Running a business can be incredibly demanding. It requires a huge amount of time and energy, you're constantly needing to make decisions and take action to move your business forward.
Whilst it's extremely common for business owners to feel overwhelmed, overwhelmed business owners may find it interferes with their life, business and relationships. So, it's essential to get it under control.
In today's YouTube episode I share my tips to help overwhelmed business owners overcome the overwhelm.
How Overwhelmed Business Owners Can Overcome the Overwhelm
TAKE SELF CARE SERIOUSLY
I'm not talking about weekly spa treatments or elaborate self-care treatments here. Self-care for me is about moving your body, eating the right food, getting enough sleep and practicing mindfulness. By prioritising your physical and emotional wellbeing it will most certainly help you to feel less overwhelmed by your business.
GET ORGANISED
As a small business owner you're juggling all the things (which is why small business owners are often overwhelmed business owners!). So, it's essential that you make time to plan and map out the week ahead. I use a time blocking method for this. By being clear on what you want to achieve and what needs to be done ahead of time it will keep you focused, on track and reduce business overwhelm.
HAVE A PLAN
You need to have a plan for your business. A plan provides clarity on where you are heading and how you will get there. It also keeps you focused and motivated for moving forward. Without a plan it's too easy to get distracted by all the advice out there, which will most certainly lead to overwhelm.
DON'T BUY INTO THE HUSTLE CULTURE
Do you struggle to step away from your business, feel guilty even? This may indicate that you have a belief system that you need to work all the time to achieve success in your business. This is simply not true.
It's not about working all the time. It's about taking focused action. And this comes back to having a clear plan in your business. The hustle culture almost always leads to burnout and overwhelm, which is why you need to intentionally avoid it.
KNOW YOUR PRIORITIES
As mentioned above, inside your plan you will have identified your strategic priorities. But it’s also important to understand your priorities at a personal level. What are the non-negotiables in your personal life? You need to define these in order to create much needed boundaries for your business. This will also help you decipher when to say yes and when to say no.
STREAMLING AND AUTOMATON
As an overwhelmed business owner at times myself, I always look to technology to help me streamline and automate. I'm sure you're familiar with the term work smarter not harder. If you're spending time doing repeatable tasks you are simply wasting your time, energy and resources. But more than that, it's taking you away from creating real impact in your business.
By systemising and optimising your business, you will become more productive and free up your time to do more of what you love and less of what you don't. And this invariably reducing overwhelm in your business.
To see how I use systems in my business check out this post.
GET HELP
As your business grows it's important to get help in your business. Outsourcing will not only free up your time to do more important tasks, but also allow you to do more of the work you enjoy. And we all know when we are doing work we love, it will reduce stress and overwhelm.
In addition to building your remote team, I also recommend hiring a business coach or business consultant (like myself). I work with my clients to design and scale a business that is sustainable and on their terms. We look at your goals and use systems, strategy and mindset to help you move the needle on your business.
Working with a business coach will give you clarity and a framework so that you are not left feeling overwhelmed by all the things and what to do next.
Click here to find out how I can help you.
AVOID MINDLESS SCROLLING
We're all guilty of this whether you’re an overwhelmed business owner or not. If you go into social media without a designated timeframe, you could get caught in a scroll hole. You might find yourself coming up for air 60-90 minutes later having wasted valuable working hours.
In addition, social media posts are designed to trigger an emotion. Have you ever started scrolling in a perfectly fine mood and then read a series of posts that left you feeling unworthy, anxious or overwhelmed? Instead my advice is to spend your time on socials in a more intentional way. Watch the below video for my tips.
KNOW YOUR PROCRASTINATION TRIGGERS
It's essential to know what takes you away from doing the work. For me, it's housework and cleaning. It could be your phone, social media or cooking. By knowing what can derail our efforts we can take preventative action towards avoiding them. This might be as simple as closing the door to your office and turning off your phone and notifications.
When you are distracted you aren’t getting your work done. And that will lead to overwhelm.
Watch the video for all the details on these tips: