Here's how you can juggle multiple deadlines while excelling at your performance.

I think we can take a lesson from finance here. When you have multiple loans to pay off, which one do you pay first? The one with the highest interest rate. Similarly, when facing multiple deadlines, you should prioritise the task with the tightest deadline - the one approaching the fastest. Why? Because if you put off the most urgent task, then the psychological pressure of completing it within the deadline will impact your performance on the other tasks as well. Another approach could be to tackle the simplest / smallest tasks first - so that you can score some quick wins, and get momentum going.

In my experience, there are two routes people generally take: 1) Complete the task that has the closest deadline 2) Complete the task or tasks that are the smallest and easiest to complete. Depending on my schedule, availability, and stress (honestly) during the tasks, I might decide to take route 1; and the next day I might decide to take route 2. Another option is to work on the larger, more complicated task in chunks. In one of my committees, our task was to create a sanctioning guide for our staff to use internally, ensuring consistent sanctioning to students. We each agreed to work on the guide for 30 minutes per day. At the end of the semester, the sanctioning guide was prepared enough for our graduate and full-time staff to use.

Within higher education, our year is very predictable, almost to a 'T.' For instance, when is move-in? August. When are the midterms? October and March. When is move-out? In May. From a residence life perspective, as we residence directors start to plan, we can create our community calendars and timelines. We know the most difficult parts of the semester, backed by research. We know that first-year students will become homesick in August and September and that mental health concerns will likely start to show as the semester rolls on. Resident assistants (RAs) will become burnt out and exhausted. Graduate assistants (GAs) might not be getting the attention, respect, or tasks they need. Beginning to plan, we need to keep all of these in mind.

As someone who had a graduate assistantship, an internship with the Department of State, a practicum, a full-time graduate student with 9 credits, and a dog, staying organized was the epitome of my existence. One thing that helped me the most was utilizing a task management program (Trello) to keep track of all of my tasks for my residence hall. I take physical notes in a notebook and then translate them into Trello and follow up with students or staff as necessary. Labeling each of them as "follow up," "delegate," or "needs reviewed," helps to see the status of each task. Minimizing distractions and keeping my desk clean and organized helps my mind to feel decluttered and allows me to focus on the task at hand.

Procrastination, a problem that goes hand in hand with an increasing feeling of stress and anxiety. That voice in your head saying you still need to do, start or set something in motion but somehow you don't. Sometimes you know why, the task might be very boring, lame or maybe very time consuming. Best tip I can give here is to just make a little start with it. Just attend to it for 15 minutes or so. By avoiding the task you nurture the negative feeling procrastination gives you. You also create the risk of making the task much bigger and more stressful in your mind than it usually is. So making a little start will help you to some degree to alleviate some of the stress and also help you oversee the whole thing. Good luck!

This is definitely an important factor in reaching and managing your deadlines. Besides the advantages of getting help and possible new insights, it can also help to strengthen your relationships with your colleagues, peers or other people you work with. It's not a sign of weakness to seek help, it's the other way around. It takes self confidence and character to reach out and ask others to contribute. People you ask for help will generally feel appreciated as a professional. Especially when you ask them about their opinion. So besides the help you get to manage your deadlines, seeking support will usually have positive side effects in managing your relationships with the people you work with. Good luck!

My background is in exercise science and the important role of exercise is medicine. While I was working in the clinical, hospital setting, I had dozens of older patients who wished that they had exercised as they were aging. Their eyes and voices were plagued with sadness as I listened, and it was difficult to hear as a healthcare professional. There was nothing that I could do but promote healthy exercising in their current form. I encourage others to maintain a healthy amount of physical activity and exercise as they go about their daily lives. Free weight-bearing exercises can be done during commercials of your favorite TV show, movie, podcast, or song. It is the most inexpensive form of medication that can be done practically anywhere.

Obviously maintaining your health is important to stay sharp, fit and productive. How you do this is I think very personal. Some people can work fine for many hours at a time and then take a long break, others need regular breaks. Some like to exercise intensely, others like to have a stroll to clear or organize their minds. My advice would be to do whatever works for you. If you don't know how, experiment different ways to maintain your health, seek help from friends and colleagues or maybe try a good lifestyle coach to help you find a good balance between your work and personal life. What works well for me personally is to have regular planned exercise moments during the week with friends. This helps me not to renounce. Stay healthy!

What is often forgotten regarding this subject is the phase of life someone is in. Are you at the start of your career without a family with children? Do you have a family with young children who need a lot of attention? Are you also an informal caregiver in addition to your work? These factors have a major influence on your daily use of time. That's why I think it's important to look at your life more holistically to determine why you might be struggling to meet deadlines and stay healthy at the same time. Not recognizing your personal situation in relation to your work can lead to frustration and running around in circles. Be honest about this and discuss it with your manager. He or she also benefits if you can perform optimally.