How To Eliminate Overwhelm And Get Things Done

As you embark on your journey as an online entrepreneur, you may feel so overwhelmed that even if Marie Kondō herself waltzed into your life and organized it, you still wouldn’t be able to function properly.

That’s a common problem when you let your suffering go on for a long time. But don’t worry – there’s a method for un-overwhelming yourself that can help you calm things down and focus so you can be productive with ease.

Normalize the Feeling of Overwhelm

There’s so much shame for people having to admit they feel overwhelmed. You’re an entrepreneur – which in your mind, might mean you’re supposed to be self-assured and bold – an action taker without pause or concern.

But the truth is, just about everyone is hesitant to take risks, and many people find themselves caught up in so many emotions – fear, frustration, guilt and more – that they eventually shut down and can’t progress to the finish line.

It’s time to stop feeling ashamed of the overwhelm and embrace it as a truth that can be overcome and dealt with. Will you be able to eliminate it forever? Probably not. But when it shows up, you can have a plan to handle it and move past it without fail.

On one hand, some people might say it’s never a good idea to normalize overwhelm, and in one sense, it’s not. If normalizing it means you accept it as something you just have to suffer through, then that’s not going to have a positive impact on your business.

But normalization in the sense of doing away with the shame of admitting that this career path can be intimidating at times is perfectly acceptable, and even healthy. There are so many sales letters and braggarts online fueling your overwhelm.

We see products touting push button ease and such simplicity that it makes you feel stupid if you experience the slightest confusion or frustration with your own business models.

You may begin to feel like everyone else has it together – that they’re sailing through without any problems, while you stumble along the way. It’s not the truth – it’s a persona they put forth to try to position themselves as gurus and make a quick buck.

Do some have a harder time than others? Sure! Everyone has unique skillsets. You might be great at socializing and networking, while struggling with technical tasks. Others might be a whiz at tech stuff, but too shy to put themselves out there.

We’re all a work in progress and you need to admit that underneath those confident facades often lies the truth about how overwhelmed another person is – they just don’t have the power to admit it.

Is Information the Root Cause of Your Overwhelm?

Overwhelm isn’t just a random emotion that surfaces whenever you’re busy building your business. It’s rooted in specific causes, and if you can identify what’s bringing it into your life, you can learn how to manage it.

Information is a wonderful thing. It enlightens you and serves as a catalyst for invention and transformation in your business. But it’s also a root cause of overwhelm. Information overload is what it’s commonly referred as, and it’s something most entrepreneurs suffer from at one time or another.

There’s so much to learn when you embark on this career. You’re wearing all sorts of hats in your business – the accountant, the project manager, the CEO, the marketer and more.

You have to learn what each position needs to handle and multitask along the way to ensure your budget stays on track, your productivity continues gaining momentum, and your deliverables are of such top quality that customer service (which you also handle) is a rarity.

Sometimes, it’s hard to know where to begin. Some people like it laid out in a start to finish path for them. Others view it like getting into a pool – it doesn’t matter where you jump in – you just jump and start swimming.

What happens when people suffer from information overload is they buy up multiple courses. If they keep buying, it takes the focus off of their inaction. It removes the requirement to consume what they bought because the action they’re taking now is investigating and considering new products.

Shiny new object syndrome is a problem that brings about overwhelm. Have you ever watched the series My 600 pound Life? On the show, people admit to thinking about their next meal before they’ve even finished their current meal.

Shiny new object syndrome is a lot like that. You buy a product and start flipping through it and suddenly you see another product to consider, so off you go! And just as the overweight individuals on the show suffer shame in their situation, entrepreneurs suffer it from inaction, too.

This industry moves very fast. You’re always going to have certain marketers telling you that you just have to have the latest and greatest course or tool in order to succeed. But many things are evergreen and the fact that it moves fast is even more of a reason why you should get to work.

If you keep dabbling in a bunch of areas and never go hard on any one business branch, you’ll never see success. Many people feeling overwhelmed have tons of information in their head or on their computer, and they feel paralyzed about implementing it all.

If this describes you, just make a promise that you won’t buy anything new until the old courses are sorted through. Then, like spring cleaning in your house, go through them one by one and sort them out as courses you want to implement versus those you’ll let go.

You may have to take a day or a week (or even several weeks) to get through it all. But organize it logically. Put traffic courses in one folder, content creation in another, sales copy in another and so on.

Make a list of what you already own to learn from and what you still need to find and learn. For instance, if you own a course on Facebook traffic, blog traffic, and paid traffic – but you don’t own a Pinterest traffic course, then make a note that after you implement the ones you own, you might want to find a Pinterest course.

Overwhelm might rear its ugly head because you’re trying to handle a major life crisis and work. For example, maybe you have ailing or aging parents you’re caring for, or you’re raising your grandkids.

Know when you need to ask for help. Organize your schedule so that work fits in with your life. This might entail scheduling work hours while the kids are at school or while someone else is asleep and unable to distract you.