How to Get Out of Overwhelm

We can’t tell you how many clients come to us feeling overwhelmed.⁠

⁠And we get it. ⁠

When you are working full time, have kids, and are trying to start a side hustle, it can seem like you have so much more things to do than there are hours in a day! ⁠

Good news for you is that there are practical ways to get out of overwhelm so you can stop feeling so anxious and behind all the time.

It starts with recognizing that everything does not have the same level of priority, and everything does not need to be done by you!

We spoke with someone about this the other week. And guess what, in just 30 minutes she went from feeling stressed and overwhelmed to hopeful and empowered by possibilities she hadn't thought of before. ⁠

Today we wanted to share the process so you can apply it to your life: 

✔️ Brain dump all the tasks and projects you have

Make a list of anything taking up valuable space in your mind. This includes both personal and professional tasks.

✔️ Categorize your actions in a Urgent-Important Matrix

Draw a cross on a blank piece of paper. On the top write "Urgent" and "Not Urgent", on the left side write "Important" and "Not Important". Next, categorize your tasks using the following distinctions shown below.

Sometimes the distinctions between urgent & important actions can be tricky. A good way to think of it is that urgent actions require immediate action (and often have a consequence), while important actions contribute to long-term goals and life values (but don't necessarily have a clear deadline).

Keep in mind that important actions are relative to the person who has them and often vary between people. YOU are the only one who gets to decide this.

Todoist has a great article on the Urgent-Important Matrix if you want to dig into it more.

✔️ Once you have categorized your actions in the correct quadrants, create a plan of action

Important & Urgent: prioritize doing these actions before anything else. Start with your top 3 for the day and get those done first.

Important & Not Urgent: schedule a time to move these actions forward. Actually block out time on your calendar and create some accountability so you'll follow through!

Not Important & Urgent: decide if you plan to hire out or ask for help with these actions. This is where the work SMARTER not harder idea comes in. Doing it all yourself is not a badge of honor... it's a recipe for burnout!

Not Important & Not Urgent: do you find yourself cleaning your entire desk before getting to work? This type of distraction is very common and may feel productive in the moment but can take away from productivity on the most important actions. Know that if you're in a busy season you may need to let things like this go temporarily. And that's ok.

✔️ Review your list and make sure all actions are chunked down small enough

Big projects can often seem overwhelming when thought of as a whole. However you can use this same process to break projects down into actionable tasks and decide what the most urgent and important things are to move forward each day.

For example, instead of "sign up for client management software" you might break it down into:
"research top 3-5 client management software options"
"ask 3 entrepreneurs in my space for their preferred client management software options"
"set up demos with top 2 client management softwares"

We use this process often in our businesses and in life and find it to be a great way to relieve stress and make sure we're spending our time on the most important actions to move our big goals forward. We challenge you to try this method and would love to hear how it works for you.

If you're looking for support, we offer a free call where we can see what type of support would be best for you. You can apply for the call here.