If you notice yourself feeling confused, overwhelmed, stuck or anxious in your business, making your tasks feel frantic and unorganized, you’re not alone.
You might be having a hard time focusing on tasks, (you’re giving yourself a hard time about this too aren’t you? ) The tasks you want to do are “simple enough” and so you start feeling a little frantic because there aren’t endless amounts of time to get these tasks done!
Then you look around at other business owners who look like they’re taking action with grace and ease. And you’re looking at the gurus online and the advice they give is, again, so simple. You’re questioning yourself and down on yourself because if it’s so simple, why can’t you do it.
You might even start to feel like a failure, discouraged, because why does it look easy but feel so hard for you?
Well, if you run a business, you’re going to be overwhelmed at times. That’s normal and if you’re feeling it you’re not doing it wrong. The feeling of being overwhelmed is not fun, but it’s not the enemy either. It’s what we do with that feeling that counts.
I’m not here to give you another formula or system to follow to erase any trace of overwhelm.
In fact, I’m here to propose that the shift between feeling overwhelmed to grounded and back again will definitely be part of your entrepreneurial experience. Growing and expanding your business can be triggering for your nervous system despite how ready or excited you are.
People get overwhelmed. Business can be hard at times. You don’t need to erase all moments of overwhelm, you just need some tools so that when those times come up, you can manage and contain the overwhelm until things shift instead of letting overwhelm control and discourage you.
If overwhelm is persistent and getting in the way of your work, it’s something to pay attention to. These can be signs of nervous system activation. So instead of being able to make calm, purposeful moves in your business, your brain goes into fight/flight/freeze mode. You’re second guessing everything, overthinking, overwhelmed.
Figuring out what’s triggering it can take a little time and work if you’re not already familiar with identifying those things. (I recommend doing that work with a therapist – it’s a gift to yourself.)
But, in the meantime, you can find some relief. It just takes a little awareness.
So here’s a tip for you that can bring some relief from feeling tense, frantic or anxious while you’re working:
Take a moment when you’re feeling calm and centered to create your personalized cheat sheet. Jot down the activities or strategies that bring you a sense of safety, calm, and empowerment. Choose things you can pause and do within your work day.
By planning ahead and creating this list, you’ll have a go-to resource for those moments when you feel overwhelmed.
If this feels a bit anticlimactic and too simplistic, that’s because it is. How to do it takes a bit more and would be too much for this blog post. But, if you want to be guided through this process, to build this tool for yourself, you can access the mini-workbook here.
When you’re feeling tense or anxious, it can be challenging to make the right choices. By doing the work now, you won’t have to think about it at the moment. So instead of pulling your hair out, throwing your laptop, or forcing yourself to keep staring at the same problem, refer to your cheat sheet for the ways that you already know are going to help you feel calm and empowered.
Need a little more specific guidance? Download the How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed in Your Business Workbook for a step by step guide to help you navigate overwhelm and take confident, purposeful action in your business.
Having this list handy when you’re feeling anxious can be so helpful as it lets you calm and empower yourself in a purposeful way that works for you, rather than letting your body automatically choose other more frantic methods of soothing.
So, Pull out your Cheat Sheet, take a few minutes to give yourself some supportive care, then get back to your biz with more clarity and focus. You can do this.
