"Barely managing hour by hour."
This was a woman's answer when I asked her how she was feeling.
She continually apologized for crying on and off throughout our conversation.
To me, it was perfectly normal, understandable, and exactly what she needed. I encouraged her to let the tears flow.
Her story reflected the experiences that many of us have faced or are living with currently. At some point in the past, too many balls were thrown in the air and it was impossible to keep them all up there.
We start out with enthusiasm about the projects we have chosen in life whether it be a job, business, relationship, or having children. But then we keep adding new demands to our list without removing any. Couple that with the inevitable unexpected challenges that come our way, and suddenly we feel like there is no way out.
There is.
Always.
But you often can't see through the clouds,
the clutter,
the overthinking,
the feelings and opinions of others ....
You can't solve the problem all at once.
You can't go from 100 to zero or zero to 100.
There is always a first step. And only when you take the first step is it possible to take the next one.
When you are feeling overwhelmed, the first step is CLARITY.
For this woman, she needed to create space and we identified three steps she could take to do that.
She felt relief just by deciding to commit to these steps.
1. Short meetings every morning with her team to get clear on the plan for the day. (these will decrease in frequency once the skill level of the team increases)
2. Teach once. To decrease all the questions coming in throughout the day, she would ask the team member to video her while she taught her a new task which would be shared with the group.
3. Outsource one time-consuming task that didn't need to be done by her and wasn't enjoyable - in fact, it added to her stress.
Often when we feel overwhelmed we believe we can't stop. We don't have time to stop. So we keep on doing exactly what we have been doing even though we know it isn't working.
Stop.
Allow yourself to express your feelings.
This will clear your mind to think.
Get clear on your first move to create more time for you to focus on what is most important to you right now.
Commit to the change that you choose.
Love
Tracy x
(please let me know what your first step will be)