I woke up the other night, sleepless at 2:30 am. If you are in a leadership role in a business or even in your household, you probably know the drill.
My mind was spinning with the long list of tasks that I had to complete: the 75-unit project I am working on for a client; the three people who need training; the two basketball teams I am coaching; the health issues that my father-in-law is facing.
In addition, my brain decided to go further and think about the three presentations I am giving this week as well as the strategic planning day I am hosting at the end of the month. My mind went on and on, around and around for hours it seemed. I woke up tired and scatterbrained. At breakfast, my eldest daughter mentioned that I didn't seem grounded while my eleven-year-old son told her that when I got like this, I always talked gibberish in the morning.
I was definitely overwhelmed, which is common for many small business owners who are faced with a continuing onslaught of information, decisions, customers, constant change and staffing issues, in addition to the day-to-day family and community matters that they are involved with. Often being overwhelmed can be the result of transition in our lives or a feeling that we lack purpose.
So how do we turn overwhelmed into overwhelmingly successful?
To get help, I looked at the research. It appears that being overwhelmed is something so common that there is significant research on the topic. The symptoms of being overwhelmed can include anxiety, feelings of helplessness, worry, self-doubt and even anger. In business this can reduce our effectiveness in making decisions, dealing with staff or customer complaints, and can even bring on the feelings of shame and guilt at not being able to get things done in a timely manner. In my many years of experience, I have seen business owners breakdown and give up their initiatives and sometimes, even their businesses.
According to experts like Nancy Schlossberg, author of the book Overwhelmed, part of the reason for many of us feeling overwhelmed is because we feel that we have lost control of our situation. When we feel that we don't have the ability to manage the details in our lives, we become anxious, stressed and worried. However if we make decisions to take control of the situation and turn our challenges into opportunities for change, we can rise above our feeling of being overwhelmed and proceed to a sense of accomplishment and success.
That probably sounds simplistic so on an everyday level, what do we need to do in business to achieve a sense of accomplishment?
Here are a few tips.
Make a written list: one of the easiest ways to gain control is to write down all those tasks you need to accomplish and give them priority. Getting stuff out of our heads and on to paper allows us to visually see what we need to do so we can stop worrying about forgetting something. The worry of forgetting something can be a significant cause of stress contributing to our anxiety. When we have a written list and have priority about which tasks we need to accomplish first, we have a plan. Plans reduce anxiety.
Breathe and relax: when we feel we have too much to do in a short period of time, we tense up. Our muscles contract, our jaws tighten, our heartbeat increases and all this affects our judgment and our decision making. This is not to say that all stress is bad for us, we need a level of stress to motivate us to get things done. By taking time to focus on our breathing, we relax our bodies. The Dalai Lama spends extra time in meditation when he has a busy agenda as it grounds him and reduces his stress. Focusing on breathing might mean that we do some exercise which has been shown to reduce anxiety and that feelings of being overwhelmed.
Quit multitasking: research shows that there are very very few people who can multitask effectively. Trying to do more than one thing at a time increases our stress level. As I am writing this article, I have emails coming in, texts, and requests from my clients and family to do other things. I know that in order to get this task done I need to be focused and eliminate all those other options for a few minutes until my present task is completed. Too often we let interruptions or distractions take priority over what we need to focus on right now. Many of my clients have begun closing their office door to ensure the timely completion of essential work. This effectively reduces their stress and enhances efficiency.
Feeling overwhelmed is natural in the busy world we live in. Recognizing and naming this feeling can make a huge difference for us. Taking steps to regain control by setting priorities, blocking time, and breathing more deeply can reduce our stress and those feelings of anxiety that accompany feelings of being overwhelmed. Focusing on one task at a time will ensure that we accomplish more in less time and reduce the long term impact of our unhealthy self-imposed stress.
--Dave Fuller, MBA is an award-winning certified professional business coach and the author of the book Profit Yourself Healthy. Overwhelmed by your business challenges? Email dave@profityourselfhealthy.com.
