My client base is comprised of ambitious men and women who are dedicated to getting.stuff.done.
They are driven by their passions and are determined to make a positive impact on the world.
To me they are superheroes, and if you’re reading this, I’m guessing you have the same mission and therefore I consider you a superhero too.
Being a superhero is awesome! You get to have a cape, wear hot knee boots and spandex. The downside to being a superhero is that there is always a nemesis. There is always some guy (or gal) that is hatin’ on your whole operation.
Well, I find the most persistent nemesis to my devoted clients is OVERWHELM.
That’s right, doing too much, with too little time, too little energy and completely burning out.
Guess what happens when a World Changer burns out? The positive change they were hoping to make doesn’t happen.
Then the bad guy wins, we’re all sad, and wait anxiously for the sequel, because, like, that can NOT be the end of the story!
So you might be thinking, “How the heck am I supposed to finish off my nemesis once and for all so I can live happily ever after?”
Fret, not! I am the Professor X to your X-Men, the Captain America to your Avengers* and the Bosley to your Charlie’s Angels (you may not consider the Angels superheroes, but ladies kickin’ butt in skin tight bell bottoms while maintaining their perfectly feathered swoop bangs are topping the charts on my superhero list! #ImJustSayin)
So, Dear Superhero World Changer, here are 3 ways to wrangle the nasty villain, Overwhelm, once and for all:
Brain Dump:
Write out everything, and I mean EVERYTHING you have going on in your head. Women tend to view things holistically, and we usually consider the big picture vs. Men who tend to compartmentalize their tasks and ideas.
Therefore, even when you’re thinking of your work tasks, you’re also thinking of running errands, menus for the week, the dirty dishes in the sink and when you’re going to get a car wash (and manicure). Dump ALL of that on the list until you don’t have an idle idea running around in your head. This helps you clear the clutter in your head so you can actually see what’s in front of you.
Prioritize:
Once you see what’s on your plate, you then have the ability to compartmentalize the tasks. Some things are going to be filed under Personal, some under Business and some under, This-Is-On-My-Mind-And-Worrying-Me-But-Really-Isn’t-That-Important-At-All. I love those.
Part of prioritizing is eliminating what really doesn’t deserve to be on your to-do list at all. For example, I remember I kept fretting over when I was going to complete the task of “making my balcony look Pinterest-worthy” because “it would be nice” to do. But it wasn’t something that was necessary and it was going to take a lot of time and research to actually do. So, it’s filed under the TIOMMAWMBRITIAT list. 🙂 It’s written down, but it’s not on a to-do list anymore, but I’m welcome to revisit it, if it ever becomes something that is truly important to me.
Brian Tracy has a great system for prioritizing called the ABCDE Method. Give it a “Google” if you’re interested and I’ll be sure to blog about it one day too. However, you don’t need to google any fancy method, just figure out what’s important to you, put it in it’s appropriate compartment and then move on to the next step, which is actually the most important step of all.
Put it On Your Calendar:
What get scheduled gets completed. If you’re thinking, “Oh, Jennifer, I’ve heard that before,” Okay great, but do you do it? Because the secret that no one is telling you is that you actually have to schedule time in your day, to schedule time in your day. Trippy I know.
Seriously, it takes time to lay out your plans which feels counterintuitive so people don’t do it, but when you don’t, you end up wasting time, getting overwhelmed, and then before you know it, you’ve let the bad guy win…again.
So do me a favor, this next week, you know for the good of all humanity, take some time out and plot out when you want to complete the tasks you deem important.
Now, I am a master at plotting things on my calendar and making time for EVERYTHING! That sounds like a good thing, but it’s really not, because I can squeeze in everything and end up exhausted. So if you’re anything like me I have another tip for you too. Schedule in breaks, “me time” and SPACE. I literally have to schedule SPACE in my schedule so I don’t overbook myself. If you find you can’t fit in all the items on your list, then it’s time to re-prioritize.
Sometimes it’s not about getting all the things on your list done. Sometimes it’s about taking things off your list so that you’re forced to really only spend your precious time on the super important tasks and eliminating or delegating the rest.
I know that makes your ambitious-superhero-world-changing heart cringe, but it’s true.
Don’t worry you’re not alone, we’re all in this together. I absolutely HATE taking things off of my list, but I must (and you must) for the greater good (of humanity…remember!?)
So now onto you.
Which one of these steps are you going to incorporate into your schedule first? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
*I had to run these by my fiancé who gets *very* touchy when I get superhero stuff wrong. Don’t bother asking him about it, he’ll deny it until the end of time 🙂
