Overwhelm - 6 Steps How to Break it Down Without Breaking Down Yourself.

You are not going to master the rest of your life in one day. Just relax. Master the day. Then just keep doing that ever day.

~ Author Unknown

"Just Start!"

Is this what you say to yourself, but your actions are frozen?

Are you that person who is so overwhelmed that nothing gets done?

Don't know where to start?

There are a million things to do, and the time keeps ticking away.

Is this you?

Sometimes this is me.

If you have a hard time starting because you have so much going on and don't know WHERE to start.

Keep reading...

This has been my strategy which I hope can help you move forward without feeling stuck.

Here are 6 amazing steps to move you past that heavy feeling.

Let's Break it Down!

1. Stop!

"What?"

Yes, I am serious, if you think you don't have time, then you REALLY need to do this.

I have created a worksheet for you, download it here.

I have mapped it out to help you become unstuck.

2. Be Aware of Your Feelings!

I assume you have determined what "feeling" overwhelmed is like.

Owning that feeling and writing it down allows you to understand and create awareness to the emotion.

Maybe you have anxiety, heart racing, feeling burdened and even heavy.

You could describe it as no inner space, irritable and lack of motivation.

What ever it is for you, write it down and describe what your body is feeling.

When you acknowledge emotions, the emotions are brought to the frontal cortex (front brain) to create new brain patterns.

When you create new brain patterns the next time you have these emotions in your body, your frontal cortex will trigger your memories of... "Oh hell yes, this is overwhelm, I know what to do."

Moving you forward even faster the next time you have these feelings.

The more you acknowledge your body and mind's emotions on paper, the more control you have to set new brain patterns for future planning.

3. Write down all the tasks..

Everything...

Start writing, if you need more than the space allotted in the worksheet, grab more paper.

If you feel stuck in thought, give yourself 20 minutes to just write everything that comes to mind.

4. Number the priority of each task.

Start with the easy ones.

a) Add a #3 to all of your tasks that you can delegate to someone else.

This will relieve you of some pressure instantly.

You don't have to do it all yourself.

b) Add a #2 to all of your tasks which are average on the importance roll.

These are tasks in which can be put off for a short while.

c) Add #1 to all of your high priority important tasks.

These are the tasks which need to be accomplished by you in a reasonable time frame.

Now you should feel less of a burden if you have numbered tasks and cleared some of your brain clutter.

5. Ask Yourself "What are the next 3 steps!"

This is the most powerful question to ask yourself when you are overwhelmed.

Take a #1 task and write it down.

Looking at this task, ask yourself this quesiton.

What are the next 3 steps?

This allows you to focus on one thing and break it down further.

For example, this blog.

My task is: Write a blog on overwhelm.

My next 3 steps would be :

1. Create worksheet

2. Attach links from blog to worksheet

3. Publish

Continue this step with all of your #1's on your list.

As an extra, you can put the recommended completion date along with each task as well.

It will help your #1 list prioritize itself.

6. Put it in your calendar.

This was key for my success and I know it will work for you as well.

If you honor your calendar with appointments to others, you will honor your tasks on your calendar.

Set time frames for each task (I usually give 1-2 hours per task depending) .

Schedule it in your calendar as a set time and date.

Go through your calendar with your completion dates, your tasks and time frames and enter all of them.

This exercise is the most powerful lesson I learned to manage my feeling of overwhelm.

My calendar is my life saver and it can be your too.

Remember these tips in the future to eliminate overwhelm:

1. You can say NO.

2. Know your priorities

3. Limit yourself

4. Simplify

I truly hope you give this a go.

The next time you have emotions running through your body that are creating results you are not enjoying in your life.

Stop, breathe, and become aware.

You got this.

Make it a great day!

Smiling.

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