Last week I wrote about feeling overwhelmed and some steps to go through to work through it. The example I gave was finding a productivity system that works for you, but it can work for anything. So, were you feeling overwhelmed? Did you go through those steps? One more question – are you still feeling overwhelmed?
If not, GREAT! You don’t need to read on (but feel free to anyway)!
If you ARE still feeling overwhelmed – it’s okay! You’re not alone and you’ll want to read on.
So, you’ve gone through the eight steps in the previous post and you’re still feeling overwhelmed, right? You’re still busy and working through those steps just adds more things to your to-do list.
Here’s a hard question for you: What are you willing to give up? I’m serious. If you’re feeling completely overwhelmed with everything that you have going on in your life right now then it’s time to review and decide what you’re willing to give up.
I warned you that it was a hard question.
Some other ways to ask the same question:
- What are you willing to stop doing?
- What are you willing to delegate?
- Where can you ask for help?
Really think about these questions and answer them truthfully. If you’re feeling overwhelmed (and especially if you have for a while) then it’s time for something to change.
A couple weeks ago, I asked myself “What am I willing to give up?” In the previous post I mentioned wanting the day to be longer so I could get a few more things done. So, when I asked myself that question I took a look at how I was spending my time. Well, I’m a big fan of YouTube – I am subscribed to quite a few channels and keep up with all their latest videos. I probably spent 30-60 minutes a day watching videos. So, I gave up YouTube and I won’t get it back until I meet a specific goal. This was kind of a big deal for me and I committed to it (this put two to five hours back into each week). I even had my husband block YouTube so it won’t even load on any computer in the house.
Do I occasionally miss some of those YouTube channels? YES, but that extra time is worth a lot more to me.
Now, I want to be clear – This isn’t about giving up your personal time to free up more time for work or other things. Watching YouTube wasn’t quality personal time for me, it was a distraction in my work day that I liked, but didn’t love.
Another way to think about it is what do I spend a lot of time doing that is important, but not a high priority or is something that someone else could do?
Take a deep breath or go for a quick walk or do something else that brings you a sense of calm and ask yourself those questions.
Two more questions: What is not changing things costing you now? What will it cost you later?