How to Get On Top of Your To-Do List and Emails (Without a Magic Wand)

You’re not incapable. 

You just don’t have strong enough systems for the load you’re carrying. 

Modern work is not designed around human energy. 

Huge workload. 
Constant change. 
Too many meetings. 
Too many emails. 
Too many “quick questions” (that end up taking forever!). 

If you’re a high achiever, you also add: 

• Internal pressure 

• Perfectionism 

• Fear of dropping the ball; of being inadequate for your role 

• A need to stay across everything 

In my Anderson Model of Burnout and Personal Recovery™, this is the shift from Activation Zone to the Overfunctioning Zone, that eventually leads to the Depletion Zone. 

Overfunctioning looks competent on the outside. 
Inside, it feels scattered, reactive, and never enough. It’s the duck analogy: calm on the surface, but paddling like crazy underneath. 

This is a great tool to get started with urgent and important sorting.

Sort tasks into: 

• Urgent & Important (do now - priority)

• Important but Not Urgent (schedule)

• Urgent but Not Important (delegate)

• Neither (delete) 

Most burnout risk sits in people who live only in the “urgent & important” box because they don't understand what is truly important, and/or they don’t protect the “important but not urgent” work early enough.

Prevention lives in planning.  

And as I love to say, once you have your plan, “Stick to the plan, not to the mood” 

People love this analogy because it works. 

Most people start with the "sand" because it gives them a dopamine boost to tick those boxes, but at the end of the day, they feel like they did A LOT but don’t have much to show for it.

That’s discomfort avoidance, and meanwhile, people are waiting for responses and project delivery. 

Tend to the big rocks first. 

If your laptop pings. 
If your phone buzzes. 
If emails pop up in the corner of your screen. 

You are training your brain to be reactive. 

Turn. It. All. Off. 

If you are not saving lives via email, you do not need real-time notifications. 

Create designated email times. Put alarms in your phone if you’re worried you’ll forget. 

Time to stop letting incoming noise decide your focus and rule your day. 

Research consistently shows we cannot focus deeply for hours without drifting. 

The Pomodoro method works because it respects human attention spans. 

Try: 

And same thing when you lose your focus in the middle of a task: 

Do not scroll. Do not open socials. Do not “just check” email. 

Stand up. Stretch. Walk. Breathe. 

Scrolling is not a break. It’s even more stimulation. And you need to protect your energy. 

If you want to plan your holiday or scroll Instagram, put it in your calendar as free time. 

Inbox zero is not the goal. 

Being “on top” of your emails means everyone who deserves a reply gets one at a reasonable time. 

Use the 2-Minute Rule: 

• If it takes less than two minutes and it’s genuinely for you → reply immediately and file it. 

• If it requires more → schedule time in your calendar to respond. 

• If you’re CC’d → you do not automatically need to prioritise it. 

Did you know you can: 

• Auto-categorise emails 

• Colour code by sender 

• Flag specific keywords 

• Mark low priority 

• Auto-file newsletters, etc. 

Google how to set rules in your system. It takes 30 minutes once, and saves hours every week. 

If you’re a high achiever, there’s a good chance you’re also a loving micromanager. 

You like visibility. 
You don’t like surprises. 
You want to stay across everything. 

...So everyone CCs you into everything. 

Then you read everything. Then you feel behind. 

It's a trap, and you know it. But it's hard to get out of it!

My invitation to you: 

Have an honest conversation with yourself: “When do you actually need to be looped in?”, “What are the real risks of not getting real-time updates on something?” 

Could you: 

• Have a 30-minute weekly update instead? 

• Read a summary? 

• Only attend once a month? 

• Request a personalised email with only the highlights? 

You have a right - and responsibility - to protect your energy. 

Once you've made a decision, talk to your supervisor and team about the new strategic email housekeeping/rules: 

“If I’m CC’d, I won’t treat it as urgent.” or “Please don’t CC me on [those] emails anymore, I’ll ask for an update in our meetings on Friday."

While we’re here, you do not need to attend every meeting either. Meetings are that necessary annoyance that stops our progress and gives us MORE work at the same time. 

Have an honest conversation with yourself again.

If meetings are constantly interrupting deep work: 

Ask yourself: 

• Do I absolutely need to be there? Or do I prefer to be there? 

• What is the worst that can happen?  

• How could I trust my team more?  

• Who else could I send? 

• Could I read the minutes? 

• Could AI summarise it? 

• Could I attend monthly instead of weekly?  

Delegating means: 

• Letting go of control. 

• Communicating clearly who does what, how and why. 

• ... aaaand accepting it may not be done exactly your way. 

It’s not easy when you value the quality of your work, and when you know you’re going to be the one picking up the missing pieces if something goes wrong.

But in the long run, delegation done well empowers your colleagues, it frees up your time and energy, and it means you can work on what truly moves the needle. 

Ask yourself honestly: 

What’s worse? Work not being perfect, or you burning out? 

High achievers often choose perfection without realising it. 

But your wellbeing is the more strategic and long-term asset. 

We will never be done. 

There will always be more to do. 

Even if you “finish” your current to-do, if you are ambitious, there is another list that will appear immediately. 

So the goal is not completion. 

The goal is: 

• Clear, ordered daily priorities 

• Contained focus 

• Strong boundaries (with yourself and with others) 

• Real breaks 

• Clever and professional delegation 

• Clarity within yourself and with your team

I deliver keynotes and workshops on staying well and on burnout prevention for workplaces, teams, and leaders. If you’re an employer and you value someone who is showing early signs of burnout, you can sponsor a coaching package to support them.  

And if you’re an individual navigating this yourself, I offer coaching support. If finances are a barrier, I can help you access funding options. 

You don’t have to wait until you crash to start feeling better again.

Catch the signs early, take practical action, and you can absolutely prevent burnout.