Being Overwhelmed is Overwhelming!

If you are feeling overwhelmed you aren’t alone.  Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people are overwhelmed each and every day.  People who are entrepreneurs, management personnel, people who work at jobs, throw papers, or those who stay home to take care of the children and the home; all of these people suffer from stress and becoming overwhelmed with their lives.

The cause of being overwhelmed is two-fold.  The first is having a list of things to do without priority and the second is to have a list that is well out of reach of being accomplished.  And, before you can conquer your feelings and progress to success, you have to understand and conquer these feelings of being overwhelmed.

Want to get over these feelings and move toward your goal instead of being mired in confusion, fear and procratination?

Let’s get started -

1. Write down those things you want to accomplish.  These can be things you want to get done around the house, your business, your children, relationships, finances – anything that continues to plague you and keep you feeling overwhelmed.

You know what they are.

For me, I am stressed out when the yard is a mess because my desk faces the window.  The kitchen, yard, dry wall work in the kitchen, painting the family room, painting all the trim upstairs, spending time with the children, my business plan, finances, relationships, and the pile of mess in the basement all combine to make my life miserable – when I let it.

2. Now that you know what is overwhelming it’s time to prioritize.  Do NOT mistake this process for goal setting and accomplishing tasks but rather as a way of understanding what is truly important in your life and where you should be focusing your energies.

After you know what is truly important you must let go of the rest.

You can ask for help from your family, barter services, pay for a weekend helper or just let it go.

About 9 months ago we developed a leak in the pipes behind the shower head in the master bathroom.  I cut a small hole in the ceiling in the kitchen to allow the drywall to dry out and the plumber to determine where the leak really was.

It was another 3 months before I could muster up the energy to look for someone to do the repair work.  And it was that evening when we had a blowing rainstorm.  On the floor was a small puddle of water.  Turns out there is a small leak in the roof directly over the hole in the kitchen ceiling.

So now I need to find a roofer before I find a drywaller to fix the kitchen ceiling.

BUT, none of this is on my radar because there are other more important things that have to be attended to – such as getting the kids school books in order for this fall, letters to the school system, test results, college visits for my daughter and product creation and marketing.  It doesn’t hurt that the hole is in an area I can’t see.

So – what’s most important to you?  Where do your priorities lie?

Make your list items that can realistically be accomplished and put the rest of it on your calendar to be addressed at a later date.  Knowing that you have a plan to address them later will help decrease your feelings of being overwhelmed and improve your chances that you’ll stay focused and productive.