Three simple strategies that beat entrepreneur overwhelm
Are you finding juggling all your business roles tough at times? Read three simple strategies to beat entrepreneur overwhelm.
Being an entrepreneur can be fantastic, but it isn’t the most straightforward role to manage. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you can sometimes feel completely overwhelmed by everything that you have taken on.
Being overwhelmed is not a good feeling to have. according to Adam Guild from Placepull, It can leave you feeling anxious, worried, nervous or even just exhausted by everything that you need to do to be a success.
So, how do you cope with this? How do you come out of the other side? And feel much more positive about what you want to achieve in your business?
Three simple strategies that beat entrepreneur overwhelm
To help you along the way, we have put together three simple strategies that can help you to defeat overwhelm.
1) Work out what is most important and focus on that
If you are running a business on your own, then you may find that you have to make a majority of the decisions yourself. Not only this, but you will also need to prioritise your work-related tasks and know what is the most important, crucial and urgent to get done.
Having too much to do and not enough time to do it can leave you feeling a little overwhelmed and not sure which way to turn. One of the best ways to fix this is to think about what things are most important. Once you know what is most important, you can then make those tasks your primary focus.
If you have a project that needs to be completed for a client to a strict deadline, then this should always be your primary focus, the other things can then wait for when you have a little time to spare.
Of course, you may find at times that you have one or two highly important tasks that need your focus. If this happens, then you not only need to think about which one is the most important but also ensure that you communicate with both clients your predicted timescales.
2) Break all that work down into bite-size chunks
Are you the type of person who struggles to finish an entire big project in one? If you do, then you might want to approach your project just like a big huge steak. You wouldn’t devour a steak in one bite; you would need to grab a steak knife and cut it down into smaller chunks.
The same approach should be taken with projects that need completing. If you are finding that the entire thing is a little too big to swallow, then it is going to make you feel a whole lot better if you break the work into smaller sections. Not only will this help you feel better about what needs to be done, but will allow you to set a whole bunch of sub-goals which you can aim for.
By having smaller goals to reach, you are going to feel that the task is much more manageable and can celebrate getting to each stage rather than the entire end of the project. This is great because everyone needs a bit of cheerleading to push them forward!
Need help breaking work into bite-size chunks? We recommend reading these two articles:
3) Never forget about self-care
As an entrepreneur, your focus is always going to be on your business and making that a success. But without you as the driving force, how will it ever get there? You might think that indulging in a spot of self-care isn’t something that you have time for, but it should be something that you make time for.
It doesn’t matter how you choose to spend your downtime; the main thing is that you get some. You might decide to treat yourself to a manicure, read a book, play a sport or even take up a new hobby. All of these things can help you to recharge your batteries and pay some attention to yourself over anything else.
Many people only think about self-care when they desperately need it. That is when they break down and get completely overwhelmed. However, no-one should get themselves to the point where they feel that they really can’t go on, just to remind themselves to try out self-care.
Regular self-care, as part of your routine, is a surefire way not only to keep the horror of being overwhelmed at bay, but it also improves your physical and mental state. It can keep you healthy to the point where you may be less likely to get a cold or bug, and it can keep your mind awake and alert, ready to make some right decisions and drive forward your business towards where you want to be.
You don’t NEED to feel overwhelmed
Overwhelm may be common in the world of entrepreneurs. However, that doesn’t mean that you just have to accept it as part and parcel of choosing to work for yourself.
As you can see, there are a variety of ways that you can choose to take on overwhelm. In fact, as a business owner and entrepreneur there really is no reason to let yourself get completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things that you need to think about.
You are a successful entrepreneur for a reason. You have a talent, a skill, an idea that sets you apart from the others and is enough to get other people on board with you. If that wasn’t enough motivation to get you try as hard as you can to be a success, then we are not entirely sure that we can think of anything else to get your motor started.
Bridget Daley is a business owner and a start-up enthusiast. She’s the founder of Parents in Biz and works with parents who are starting a business and those that are running a business she uses her experience of business and motherhood, to empower parents to manage the tight rope of running a business and having harmony at home.
