Here's how you can prevent burnout and manage workload with realistic goal-setting strategies.

Understand Your Limits: Self-Assessment: Regularly assess your physical, emotional, and mental limits. Be honest about what you can realistically handle. Acknowledge Boundaries: Recognize and respect your personal and professional boundaries to avoid overcommitting. Set SMART Goals: Specific: Define clear and specific goals to focus your efforts. Avoid vague objectives that can lead to confusion and overextension. Measurable: Ensure your goals are measurable so you can track progress and stay motivated. Achievable: Set realistic goals that are within your capabilities. Consider your current workload and resources.

We are unique. Everybody is unique. It's vital to understand, when you perform the best, for how long. However, certain techniques may work for you: 1) Track your Circadian Rythm: I used a sleep tracker to understand, when my body has the most energy, and when my energy dipped, I was tactically prepared. Some apps even show, when to stop drinking coffee, to have a restful evening. 2) Enter the Flow State: The best technique is doing something without looking at the clock. To get into your space of limitless productivity, mute your phone, and choose a quiet space. Create an environment free of distractions. I need to admit, it is tough to perform in loud environments. For you, this might be the exact opposite! Consistency is the key!

Work-life integration is superior to work-life balance in today's interconnected world where work often spills into personal life. Integration allows flexibility, blending work and personal responsibilities to reduce stress and increase productivity. It promotes well-being by enabling individuals to prioritize tasks and schedule work around personal needs, fostering a healthier, more fulfilling lifestyle compared to the strict boundaries of work-life balance.

I regularly use my time tracking tool to do statistics on how long my projects have been taking - importantly not only in terms of work hours but in terms of start date to end date! Your clients will always assume a paper is done in 2-3 months! A realistic estimate, however, is closer to a year from date of data availability through to submission. Consider holiday times, weekends, people's busy work schedules, several rounds of review. So your assumed 80hrs for writing the paper will most likely spread over several months. And never forget - peer review can take 6 months and even longer in some cases!

Planning is beneficial. Imagine how much energy one can spend on thinking of what to do on the spot. Or otherwise, filling your calendar with 20 little tasks, with specific deadlines. I give myself time to do what is important when I know what is important. Pick the top priorities that you feel like doing today, and remove the "cherry on top of the cake". Plan the tasks as strictly necessary, and then feel free to do the rest. 80%/20% rule is true, so the Pareto principle does wonders when it comes to prioritizing the tasks.

Historically, the word "priority" was singular. In the 20th century and especially in modern usage, the term "priority" has evolved to encompass multiple important tasks or goals. This shift reflects the complex and varied demands of modern life, where individuals and organizations must manage multiple goals simultaneously. We need to analyze priorities stringently and in context of its singularity.

Using a categorization method as the Eisenhower Matrix helps prioritizing the tasks. Dividing tasks into 4 categories based on urgency and importance noting that not everything that seems important is urgent but everything that seems urgent is important, accordingly, we give priority to tasks that matches with our service goals.

Certain efforts yield higher rewards than others; working hard is crucial, but more effort doesn't always mean more results. "Less but better" is the mantra. The abundance of choice overwhelms our ability to manage it, causing decision fatigue. Surrendering our right to choose grants others power and permission. The right "NO" at the right time can alter your life's trajectory. It's about emotional discipline, trading popularity for respect, and saying no gracefully, despite short-term social costs.

Work smart not hard. Microproductivity, or micro-tasking, is the strategy that involves breaking down a big task into a smaller one which will be a more manageable task. These smaller tasks are quick to complete. The main rule of finishing more work in less time and effort by defining tasks needed to reach the milestones and defining the tasks that need to be done to complete each milestone.

I use a huge hippo to picture my overwhelming workload, which I then divide up to manageable pieces to help me make a start with the work I need to do. I also find that it's normal to hoover over a huge project at the beginning without getting anything specific done. This might appear like an unproductive period of procrastination, but it's necessary! Allow for that time of hoovering - it's where your brain collects ideas that will become more specific as you familiarise yourself with the new topic. And don't be afraid to charge your client for that time! Nobody is an expert on everything from the very first day, it's just that full-time staff will go through that period in their paid time and the freelancer will feel guilty. Don't!

3 corner stones of time management: Eisenhower Principle, or Urgent-Important Matrix, is a time management tool that helps individuals prioritize tasks based on their urgency and importance. Eat the Frog: Tackle the most challenging and significant task first first thing in the morning. Timeboxing is a time management technique where you allocate fixed, predetermined periods to specific tasks or activities. This method helps to maintain focus and manage distractions by setting clear boundaries for task completion

I believe that writing down your thoughts in a journal can help in creating a self-reflection board of positive attributes and helps paying attention on how you think about the work done. Also, celebrating your authentic self and having a visual representation of self-reflection can be more motivating.

In times when you are working day and night it is easy to overlook how your productivity is becoming less over time. You will not notice, but your peers will. Make an arrangement with someone you trust so that they will force you to leave your desk for a quick walk, even when you believe you don't have the time. "I don't have time to take a break" is a red flag that you should always take note of as a sign that you are getting less effective than you think you are.