What causes the feeling of overwhelm?

Why is it that life can seem like there are too many things to do all in one moment? How does overwhelm seem to suddenly appear? From my experience overwhelm is caused in the simplest terms through a lack of or no planning. Added to this being consumed IN your business. This relates back to being employed by yourself, owning a job! Think for a moment in your business just how busy are you? In all likelihood, you will be the busiest in your business and as a result, you’ll have little time to spare in relation to making the achievements you desire.

Now there will be a number of you saying that I have a plan, I have to do the work in the business as I’m the only one who can, or I’m the only one. Yes, you’re right. Here’s the thing, how detailed is your plan, is it written down, does it take into account you have to balance working IN the business with the focus ON the business and its growth? I probably wouldn’t be far off the mark if I made a few assumptions here; the plan is in your head, the business solely relies on you and would fall on its arse if you weren’t there, you’re the only one you trust to do the job right, if you have a team they all default to you for solutions, your customers all have your personal phone number and default directly to you for business, you’re probably also doing the bookkeeping, marketing, sales, problem-solving and cleaning!

Is it any wonder business owners suffer from overwhelm?

The classic analogy here is being in a forest and not being able to see the woods for the trees. In life let alone business we are confronted with so much it’s not surprising we suffer from overwhelm, whether you are starting a new business venture; growing your business; have a critical project underway.

A major challenge from overwhelm is our inability to make decisions and good ones at that. It maybe we just don’t know where to start. You might find you make the easy, less complex decisions, focusing on the easy outcomes and not focusing on what really needs to happen. The consequences of the decision we make can also play a part, seeking to focus on those decisions with limited consequences and thus may miss the bolder more important decisions which need to be made.

Being overwhelmed will incapacitate you, create negative thoughts and result in focusing on the wrong things. Being incapacitated will only serve to shift you away from being able to deal with and respond to situations to a state of almost panic, and in severe cases simple panic. Your cognitive ability to respond rationally to situations in the business will escape you. Rather you will lose the ability to focus on what needs to be done. For some it will result in a state of paralysis and actually not being able to respond, give direction or work out what needs to be done.

What about the impact of the negativity? This links back directly to the train of thought and impact it will have if you allow these thoughts feelings and emotions to take hold. It’s back to that challenge of being what you believe you are. If you think it, it will reflect in the world you are in. In relative terms, you will exacerbate the situation, make it worse, it would likely snowball and that’s just going to lead you down the wrong path and derail your journey.

The Offensive Mindset…Defeating Overwhelm

In this instance, your offensive mindset will need to kick in swiftly to negate the feeling and impact of overwhelm, here’s how. In the first instance, you have to take control of your mindset, they are your thoughts and feelings, so command them. Get off the train of thought and get back onto a meaningful focus. Knowing when these symptoms show themselves, the trick is to shift yourself away from overwhelm and refocus. Breaking the thought process will give you the opportunity to look and reassess the bigger picture. In simple terms, today is not the time to be overwhelmed, today is the day to get focused!

Take a view and focus on what’s happening currently and then logically establish what needs to happen, break it down, focus on the simplicity of solving the current situation or problem. If there are multiple issues remember you can only deal with one at a time so prioritise. You may have deadlines for some activities, some activities may need to be completed first in order to facilitate others. Act with purpose not with panic, evoking your positive mindset here will encourage a swifter resolution. Be in no doubt the overwhelm and negativity won’t give up easily, they will be lurking in the background wanting to derail you at a moment’s notice. You have to consciously work hard at this, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Having a plan in place and sticking to it. Furthermore, having a planning mindset. The plan is one element, the delivery of it is the next and requires a high level of focus. Now not all of you out there are high in detail and so the mere thought of planning is going to be a challenge. So, let me be clear here, plans are critical in moving towards your success, and one thing I say with some experience from my military service is the necessity of planning. Start out by merely planning your activities for tomorrow.

Often, it’s not about the actual plan. As the saying goes ‘no plan survives contact with the enemy’. The same is true in business, often the best laid plans are not directly followed or achieved. What’s critical is that you have taken the time to determine the plan. It is the act of planning which is so often missed, the fact you have taken the time for deep contemplation and thought in regards to your business.

Whilst some of you may not like planning or the detailed focus, one thing you will all have or be lacking in various degrees is your level of self-discipline. Planning is a discipline and one which you will need to master. From having the plan of the strategic objectives, the bigger picture, that will take you towards the success, achieving you vision and dreams. To the discipline of planning the actions and outcomes for tomorrow and having the focus to make sure you complete today’s tasks.

Having your plan written down will force you to cement the detail for progression, what needs to be done when, what are the key decision points, what activities complement each other, what we will have to measure success and so on. It takes the guess work out and gives you a guiding rail to stay on track with. It will also assist in the ability to further establish and plan the smaller activities, what’s the focus for tomorrow, what needs to be achieved, what are the priorities? Have the long-term view and then bring it right back to the activities I need to focus on tomorrow to know I am on target is crucial.

So, if you have a positive mindset which is prepared for the unexpected it is far less likely to derail your progress. This combined with a planning mindset will in time eradicate overwhelm. Don’t allow overwhelm to slow you down, derail or halt your focus, in the simplest terms you can be prepared for it.

Now there’s a challenging thought.

If you’d like to discuss how to get started in planning then get in touch or drop me a comment.