Overwhelm can play a huge part in being a business owner. I remember in the early stages of growing my business, it was tough going. There was a lot of stuff swirling around in my brain, piles of tasks I knew I needed to get done.
Things like setting up a website, solidifying my offers, creating social media profiles, creating content for social media, blogging.
I was constantly thinking about all of these different things I needed to do, and it can feel like such an uphill battle. I totally get it. But I wish I’d known some of the tricks that I’m going to be sharing with you today. Because it really doesn’t have to feel overwhelming all of the time.
Firstly, a simple mindset shift can really help here. This is about having a strong belief that there is more than enough time in this world to do whatever you want. It’s only us that puts pressure on ourselves to get these things done. And you can pace it in any way that works for you.
This is about taking it one step at a time, and looking after yourself along the way. It’s so important to remember to enjoy the journey as you go.
And with that thought, I have five super practical tips for you today.
Have an actual plan
Many people that go into business wing it from the very beginning. Don’t be that person. Learn from my mistakes. I was one of these people. I wouldn’t set goals. I wouldn’t map out how I was going to achieve those goals. I lived day to day, sat at my desk thinking ‘Ok, what am I doing today?’ I didn’t have any kind of forward thinking around goals and strategy.
What we really need to do is work backwards. Set the goal you want to achieve. Get clear on what you want to create in your business. It could be a money goal, for example, hitting consistent £5K months. Then pinpoint every step you need to take to achieve that goal.
Here’s the thing about reducing overwhelm, when it’s down on paper and all mapped out for you, there’s no guesswork involved. There’s no winging it. You know exactly what you need to do, and you know the steps that you need to take. It eases your nervous system because you know what’s supposed to happen.
Give yourself one priority goal a day
If you’re in a position right now where it feels like everything is getting on top of you, set just a single priority goal a day. Anything else you may do after that is a big bonus. Don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself, just focus on one thing that is going to have the biggest impact on your business growth.
When we start overcommitting and overloading our to do lists each day, that’s where we often fall down. Then we feel guilty or berate ourselves for not ticking everything off the list.
Really think about what that priority goal needs to be. Keep the end goal in your mind and consider what one task is going to get you there the fastest.
Time block tasks
Sometimes we can unknowingly switch between different tasks because there’s so much screaming for attention. But this puts our mind all over the place. But by time blocking specific tasks, we give all our focus and attention on that one thing. Which is when your productivity goes through the roof and you produce your best work.
The best thing to do here is create a default diary for ourselves. It’s such a simple concept, but when you create a default diary for the week you know what needs to happen each day and at what time.
And you don’t need anything fancy for this. Using a simple spreadsheet works just fine. Set it up in a way that works for you, then get into the habit of referring to it and sticking to the time slots. This is what will help focus your mind and keep you on track.
Strip it back when you need to
When everything feels too much, streamline and simplify everything you’re doing.
One goal. One service or product. One way to market and sell it.
So your goal might be that you want to earn £5K this month. What one service or product will be best placed to help you hit that goal? The great thing about doing it this way is you’re adding complete focus and clarity around all the marketing materials you put out there. All the content will be around this one solution you provide. This way it makes everything a lot more streamlined and easier for you.
When you work backwards from your goal, you can start to see any discrepancies in the price of your product or service too. So sticking with the same example, if you’re goal is £5K this month and you consider the price of your offer, you may find you need to sell a crazy amount to hit your money goal. But actually, if you increased your prices, then the number of customers you need to sign up, suddenly seems more doable. So this can also give you a great prompt to put those prices up.
And when you know how many you need to sell and your conversion rate, you’ll start to understand how many leads you need to bring in to convert into a sale. So by knowing your numbers, you can really start to engineer this.
Just focussing on one thing across each area will focus your mind, reduce stress, make everything a lot more intentional and give you better results in the long run.
Make time for yourself
Perhaps the most important action you can take is to make time for you. Schedule in some fun time to step away from the business. Give yourself something to look forward to. This is about giving yourself guilt free permission to indulge in self care. If you need a day off, a week off, two weeks off. Whatever that looks like for you, give yourself permission to do that.
When we’re in a state of overwhelm, it can be so difficult to think clearly. Our creativity drops and we feel irritable and on edge. It can mean we’re not able to make the best decisions in our business when we’re feeling under pressure.
Giving yourself space to breathe resets your mind and body. It can give you so much more clarity on your next steps and helps you put things into perspective.
We need to stop powering on through when we’re overwhelmed and burnt out, and wearing it like a badge of honour. You can’t show up as your best self and do your best work when you’re in that place.
So take time to step away from it all when you need to. And never feel guilty for doing that.