A task explosion happens when you are suddenly faced with more tasks than you are used to. I’ve faced many times where you suddenly need to handle twice as much work, with twice the pressure. Stress levels rise, and you might feel about ready to snap.

I’ve prepared a survival list of things to do when you get caught in the middle of a task explosion. Hopefully these tips can help you get a bit more done, and keep you from pulling the hair out of your head.

1. Stop and Think - When the explosion hits, you are probably still reeling from the impact, unsure what to do. Working randomly is about the worst plan to use, since you may accomplish less critical tasks when big problems lie in the background.

2. Know What You’re Prepared to Leave Behind - After you’ve paused yourself, it is time to assess your priorities. Ask yourself what you’ll need to give up if the time starts ticking down. Anything that isn’t crucial needs to be pushed back.

3. Begin Immediately - As soon as you’ve decided what is most important, get working. Some people react to a task explosion by procrastinating or working on something easy. If that is your case, plan your next step and take action right away.

4. Shuffle Work - A sudden doubling of your workload doesn’t give you much time to adapt. When this happens to me, I make sure I shuffle my work in 60-90 minute chunks so I don’t get overtired. Shuffling means placing tasks that use different skills after each other. Do reading tasks for sixty minutes then switch to one that involves writing or communicating. This will allow you to work longer and harder.

5. Are You Heading for a Nuclear Winter? - Is this task explosion temporary or is it going to be a permanent adjustment. If you think that this explosion might have a long-term impact, it’s a good idea to assess your life in general. What commitments need to be dropped in order for you to survive?

6. Useful Laziness - Taking breaks is a good idea if your explosion will last weeks or months. The key is to make sure that your rest counts. How often do you plan to relax but end up wasting your energy on something trivial? Decide what really rejuvenates you and spend your short breaks doing that.

7. Morning Boost - If you know you have a few days with mountains of work ahead, sleep a bit earlier and wake up earlier. When you start your morning early, you are more likely to begin with full force. That momentum will carry you throughout the day so by noon you’ve already got your most important tasks done.

8. Eat Light - Digestion eats up a huge amount of energy (no pun intended). A good way to keep your energy levels high is to eat water-rich vegetables and low fat foods. Stuffing your face with a burger and fries is only going to slow you down.

9. List Everything - A mile is only a bunch of feet strung together. If you list everything that needs to be done, you will feel more confident that you can handle it. The listing process helps take the vague, amorphous blob of work and turns it into bite-sized pieces.

10. Unplug - If the task-explosion injures you, distractions will finish you off. Unplug the phone, internet or computer if you don’t need them that moment. The more noise you have to fight through the harder it will be to focus. Even if the silence is uncomfortable for the first few minutes, you can speed up to a quick flow.

11. Breakdown Delegation - If you’re working with a team, cut the work into large chunks and quickly discuss what needs to be done in each. Interpersonal communication should only happen when strictly necessary. Get everyone to stand up if you need to hold a meeting as that should pick up the pace.

12. Reward Later, Work Now - Find something that can motivate you for the next few hours. Agree to give yourself a reward when you finish your work. The reward doesn’t need to be huge, but even a twenty minute break to do something enjoyable can do the trick. Don’t give yourself the reward first with the expectation to work afterwards! You’ve got your psychology backwards there as it will be just as hard to quit procrastinating after you’ve taken a break.

13. Find Shortcuts - Almost any activity has shortcuts if you look at it broadly enough. Find ways you can cut corners and get things done faster to keep up with demand. Shortcuts might not be advisable when you’ve got time to focus on quality, but if time is against you, do what you need to do.

14. Weigh Consequences - Sometimes you need to take a little pain to avoid a lot of pain. Look at the consequences for not following through on different commitments. If you feel you can’t handle every commitment, find the ones that will give the least pain and break them. It might be the only way to avoid a huge failure because you didn’t manage your time.

15. Exercise - Many people, when they face a task explosion cut exercise first. This might be fine if your explosion lasts only a day or two. But if your workload overload spans weeks and months, this will only hurt you. Exercise helps you sustain high energy levels for working, even if you can only do a 30 minute power workout.

當你突然面臨比平常更多的任務負載時，任務大爆炸就要發生了。我經常經歷這種情況：你需要處理兩倍于平常的事務，承受兩倍于平常的壓力。你精神之弦繃得很緊，你感覺自己抓狂了，隨時就會崩潰。

    為此我整理出幫你應對任務大爆炸的方法清單。希望這些招數能幫你解決更多一點的問題，不至于你一籌莫展得只能狂抓自己的頭發。

    1、停止躊躇觀望，主動思考。當任務爆炸襲擊你的時候，你很有可能還盤旋躊躇于侵襲的漩渦里，不確定要做什么。天馬行空、眉毛胡子一把抓是最糟糕的，很多時候任務背后可能隱藏著致命問題，如果你眉毛胡子一把抓，很有可能錯失解決最關鍵問題的最佳時機。

    2、分析輕重緩急，確定優先順序（了解哪些是可以緩一緩或放棄的任務）。讓自己鎮靜下來后，就該分析評估任務優先順序了。問問自己: 如果時間緊迫不夠用，必須要放棄哪些任務呢？另外，不是關鍵性的任務都要緩一緩放在日程的后面。

    3、即刻行動。一旦你確定了什么是最重要的，就馬上開始行動。很多人面對任務爆炸時，習慣于一拖再拖或者只做容易做的事。如果你是這樣，那么不要再“明日復明日”和逃避了，計劃下一步并即刻行動。

    4、歸類交錯分解工作負荷。兩倍于平常的工作負荷突然襲擊時，你是猝不及防的，沒有多余的時間讓你調整適應。每到此時，我就將工作分解到若干個60-90分鐘的時間段里，以確保不會過渡疲勞。歸類交錯分解，就是將需要不同知識技能的任務項目交錯排列。60分鐘的閱讀任務完成以后，轉向寫作或交流等其他任務。這樣能保證你工作更持久更投入。

    5、長期任務爆炸的策略（你在通向一個核冬天么？）。這個任務大爆炸是暫時的還是一個長期的調整呢？如果你認為這個爆炸或許會對你有長期的沖擊，那么，重新評估一下你的生活是一個不錯的方法。為了確保生存下來，哪些擔子是要卸下來的呢？

     6、有效有用的“偷懶”。如果你的任務爆炸將要持續數星期甚至數月，那么適當休息是很明智的。關鍵在于：確保你的休息是有效有用。你是不是有過這樣的情況：你打算休息放松一下結果卻把精力浪費在無謂的瑣事上？這種情形的發生的頻率是多少？確定到底什么能使你精神振奮能量煥發，把時間花在這些事情上。

    7、一天之計在于晨。如果你預先知道隨后幾天你的工作負荷堆積如山，那么就早睡早起。早起工作會使你全力投入。而且這種動量會伴你一整天，通常你一天中最重要的任務就會在前半天完成。

    8、飲食清淡。食物消化會耗掉很大一部分的能量（無雙關意義）。保持你能量水平的好方法就是吃多汁的蔬菜和低脂食物。往嘴里隨便塞些漢堡煎炸食品只會降低你的工作效率。

     9、列出要做的每件事。千里之行始于足下，不積跬步無以至千里。列出每一件你要做的事情會增加你處理駕馭這些任務的信心。列清單的過程將模糊的無形瑣碎的任務提取出來，并把它們轉化為易管理可執行的任務。

    10、切斷電源，擯除干擾。如果說任務大爆炸讓你遍體鱗傷，那么最終會將你置于死地的，是干擾和分心。如果對你執行任務沒有用途，拔掉電話、網絡或電腦。越多噪聲和干擾，越難于集中精力。盡管開始幾分鐘的無聲安靜，可能會使你感到很不舒服，但是這樣做可以馬上讓你進入快速高效的進程中。

    11、分工合作，各司其職。如果你效力于一個工作團隊，有效的方法是將任務分解為若干子部分，并盡快討論分配出每個子部分的詳細任務。只有在急需的情況，才允許組員間的交流。如果必須召集大家會面討論，前提是這樣的會面必須有助于保持工作的進展步調，而且確保每個組員都獨當一面。

    12、先苦后甜。為自己隨后幾個工作小時找一個激勵。答應自己在完成任務后給自己一些獎勵，不需要很大，哪怕是休息20分鐘來做自己喜歡做的事情就會很奏效。不要破這個先例：允許自己先嘗到獎勵的甜頭再工作。如果你先自我獎勵了，你的心理趨向就很難不去拖延工作了。

    13、尋找省時捷徑。如果你能高屋建瓴的觀察每件事，每件事都能找到捷徑。為盡快達到目標，你通常要找到捷徑以便迅速解決問題。誠然，當你有足夠時間將精力放在工作“質量”上的時候，我們并不贊成你尋找捷徑。但是如果時間緊迫，你就必須尋找通往羅馬最省時間的路了。

    14、考慮后果，小不忍則亂大謀。有時候你需要先體驗一些小痛苦，為的是避免將來更多的痛苦。仔細考慮一下：如果不能完成每個任務，后果會是什么樣的呢？如果是這樣，找出讓你忍受最小痛苦的任務并放棄它們。在你已經無法有效管理時間的時候，這或許是避免更大損失承受更大痛苦的唯一途徑了。

    15、鍛煉身體不能舍。很多人遇到超負荷任務爆炸時，首先就是將鍛煉身體從日程上裁掉。如果任務爆炸只有一兩天，這樣做也無妨。但是當你的超負荷工作量要持續數周甚至數月時，這樣做無利反害。運動有助于你保持高能量水平來投入工作中，即使每天30分鐘的運動也會有幫助。