Overcome the Overwhelm
Lately, I've been hearing from some friends, colleagues, and clients that they're feeling overwhelmed. It's likely a combination of the homestretch to meet end-of-year goals, 2022 planning, and the impact of time off and to-dos related to the winter holidays.
And I've definitely been feeling it too. These last few months included new clients, more professional commitments, and continued work building a house. All good things for sure, but all the to-dos were weighing me down. I found myself waking up in the middle of the night thinking of all the things I had to do and mentally processing my to-do list when I was supposed to be enjoying other things.
So this morning, I spent a few hours and followed my own advice to clear my cognitive load. If you want to reduce the feeling of overwhelm you might be experiencing, here are the steps to take:
Set aside a couple of hours. Get comfortable, turn off your phone and reduce any distractions you can.
Pull up your existing to-do list or create a new one. I recommend an editable document such as Google but use whatever works for you.
Create categories in the document to capture all areas of your life. I use Work, Financial, Health/Fitness/Medical, Home, Personal, and Holidays/Vacation. Feel free to use categories that reflect your life.
List every possible thing on your mind in each of these categories. Don't hold back. No task is too small. And don't worry about timing. If there's something you need to do in six months or a year, but it's on your mind, include it. The whole purpose of this exercise is to get it all out of your head and onto paper (well, onto the computer document, but you know what I mean).
Look at the items on your list one at a time. If there are things on your list that you're no longer committed to, delete them. Examples of things that I've deleted in the past include "post consistently on Facebook", "learn another language" and "cook one new healthy recipe a month." Now's the time to give yourself permission to let go of some "shoulds" that no longer resonate with you.
Review the list through the lens of "Can someone else do this?" Someone else could be ANYONE else - a partner, coworker, sibling, your kids, friends, etc. And notice I didn't phrase the question "Can someone else do this the way I would do it?" If you want to reduce overwhelm, you're going to need to give up some control! Hard I know.
Ask yourself, "Who can I pay to do this for me?". Perhaps a social media manager, bookkeeper, cleaning person, professional organizer, landscaper, etc., could take on the task for you.
Ask yourself, "Can I do this in a different way that would make this easier?" Maybe when vacation planning, you go to a place you've been before to avoid researching a new place, have groceries delivered instead of shopping, or make reservations versus making dinner next time you want to see friends, etc. Having a hard time coming up with creative ideas? Ask a friend or co-worker to brainstorm with you.
Move the things on your list that need to happen in the next 90 days to an "Active List" at the top of the document and leave everything else under "Later". You could begin to drop those "Later" tasks into various quarters in 2022.
Schedule the tasks on your Active List in your calendar, so you've set aside the time to attack this list. Be sure to include blocks of time to revisit and update this list each week. Depending on the size of your list and whether you're working solo or with a team, you may want to consider using a tool like Asana or Monday to support you in this effort.
I know that any 10-step process might sound intimidating, but it's not complex. And in my experience, the several hours you dedicate to this process will save you so much time and energy, plus you can avoid sleepless nights!
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Here’s to overcoming your overwhelm!