Executives, just like anyone else, can feel overwhelmed. They can reverse this, in part, by challenging their perfectionism and learning how to delegate.

A recent article posted at Harvard Business Review online cites both actions as crucial steps toward eliminating the feeling of being constantly overwhelmed.

Perfectionism can be a challenge, the posting argues, because it helps make tasks or projects bigger than they have to be. This, in turn can cause extra stress and procrastination and become a vicious cycle. How to fix this: analyze what the benefit of spending extra time on a task or project would be. If there isn’t much benefit, then decide to finish. Also, the posting calls for individuals to recognize an obvious truth that many people aren’t willing to admit: We can’t do everything perfectly.

Outsourcing or delegating tasks and projects may be another obvious solution toward making a person’s workload lighter, but not everyone does this well, either. The HBR posting cites this as important, beginning with an exploration of what the best use of your time might be. Anything that doesn’t fall within your answer to this question can be delegated or explained to others, according to the posting.

What are things that a business person can delegate? It runs the gamut, from attendance at certain meetings, to outsourcing the cleaning of your home or meal preparation, according to the article.

The full Harvard Business Review piece – “How to Deal With Constantly Feeling Overwhelmed” – can be accessed at this link.