How to Minimize Overwhelm and Maximize Focus in Your Business

Ever heard that saying, you can do anything you want — you just can’t do everything you want? As women, and as entrepreneurs, I think we’re the absolute worst at heeding this advice. We’re solopreneurs, one-woman-shows, multitasking and husting to make our dreams come true. Which is admirable.

But that kind of hustle comes at a price.

And it’s called overwhelm.

And it’s called burnout.

Last Thursday was International Women’s Day; so to celebrate I sent my email subscribers a little gift — a worksheet I originally created for myself when I was battling overwhelm and burnout.

(FYI, if you’re not on my email list — you should def sign up! And grab your own worksheet below)

Today, I’m following up with some practical steps I took to combat overwhelm and burnout — and return to work refreshed and ready for a new year:

Define what is most important to you

I’m a list maker. Ever written a task on your To-Do list, after you’ve already completed it, just so you can cross it off? Well, I have.

I like to keep track of everything. And I’m old school. Pen and paper, baby!

After a crazy successful year, I was left feeling, not uplifted, as I had always thought. No I was worn out. Rundown. On the edge of burnout.

Subconsciously I had been building a mental list for weeks. I wanted more of this… less of that…

So I finally wrote it all down.

I grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled ‘More’ on one side, ‘Less’ on the other — and I started to write it all out. I wrote what I wanted more of. And then I wrote its opposite, what I wanted less of.

When I couldn’t think of what I wanted MORE. I thought of what I wanted LESS.

And then I arrived at my “word for the year.”

PEACE

I want peace in my life. I want peace in my heart.

I want to stop worrying about followers and likes, and focus on building more authentic relationships with other female entrepreneurs. I want to spend time on hobbies that have nothing to do with my career — and not feel guilty about it. I want to watch my baby play, without checking my phone ten times or worrying about my next project. I want to love my job, and then close the door at the end of the day — and be at peace with that.

This revelation revived me. I was ready to return to work, with a new perspective and new goals.

But perhaps the bigger revelation, was that I didn’t even know what I wanted.

Until I wrote it down.

Are you ready to make your list — download now!

Figure out what you need to do

Making a To-Do List is great.

But then you actually have to do it.

The problem with the “big idea” items that are driving us to burnout (more quite/less noise, more focus/less distraction, more leading/less following) is that they can be a little nebulous.

But how do we take that concept and translate them into actionable steps? Achievable goals?

Enter SMART goals

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time Specific

So, let’s take my example of More Focus/Less Distraction:

First, I had to answer: what’s a distraction in my life?

Social media for sure. It’s easy to convince yourself you’re “working” while falling down the rabbit hole that is Instagram. Suddenly it’s an hour later and you’re looking a pictures of your best friend’s ex’s cousin’s new baby. What just happened??

Okay, so I’m gonna cut back on Instagram. I’m going to schedule all posts ahead of time, during allotted “Social Media” worktimes, and only participate (comment, like, etc.) during those worktimes as well. I’ve created a schedule where I’m only on social media upto 5 hours a week — and only to use it for a specific purpose, building my business.

Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Relevant. Time Specific.

Check.

That’s not to say I’ve been perfect. Or that it’s easy. (Instagram is kind of an addiction, right?). But I have a plan. And when I falter, I don’t just give up. I go back to the plan.

And honestly it’s made a huge difference. I am more focused in my work, have more time to play with my little dude, and am just happier because I’m not wasting mindless hours on social media.

So, go back to your list of More + Less — and figure out what you want.

Then get SMART about it!

Be realistic about your goals

Technically, this falls under the same category as creating SMART goals. (Is it achievable? Is it relevant?)

But being the massive overachievers that we are, I think this concept deserves a little more attention.

Listen, you’re only one lady. And you can’t do it all.

As much as you want to.

As much as you’ll try.

It’s a fail-proof prescription for burnout.

Bandwith

I recently watched a video from Amy Porterfield, where she talks about having the ‘bandwidth’ to take on a new project. That word really stuck with me — bandwidth.

While I’m sure you have awesome ideas. And I’m sure you can do and make awesome things, you can’t do it all at once. You need to have the bandwidth.

You need to have the bandwidth to give it the time and attention it deserves.

Or you need to scrap it.

Or ‘shelf’ it — until you do have the bandwidth.

This is something I’ve really had to work on this year. Cuz of course, I want to do #AllTheThings

But I know I can’t do #AllTheThings well. So I’ve gotten specific, and realistic, about how much I can handle. What can I do, and do really well?

Everything else needs to be outsourced, scrapped, or shelved.

So, look at your list. What do you want more of? What do you want less of? How can you accomplish that?

And then, despite knowing how to accomplish it — do you have the resources and time to do so?

You don’t have to accomplish everything on your list at once.

Make the choice

For myself, I wanted more health/less weight (I’m trying to lose the baby weight) and this translates to exercise for me. But I also want more quiet/less noise, and that translates to daily meditation in my life.

While ideally, I’d like to workout and meditate everyday, I simply don’t have the bandwidth at this time. So I chose meditation. I chose more quiet/less noise, over exercise. The benefits to my mood and productivity that I experience through meditation outweigh the benefit of exercise for me. For right now.

I can’t do it all. I’d LOVE to. But I can’t.

So I made a choice.

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Are you ready to dive in and finally crawl out of the burnout pit — and get on the path to sustainability. Yes? I thought so.

Well, start by downloading your own More + Less worksheet now.

And if you’re feeling especially brave, jump on down to the comment section and tell me what’s at the top of your list!

You got this, girl!

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