Overwhelm Shutdown

Things to Look at to Bounce Back

“How long will that video last?”  I asked my husband.

The question was innocent enough, but the tension in my voice suggested otherwise.

Have you ever felt like a computer … and you’re running at the maximum RAM capacity?  Like one thing more and your screen shows that little busy symbol going in circles?

That was me going into last weekend.  One thing more and I couldn’t think. 

If my husband made a short comment to my son, it totally scrambled my brain for a bit.  A video?  Forget it!

You see, there were signs.  I ignored them for too long. Are you experiencing any of these?

•             Can’t think
•             Don’t “have time” to take care of yourself
•             Tremendous pressure to make it all happen
•             Persistent nagging headache
•             Stomach seems increasingly picky
•             Distracted
•             Exhausted
•             Lack of creativity
•             Fill in your own unique symptoms of stress

 Overwhelm Hurts

It feels like the proverbial catch-22.  No time to relax and let go.  The wolf is at the door.  Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines.

Maybe if I start earlier.  Work later.  Problem is, burning the candle at both ends only uses up the candle faster.

I realized I needed to stop.  I saw my opportunities to put in extra time go up in smoke because I just didn’t have the focus to work.

Here’s what I needed to do:

•             Write down all of the things I felt like I needed to do
•             Sit down, away from your work, and rest. 
•               Remember the big picture.  Praying helps.
•             Evaluate what items actually must be done now.
•             Let all those items go that aren’t honestly musts.
•             Make time for activities that replenish me.

The trick here is to actively avoid thinking about the non-critical items. The unnecessary pressure needs to let up.

I found doing a task and taking a short break helped me cope.  It gave me space to transition between tasks.

I needed to carefully review my self-care:

•             Having my daily time with God?
•             Taking my supplements?
•             Eating enough fruits and vegetables?
•             Exercising 20-30 minutes 6 days a week?
•             Taking regular breaks?
•             Sleeping 8 hours a night?
•             Drinking my water?
•             Mentally celebrating my small wins?
•             Doing simple refreshing things like a bubble bath?
•             Using a schedule for time management?

I was falling short on all of it.  Yet these are the most crucial things to staying on top of my game.  Without them, I lose sight of the big picture.  I lose my creativity, my peace of mind.  

At first, I was thinking that focusing on the business was the big picture.  But it’s not.  Not for me.  Being in the Word regularly, engaging in relationship with God and asking Him for direction first is the biggest picture of all.  

From there, go back to scheduling self-care. 

THEN I can get back to doing my freelance business – big picture style.

Weekly Challenge

I finally got my logo done.  Now we’re working on the web banner, favicon, and all that.

This is Week 1 of the 12 week program.  I spoke to my accountability partner for the first time yesterday evening.  We are supposed to email our daily six. 

Monday through Saturday, we are to make a list of six action items that move our businesses forward.  For example, I have a research project.  I’m breaking that down into action items and plugging away at six of them today.

I got so little of the email challenge done as to have done nothing toward it.  That adds stress whichever way I go with it.  However, it doesn’t rank high enough to stress myself about whether or not I’m getting to it.

My focus will be on finishing up the research project I’m doing and decide on a specific marketing method to stick to.

What are you doing to move your business forward this week?