Google productivity expert reveals 3 ways to prioritise work to manage work pressure

Learning how to manage work pressure is one of the most important skills that an employee can do. Google productivity advisor Laura Mae Martin has revealed three exercises that will allow employees to manage work-life balance. "Your time is limited, so by focusing on just three key items, you're compelled to clarify what truly matters to you," Martin shared during a recent episode of LinkedIn's "SPARKED" podcast.

The first exercise she mentioned is to maintain a calendar. She says that it helps people see how they actually spend their time. They need to print out their calendars from the past three weeks and use a highlighter: "I ask, 'These are your three priorities—let's put them to the test. Your calendar doesn't lie. What have you really been focusing on?'"

This exercise, Martin explains, helps you identify when you're dedicating too much time to less important tasks and encourages you to adjust your calendar to match your true priorities. It also empowers you to say no to commitments that don't fit within your available time.

Secondly, Martin advises using a "launch-and-iterate" approach to optimise routines by experimenting with task timing over two weeks. This helps individuals identify when they're most productive and align their schedules with their goals. She says, “Sticking with [a routine] because it’s what you’ve always done or what you’ve heard people do is never the way to really find the sweet spot.”

Martin says many of us experience procrastination but it is only because we selected the wrong time to do it. She added that it is also possible that you don’t have the will to get started. In such situations, Martin suggests a mental exercise: imagine you have an assistant, and ask yourself what you'd have them prepare to help you get started. This "hack" separates the task from the preparation, which she says helps because "our brains thrive in a prepared environment."

This comes at a time when we are witnessing several deaths due to work pressure including employees at EY, Bajaj Finance and more.