How to stop the overwhelm that paralyzes you from getting things done?

Overwhelmed! Now that is a word you hear frequently as a mom! So what is overwhelm? It’s that feeling of being buried down or drowning in a mess of chaos!

As I look at my to-do list, I see that it is very long. As moms, we have so many hats to juggle: being a mom, working full-time, starting an online business, household management, cooking dinners, cleaning, tidying up, taking care of children, spending quality time with your husband and children, and the list seems to go on and on. Now add, starting an online business while working full-time to that list… can we just say COMPLETELY overwhelmed!

You have this wonderful dream to create, start and grow your online business, yet you still need to work your full-time job. But when you come home from work you just feel paralyzed with indecision on what to focus on first. You know you need to work on your online business, but you aren’t really sure what’s most important and what will really lead you to reach those goals you have set for yourself. You end up looking for information on what will help you, consuming tons of content, wasting time on social media, reading, studying. However, you seem to lack the motivation to actually DO something. You just feel overwhelmed with it all.

I tend to be a procrastinator and a perfectionist. I love the planning stage and figuring out what to do. However, when it comes to actually implementing it I hadn’t believed in myself enough to actually do it. But, working on my mindset has really helped me not feel overwhelmed and has me actually believing that I can do this!

I’ll bet that you’ve felt paralyzed with indecision and instead of working on trying to get things done, you prefer to ignore that to-do list and veg out either in front of the tv or reading something for fun.

How can you get out of that cycle of overwhelm?

But how do you get out of that cycle of overwhelm? First of all… take a deep breath. Feel a bit better? No? Take another deep breath and count to 10. Calm your racing mind. Tell yourself, “I can do this!” “I am capable!”. Now, do you feel better? Good! Now let’s get to work!

So just how do we get out of that cycle of overwhelm? Now is the time you take out a paper and pen. Write down all those thoughts that are racing through your head. Get them all out, even the ones that seem pointless. The idea is to have it all written out so your mind isn’t focusing on all those swirling thoughts!

Now that you have written out your thoughts, I want you to take another deep breath. Get out those goals you wrote at the beginning of your journey. Now, this isn’t the time for you to beat yourself up about not reaching goals. This is the time for you to refocus your thoughts. Even if you haven’t yet reached your goals, you will!

How do you prioritize what is something that must get done and what can wait?

Take the list of things your wrote down and start sorting them into like items. For example: do the laundry, make a menu plan, change sheets, etc can all go under your Home To-Do List. Once you’ve put all similar items into a specific to-do list, I want you to see what on all of that to-do list has nothing to do with your goals. Get rid of those items! They will not do you any good. Narrow down your to-do list to only those things that will actually help you accomplish your goals. Mind you, you still have items that are necessary such as doing laundry, but those should all be under a goal of keeping up your home (and if you’re having trouble in that area… well I’ll be writing a post on how you can keep up with your home soon!).

Now that you’ve narrowed down your list. I want you to figure out what you will do each week. (If you haven’t yet worked on how to set your weekly goals, you can read about that here.) Focus only on those things that will help you accomplish your goals. Get rid of everything else! Don’t be afraid to work on just one thing each week. That one thing will bring you closer to your goal, than just focusing on the craziness of what do I do now!

So, how do you juggle the many hats you wear?

So how do you juggle all the many hats you wear? Being a mom, working full time, starting an online business, household, cooking dinners, cleaning, tidying up? Now don’t start getting overwhelmed again! Ask your family to help. Your children can help with cleaning up, picking up, and depending on their age they can even help cook dinner. Ask your husband to help out more if you need to. Don’t try to do it all on your own. We were not made to do things by ourselves!

The more you talk to your family about your goals and your dreams, and the more they see you working on those, the more supportive they will be.

Honestly? A balanced life is just a myth! You can’t be all things to everyone all of the time. There is a time for everything and a season for all things. This is your season to grow your online business, to seek help and support from your family. Get them onboard, and show them how they can help you accomplish your dreams.

What are you focusing on right now? How are you working on not feeling overwhelmed? Share in the comments below!