Overwhelm describes having a strong emotional feeling. In business, feelings of overwhelm are often attributed to having too much work, not knowing how to prioritize work, or finding the work too difficult.
Experiencing overwhelm can be crippling because it can stop you from reaching your full potential and achieving your business goals. While we all feel overwhelmed from time to time, here are some helpful tips for managing those feelings:
Sign Up for Performance Coaching
If you believe that your strong feelings are getting in the way of your personal or professional goals, sign up for performance coaching, such as Dr. Jodie’s coaching for elite performance.
While performance coaching involves learning professional development techniques and achieving success in business and life, it also focuses on mastering stress management. If you know how to manage your stress, it can be easier to complete tasks that help you get ahead, without feelings of overwhelm holding you back.
Recognize What Overwhelm Means
As soon as you start experiencing feelings of overwhelm and stress, take a moment to be curious and find out what they mean. You might realize that you’re anxious about a deadline or are feeling overwhelmed by everything happening around you.
Once you take that moment to identify the cause of the overwhelm, you can put steps in place to remedy it. For example, if background noise is causing you to feel overwhelmed, you might turn off the radio or move to a quieter part of your business.
Use the Eisenhower Matrix
When the cause of your overwhelm relates to having too much work, use the Eisenhower Matrix to categorize your tasks. This time management technique can add a sense of order to your to-do list, helping you feel less stressed. The Eisenhower Matrix consists of four categories:
- Urgent and important: Do these tasks first
- Important, but not urgent: Schedule these tasks
- Urgent, but not important: Delegate these tasks
- Neither: Eliminate or postpone
Once your tasks are categorized, you can focus on one at a time, in order of most important.
Perform Quick Resets
When you have a high-stress job or moments of high stress, it’s easy to let that stress overwhelm you and stop you from being the most productive version of yourself. That’s why quick resets are so important.
Quick resets are moments during your day that aim to calm down and ‘reset’ your nervous system. As you start to feel stressed, step outside for fresh air, do a short guided meditation, or practice deep breathing. This small break may be all it takes to lower your stress levels when you resume work.
Create Systems
It’s not always enough to juggle your to-do list until it feels more manageable. Sometimes, you also have to create systems that ensure your everyday tasks aren’t always going to overwhelm you and cause mental clutter.
For example, you might automate repetitive tasks that take up a great deal of time and energy, such as reminders, billing, and emails. You might also research helpful project tools to automate and streamline processes, like Trello, Asana, and Notion.
Delegate
It might feel as though you have to do everything yourself, but that’s not necessarily the case. It may be possible to delegate tasks to other employees within your business. If you are an employee, you can also discuss your workload with your employer so they can help you prioritize.
If you’re a sole trader or entrepreneur, don’t underestimate the value of sharing your feelings with your loved ones. They may not be able to help with your work tasks, but there could be personal tasks they can handle to minimize your stress, such as childcare, house cleaning, and errands.
Business success can feel out of reach when you’re continually dealing with feelings of overwhelm. However, by taking breaks, prioritizing tasks, creating systems, and delegating, it’s possible to achieve your professional goals without a significant emotional toll.
