We’re all familiar with that feeling of being overwhelmed at work when the deadlines loom and the tasks pile up.

You may try to do everything at once, or bluff that you’re in control, but the experts say there’s no shame in asking for help or prioritising tasks.

The New Daily speaks to career coaches about the strategies they suggest to their clients when they feel overwhelmed at work.

• Nine tips to streamlining your workload
• How to get the perfect start to your day at work

Have a to-do list

Career consultant Rebecca Fraser says the best thing to prevent feeling overwhelmed is to write a to-do list and schedule time to get back to emails and calls.

A list can be calming. Photo: Shutterstock

“Have a to-do list that you look at each morning because obviously you’re going to have things that carry over from the previous day,” Ms Fraser says.

“The problem we’ve got with work now is that we’ve got a lot of communication avenues, so people can contact us through messages, they can also contact us though email and through the phone.”

“You need to make sure that when you’ve got a schedule in place, that you schedule time for responding to emails and answering phone calls.”

Get clear on priorities

Business coach Maureen Pound tells her clients to prioritise and get crystal clear on what tasks are most important.

“Definitely prioritise what’s important and be clear on what’s important from your perspective,” Ms Pound says.

“Perhaps maybe you’re not clear and you need to clarify with your manager?”

“If you’re getting stressed and overwhelmed about something, and the deadline is not a week away, and something has come up that’s more urgent, then check-in around your priorities with your manager.”

Ms Fraser also suggests compartmentalising and only focusing on what’s important.

“We get very lost when we start to get inundated with tasks and we lose concentration if there’s too much going on,” she says.

If it’s too much, walk away for a minute. Photo: Shutterstock

Take a break

If you’re already feeling out of control and overwhelmed, then the best thing to do is walk away from what you’re doing, says Ms Fraser.

“The first thing to do when you’re starting to feel overwhelmed is step back completely,” she says.

“Take a break, and then come back and do the task, do the to-list, start looking at prioritisation and compartmentalising.”

Ask for help

Both Ms Fraser and Ms Pound agree that it’s okay to tell your boss when you’ve taken on too much, but try and go to them with a solution, not just a problem.

“You can go to someone and say ‘the tasks you’ve given me aren’t quite realistic, maybe I need to do this? Or maybe I need some help?’,” says Ms Fraser.

“You can’t just go and say ‘I need help, I don’t know what I’m doing’.”

“You need to actually have a plan in place for yourself and figure out why you need the help, because then you’ll get more help.”

Ms Pound agrees, suggesting confiding in a colleague for advice before approaching your boss.

“Instead of going with a problem, go with a solution.”