5 Steps to Overcoming Feeling Overwhelmed in Business
Are you like so many other business owners or senior managers and have a 'To Do' list longer than your arm?
Do you feel like you are trying to be all things to all men?
Is your business focus very broad causing you to spread yourself too thinly across the ground?
Are negative emotions building up? Perhaps you’re feeling overwhelmed or even burnt out?
If so, then you need to take steps NOW to tackle these feelings head on. After all, a lot of your emotions are brought on by what you think about and focus on, both of which can be changed.
Here are 5 steps that will help you to do that.
1. Acknowledge the feelings you have – whether that be frustration, fatigue or whatever – take 3 deep breaths and when exhaling just let the emotion blow away. Continue to do this until you are feeling calm and ready to take positive action. Now choose the most resourceful state for you to be in to carry out this exercise and focus your thoughts and questions on that. Also, make sure your posture and body language are appropriate for that particular emotional state.
2. Re-connect with your values – write down what those values are i.e. what is most important to you in life and business. Prioritise those values and keep asking yourself, “what is more important than this?” as you do it.
3. Consider the 80/20 rule – when it comes to your target customer groups consider what 20% of your customer base will give you 80% of your income. These are your most valuable customers, which should help to shape your focus and priorities.
4. Review your list of activities - taking your values and most valuable customers into account, map out the key activities you want to take to move the business forward positively. Start with the most important activity and take action NOW. Get it done, out the way and move on to the next activity.
5. Check in with yourself – schedule in regular thinking time to review progress, check on your emotional well-being and ensure you are continuing to prioritise and focus on the right activities
If you follow these steps, you should find that having a calm mind will help you to think more clearly and make logical decisions around where your focus should be. By taking practical steps to determine what is most important to you and creating a success map of how you’re going to get there then you can simply start working your plan knowing that your have prioritised the right areas to focus on. Now you know these 5 key steps to overcoming overwhelm in business all that is left to do is take action – go for it!