How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed and Get Shit Done!

If you're feeling overwhelmed, it's best to take a step back and figure out what’s going on.

Yes, there are a ton of things you could be doing with your life, your business, your relationships. But just because there are all these options and “urgent” things that need to get done, doesn’t mean you should be doing them all right now.

If you’re feeling defeated and overwhelmed, I gotcha back. Take a deep breath, grab a beverage and settle in somewhere comfy…

In today’s post, I wanted to address something that has been happening in my own life recently. I have been feeling overwhelmed and stressed.

It happens.

There has been a ton of change in our lives over the past six months, and while I’m someone who goes-with-the-flow most of the time, a lot of change in a short period of time can lead to negative outcomes.

Here’s just a touch of the things I’ve been feeling lately. See if you can relate:

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• Feeling overwhelmed at work (work for me is working full-time in my business)
• Avoiding decision-making
• Eating comfort food in an effort to feel good again
• Not exercising at all (and putting on 15kgs!)
• Procrastinating about ALL. THE. THINGS

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Needless to say, I’ve felt pretty crappy. And I hate feeling this way. For a long time, I just couldn’t see a way out. I couldn’t see my way through this overwhelm and stress.

And sometimes, you just have to sit with how you’re feeling for a while until the sun starts to peak through the clouds and you can feel a shift…

How to deal with being overwhelmed isn’t an easy step to take.

There is a ton of information available about what you should be doing and when, but even that can feel overwhelming to attempt.

So it's best to keep it simple.

3 Signs That You Are Overwhelmed

Before you can fix feeling overwhelmed, you need to figure out if you are. Not all signs point to feeling overwhelmed, some signs can mean other things are at play, so let’s first figure out where you’re at.

Answer these questions:

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• 1. Does the thought of opening your email inbox fill you with dread?
• 2. Are you short-tempered with everyone?
• 3. Do you avoid making any type of decision?
• 4. Do you get annoyed by little things that wouldn’t normally upset you?

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If you answer yes to any of these questions… my friend, you’re feeling overwhelmed.

How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed

It starts with acknowledging that you’re feeling overwhelmed and that it’s ok to feel this way.

We are not super-human. There are times in our lives where things happen that we have no control over.

Before you can move forward and get back to getting stuff done, you need to figure out how to stop feeling this way.

[Tweet “We are not super-human… things happen that we can't control”]

There is no hard and fast way to stop feeling overwhelmed because to a certain degree, we need a little bit of stress in our lives to push us forward.

Instead, it’s more about managing everything around you and doing what works for you.

Below are some of the things I’ve done to ‘stop’ feeling overwhelmed and get back on top of things again:

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• Use these motivational quotes when feeling overwhelmed (I read them daily or when things feel a little overwhelming)
• Focus only on the things I can directly affect
• Limit the amount of time I spend on social media to 1-2 hours per day
• Only focus on a maximum of 3 tasks in my business each day
• Don’t overload my calendar with “things to do” – focus only on important things
• Watch TED Talks that show me that other's have been through this too (for inspriation)

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By implementing these small strategies, I found that within a week, I was back to feeling like I was achieving things and taking action, rather than feeling overwhelmed, lost, and stressed.

Now how can you apply this to your blog or biz?

By focusing only on the things you need to do based on where you are at in your business.

Here's what you should be doing based on the phase your blog or business is in:

#1: Just getting started? Your focus is on building your email list!

Your focus is on the tasks that directly impact your list building strategy.

This might include:

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• creating a lead magnet for your website
• adding content upgrades to your most popular blog posts
• adding a plugin like Sumome that lets you add many opt-in forms to your site

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It might also involve setting up email sequences inside your email service provider.

Basically, anything to do with adding emails to your list is your focus.

Anything outside of that is secondary and should be given a lower priority.

If you still want to do other things within in your business, schedule them into your calendar and give them a limited amount of time, like 30 mins-60 mins.

I do this as well because if I don’t, this can contribute to feelings of overwhelm because I feel like I’m not doing ALL. THE. THINGS.

I know it's a little counter-intuitive, but hey, none of us are perfect!

#2: Started a biz but struggling to grow it? Your focus is on expanding on your products and/or services

You should focus on adding more services to your business as well as nurturing your current clients (which will lead to referrals!).

You should also be looking at expanding into products, like an ecourse or ebook.

Everything else–you guessed it—is a lesser priority.

Again, set aside time in your calendar to still focus on all the other things you want to do, but don’t spend the majority of your time on these things.

Focus on what matters: tasks that will grow and expand your business.

#3: Got the previous two covered? Your focus is on automation and/or outsourcing to a VA

So you’ve nailed phases one and two above; maybe you’re ready to make the leap into full-time hustle.

Your focus should always be on activities that make you money. Everything else should be taken care of through automation rules and/or outsourcing to a VA.

At this point in your business, you can’t afford to be doing admin-related tasks. It’s not worth your time and if you want your business to reach the next level, your only focus is on tasks and activities that make money in your business.

Nothing else matters.

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Focus on whichever phase makes the most sense to you for the next 30 days and tell me how much better you feel at the end of it. I guarantee you won’t be feeling overwhelmed anymore.

Now it’s Your Turn

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a moment to digest everything you’ve just learned and then put in place just one or two of the strategies.

Focus on the business stage you’re at and make a plan for the next 30 days to get this shit done!

How do you deal with feeling overwhelmed and stressed? Do you have tips and strategies you’d like to share? Please leave them in the comments below.