I’m not going to go into how we as women have so much expectation and pressure on us – both societally and self-imposed. I won’t go into how we all feel like we have to be everything to everyone and still try to be a person of our own. We’ve all heard it, we all feel it. Most of the time we’re juggling it all in the air but feeling like we’re doing okay, but every once in a while, someone tosses us just one more ball, and that’s it,
The dam breaks.
Overwhelm is an overused word, used interchangeably for that little twinge of stress when we look at our To Do list or when we’re running late for something. It’s more than that, and it’s no joke. It’s that feeling like you’re drowning and no one can throw you a life line strong enough to get you out.
It’s one of my least favorite feelings, bringing such a desperate energy to my work and my loved ones. And it’s totally normal – there’s no way to avoid it completely and infinitely. But when you’re feeling it ALL. The. Time. it can lead to total burnout and serious mental health problems.
So below are some of the ways I plan ahead to reduce how much I’m feeling like that, and lessening the intensity when I do.
1 – Plan a week ahead and then adjust daily
This is a big “duh,” right? “If only I had thought of that before!” you’re saying sarcastically. But specifically, I sit down on Friday afternoon, when I’m a little bit tired and therefore more realistic about what I can accomplish in a week. I look at my task manager (Asana) at the next week and cross-reference it to my calendars so I can take my business and personal appointments into consideration, and I move tasks around until I feel that little bit of relief that tells me “Okay, this feels doable.”
Doing it on Friday means that I can relax over the weekend (theoretically, I usually spend one afternoon on the weekend working on batched marketing tasks, such as writing this newsletter). I don’t get the Sunday tummy wiggles of anxiety worrying about what’s coming up, because I know I’ve already made a realistic schedule for the upcoming week.
You also have to get really in tune with your body patterns. If you know that a few hours after your physical therapy appointment you’re going to be completely wiped out, don’t schedule meetings for that time. If your period is coming and you know the first two days are going to be painful and exhausting, schedule some time off and/or save the busywork you can do on the couch for those days.
Make sure you’re taking a few minutes at the end of each day to reevaluate your list for the next day (or couple days ahead). Is your energy super high this week and you inexplicably have the kids all cared for and a wide-open calendar? Try to pack more in while you can! If you’re feeling like you’re in a more creative or fun headspace than usual, take advantage of that and block some time to do your social media.
2 – Batch Tasks
We all know that multitasking isn’t really a thing. And what I learned is that I save a lot of time when I don’t have to mentally shift into a different headspace again and again throughout the day. I literally batch every type of task – both personally and professionally. Here are some of the things I batch:
Social media – I do a TON of static posts in Canva, then upload them into Later.com, write the captions, and copy hashtags from a note I keep on my computer. At a different time in the week, I’ll do a batch of reels.
Newsletter – I’ll sit and write 4-6 blog posts and do intros for my email list.
Meetings – I only do meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I found when I mixed them in everyday, I always felt like I was catching up between meetings and had no focus time, so I was already running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Having meeting days vs. non-meeting days helps me block out whole chunks of time to actually get work done.
Ongoing work – I block the first week of the month exclusively for ongoing monthly client work. Since most bank statements run month-to-month, I take the first week of the month to close out client books for the previous month. That way the rest of the month I can focus on the one-off tasks that come up, as well as meetings and onboarding/cleaning up for new clients.
Salads – Maybe this is crazy because I work from home and *theoretically* have the time to make a salad, I don’t like cooking and food prep and when I’m hungry I basically just want it put in front of me. So I’ll get out all the veggies, cut everything up and divide them into little tupperwares. For lunches I’ll grab two, add dressing, or when I have something else leftover I can still grab one and incorporate some veggies into every meal.
3 – Outsource
The easiest and cheapest way you can start outsourcing is simply by asking someone – your spouse, your bestie, your kids, a neighbor – to do some simple favors to get things off your plate. Women don’t like doing this for fear they’ll be judged, but I’ll let you in on a secret – people LOVE to help. Think about it, don’t you feel AMAZING when you’re able to help someone? By asking someone to help YOU, you’re actually giving them a gift, an opportunity to do some good and feel like they’re contributing positively to your life.
Then, when you have a little extra money, it’s time to pay people to do things for you. Outsourcing tasks is one of my FAVORITE things to spend my money on. I get to take something off my plate that I don’t want to do, and support another business owner (typically women) who want to do that thing. My first two things were hiring a housecleaner and someone to do the website monitoring and upkeep that took me soooo long and always left me confused anyway.
Make a list of all the things you do, personally and professionally and put a big star next to the ones you hate the most. Then slowly start working down the list, and prioritize delegating the things you hate the most. And don’t worry if they are the same things OTHER people tell you are the most important, or guilt yourself out of hiring out certain services because others don’t or can’t afford it. You deserve to create the kind of life you want, and to be the best version of yourself (which will benefit the ones you love)!
And of course, if one of the things on your Hate List is bookkeeping, I’ll pick it up for you! Just hit Contact at the top of the page and we can get started with a free Discovery Call!
More Lists
I have a specific process I go through when it comes to task overwhelm – stay tuned for next week’s post!