How to Cope with Overwhelm in Your Home Business
by Alicia M. Forest
How often do you find yourself in this scenario?
It's Monday morning and you're all geared up for a productive week ahead. You've
got your to-do list (massive as it is) at the ready and you sit down at your desk to
start checking things off.
As you begin to read down your list, you start to feel something in your gut. It's not
a physical pain necessarily, just a feeling of something heavy starting to grow. You
ignore it and continue reading your list, making stars next to the things that seem to
be the most important to get done that day.
But the more you do this, the heavier that feeling gets, until it starts creeping up to
your shoulders and finally settles in your head. All that enthusiasm you had when
you first sat down is gone and the only thing you feel now is utter and complete
overwhelm.
Sound familar? I've been there, too, so I understand.
And it's not that all the tasks on your list aren't wonderful and/or doable. There are
simply too many of them - and they all seem important right now - to expect that
you can accomplish them all in the hours you have to work in any single day.
So what happens? You do a little of this, a little of that, and you never really
complete a single project!
But you don't have to let another week pass without really accomplishing anything.
Simply create a Priority Card.
A Priority Card will help you organize all your tasks in a way that will SHOW you
every day what you should focus on. There are a lot of details that will threaten to
take your mind off your priorities (this is where a virtual assistant can be of
immense value), but those details are not necessarily what will move you forward in
your business. To do that, you need to consistently focus on completing the projects
that will move your business ahead big-time.
You can create a system for helping you focus on your priorities in a number of
ways, but I'm going to give you mine. I only work about 15 hours a week on my
business, so adjust your own plan accordingly.
At the beginning of each week, I choose 3 to 5 projects with looming deadlines
(self-imposed as they may be) from my master task list (which really is so massive
that I write it on a 8.5 x 14 legal pad). For example, at the moment, I am working on a
bonus offering for a colleague's telesummit, two teleseminars I'm teaching this
week, and the content for my new website.
On a colored index card, I write down those projects and prop the card in a standing
clip holder, right in front of my computer screen (see photo). When I start to feel that
sense of overwhelm, or when I find myself getting distracted by new ideas or other
tasks (all of which seem important), I remind myself to look at my Priority Card and
focus only on what's written there.
Once I started using my Priority Card, my own business growth lept forward ten
times faster than when I was doing a little of this and a little of that, working on a
dozen things, but taking much too long to actually complete just one project.
Know you won't be able to stick to this process 100% of the time, but even 80% will
help you make dramatic strides in your business growth. You'll actually finish the
projects you set out to do, and you'll not only feel great about doing so, you'll be
inspired to do it again, and again, and again. Once you make this shift, you've
learned the secret to wiping out overwhelm for yourself and your business!
© 2006 Alicia M Forest and ClientAbundance.com
Meet the writer:
Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach(TM) is the founder of
www.clientabundance.com and creator of "21 Easy & Essential Steps to Online
Success System"(TM) also teaches coaches, consultants, online entrepreneurs, and
self-employed professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making
products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and
deserve. For FREE tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit
www.clientabundance.com
by Alicia M. Forest
How often do you find yourself in this scenario?
It's Monday morning and you're all geared up for a productive week ahead. You've
got your to-do list (massive as it is) at the ready and you sit down at your desk to
start checking things off.
As you begin to read down your list, you start to feel something in your gut. It's not
a physical pain necessarily, just a feeling of something heavy starting to grow. You
ignore it and continue reading your list, making stars next to the things that seem to
be the most important to get done that day.
But the more you do this, the heavier that feeling gets, until it starts creeping up to
your shoulders and finally settles in your head. All that enthusiasm you had when
you first sat down is gone and the only thing you feel now is utter and complete
overwhelm.
Sound familar? I've been there, too, so I understand.
And it's not that all the tasks on your list aren't wonderful and/or doable. There are
simply too many of them - and they all seem important right now - to expect that
you can accomplish them all in the hours you have to work in any single day.
So what happens? You do a little of this, a little of that, and you never really
complete a single project!
But you don't have to let another week pass without really accomplishing anything.
Simply create a Priority Card.
A Priority Card will help you organize all your tasks in a way that will SHOW you
every day what you should focus on. There are a lot of details that will threaten to
take your mind off your priorities (this is where a virtual assistant can be of
immense value), but those details are not necessarily what will move you forward in
your business. To do that, you need to consistently focus on completing the projects
that will move your business ahead big-time.
You can create a system for helping you focus on your priorities in a number of
ways, but I'm going to give you mine. I only work about 15 hours a week on my
business, so adjust your own plan accordingly.
At the beginning of each week, I choose 3 to 5 projects with looming deadlines
(self-imposed as they may be) from my master task list (which really is so massive
that I write it on a 8.5 x 14 legal pad). For example, at the moment, I am working on a
bonus offering for a colleague's telesummit, two teleseminars I'm teaching this
week, and the content for my new website.
On a colored index card, I write down those projects and prop the card in a standing
clip holder, right in front of my computer screen (see photo). When I start to feel that
sense of overwhelm, or when I find myself getting distracted by new ideas or other
tasks (all of which seem important), I remind myself to look at my Priority Card and
focus only on what's written there.
Once I started using my Priority Card, my own business growth lept forward ten
times faster than when I was doing a little of this and a little of that, working on a
dozen things, but taking much too long to actually complete just one project.
Know you won't be able to stick to this process 100% of the time, but even 80% will
help you make dramatic strides in your business growth. You'll actually finish the
projects you set out to do, and you'll not only feel great about doing so, you'll be
inspired to do it again, and again, and again. Once you make this shift, you've
learned the secret to wiping out overwhelm for yourself and your business!
© 2006 Alicia M Forest and ClientAbundance.com
Meet the writer:
Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach(TM) is the founder of
www.clientabundance.com and creator of "21 Easy & Essential Steps to Online
Success System"(TM) also teaches coaches, consultants, online entrepreneurs, and
self-employed professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making
products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and
deserve. For FREE tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit
www.clientabundance.com
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