early On the other hand, what helps when everyone assumes that one would also take care of this year's Christmas party, because that's what has been done for years? Early expectation management is advisable here. Engelhardt tells the story of a colleague who, after organizing the Christmas party for years, simply announced in one year: "This year I can't do it, but I'm happy to help whoever takes care of it."

After that, other volunteers appeared who had never dared before, because the task had always been with one person.