Today I was talking with a friend completely overwhelmed running their small business. They are wearing too many hats trying to do everything. Sales, Sales Operations, Strategic Planning, Forecasting, etc. Wow! That’s a lot for one person to have on their plate.
I talked to another friend who takes care of her mom part time in her home, works a high demanding job and her hands full with her house and health and life in general.
My neighbor? 4 kids, all in activities, coaches 2 teams, works full time and is in a new marriage?
What is it that makes so many of us pile it on until we don’t have the mental capacity to handle any more? We fill up our lives with so many things that we barely have time to breath. We want to do it all (or maybe we don’t) but we feel compelled to not let a single ball drop. We try to power through it (because we are strong and have endurance) but eventually, we hit a wall, spontaneously combust or just shut down into a pile of ick.
Well, because I have a curious mind, I’ll do some research and update this article with some more details about the why. (so check back). But I have to do something now, so I’m going to make some guesses and take some action – and then – course correct later if I need to.
THINGS I’M GOING TO TRY TO REDUCE MY FEELINGS OF BEING OVERWHELMED
1. BE CREATIVE: Make time to do some small thing for myself every day. Go get a smoothie, go for a run before work, read a really good book, plan a trip, go for a drive and sing a song. SOMETHING that brings you joy and something that you want to do THAT DAY.
2. MAKE A LIST AND CHECK SOMETHING off of the list
3. Keep some margin in your schedule. Keep some time open every day when you are “off the clock and have nothing planned. Be INTENTIONAL about not planning things
4. Look for things that you can drop off your commitment list in the future. I have overcommitted myself to do things I want to do like volunteer, travel or work on a bucket list item. Work, kids, and other commitments sometimes make it impossible to do everything you WANT to do. But life is seasonal. Maybe if you wait a season until you have more time to do what you love. Life is about the long game.
5. And finally, in the great words of Stephen Covey “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities! – Which includes buffer, me time and creative and meaningful things – that give you balance and ease the pressure.
Let’s give this a go.
