How do you accomplish all there is to do within a finite amount of time? Association professionals probably ask themselves this a lot, especially if their job involves program management and development. 

As an executive director of a small software users’ group, I wear multiple hats ranging from human resources, finance and accounting, governance, project management, IT, and strategic partnerships and planning. 

I have my hands in almost everything, including stuffing envelopes for membership renewal notices. Add to that my duties as an executive director, and the job can seem overwhelming.

I used to start my day off with a to-do list, then inevitably Murphy’s law would come into play and muck everything up. Now, I have an entire whiteboard dedicated to priorities and related tasks that need completion. From there, I choose at least three top priorities that are my “must get done” items and focus on those throughout the day. 

So how does a busy association professional decide which work comes first?  Ask:

• Which tasks are the most time sensitive?
• Which projects are short-term and need immediate attention?
• What can you accomplish that will produce results and allow you to move a project forward?
• If you don’t accomplish a certain task, how will it impact others?

Multitasking can be stressful, and if stress is not something you can keep at bay, wearing multiple hats may not be for you. You may be an individual who needs to focus on the task at hand and complete it before moving on to the next one. 

If you have to wear multiple hats, keeping calm and staying focused will help you gain a perspective that prioritizes work and minimizes stress.

However, multitasking and stress can be beneficial. Studies show that doing multiple things at once while under stress can result in more effective decision making. Strange, right? 

But other studies indicate that you can experience a 40 percent decrease in productivity when multitasking. The research goes in a multitude of directions; however, the bottom line is that only about 2 percent of multitaskers do it effectively. Here are ways to do it better:

Develop support systems. Develop staff to support you and the organization. Find employees who enable you to accomplish what you need to and hold them accountable when you task them with something. Choose individuals who can manage themselves with minimal direction, and don’t be afraid to delegate.

Build structure and be strategic. Structure projects so that both you and your staff know the reason behind a given task. Also, define what goals will be accomplished and how the work fits into your strategic plan.

Automate or outsource manual work. Is your staff’s expertise needed to complete the task? If not, maybe the work can be outsourced or automated. Manual tasks typically eat up staff time, and automation might be able to free up limited and valuable resources.

Take steps to completion. Large tasks can be completed in a step-by-step approach leading to small and significant accomplishments. When necessary, break up the work into pieces. It will give you and your staff a fresh perspective and keep stress levels down.

Remain focused. Multitasking is fine, but when you need to get that one thing off your list, focus on it. Don’t be distracted by the craziness of life around you. Put your phone on silent or do not disturb. Also, if you need to focus on something highly strategic but there are too many distractions, get outside of your usual surroundings. Rent a boardroom or meeting space. I have found that getting away from it all gives your mind the freedom to be more innovative.

Program management is incredibly time-consuming. Adding new options or functionality to your conferences can be difficult if you don’t set aside time to focus on what your attendees and members need. If you have to wear multiple hats, keeping calm and staying focused will help you gain a perspective that prioritizes work and minimizes stress. 

Finally, remember to make time for yourself. The work needs to get done, but your health and well-being should come first.