How To Deal With Business Overwhelm

As business owners we can experience business overwhelm a lot, especially if you are a sole entrepreneur and are juggling many roles and many hats of running a business. However the past few weeks I have felt overwhelmed more as the world starts to reopen. This time last year I was still working full time and focusing on Greene Creatives on the side, but as we all know the world was in lockdown so my social life was pretty much at a standstill. I became officially self employed at the start of November 2020, and again not long after the world went back into lockdown so the majority of my self employed life hasn’t included fitting in personal or social commitments.

The past few weeks as restrictions have lifted, places have reopened and we all start to make plans with friends and family I feel my brain has been in overdrive. I am just as excited as the next person to socialise again but I have been so used to only having work to focus on in lockdown and this seemed ok because the only other thing I had to do was chill in the house. So, I have found myself thinking “how am I going to fit this all in?”

I can get really overwhelmed when I start to think like this and rather than think what I need to do day to day I start to think about the whole picture and the huge to do list I have and all the events I’ve said yes to which leads me to getting stressed and wanting to curl up in a ball in bed and stay there with no responsibility. The past few days I’ve really been thinking about how to combat this so I thought I would share my thoughts in case others are feeling the same too with trying to juggle business overwhelm and a social life.

Take Each Day As It Comes

My brain sometimes feels like a Google Chrome window with 50 tabs open, and this is what adds to my overwhelm. One thing I have been trying to do is writing a to-do list for each day and when the day comes I just focus on that. Breaking things down into manageable days helps the workload seem so much easier.

Get A Better Morning Routine

My morning routine is shocking. I use my phone as my alarm so when it goes off I immediately check my notifications and messages which means as soon as I open my eyes I’m already dealing with other things for other people before I’ve even let myself go to the toilet or washed my face! I can totally see how this is adding to my stress. From now on I am trying not to use my phone as my alarm and not looking at it until I have at least been to the toilet, done my skincare, made my breakfast and my morning coffee. This way I know I’m set up for the day before I deal with anything on my phone.

When we are freelancers our tools that once were used for socialialising become our tools for the job so it's really about trying to set those boundaries to allow business overwhelm not to happen. It's always easy to just quickly reply to an email but also you need rest. 

Try To Keep Some Self Care Habits

During lockdown I really got into journaling and I also enjoy reading, journaling helps me with my mindset and I find reading helps me switch off. However as I’ve been busy the past few weeks I have let these slip. I feel like I don’t have the time for them but really doing them would probably help me clear my mind. This is why I’m going to try and fit in some time during my week for these self care habits. It doesn’t need to be as regular as it was during lockdown but if I can try a few times a week then it will help.

Remind Yourself, Sometimes You Can’t Do Everything

With a busy work and social life you need to remember that sometimes other things need to wait and that’s ok. If you miss a workout because you met up with friends for a catch up, then that’s fine. You can’t be in two places at once and schedules change. Putting pressure on ourselves that our life must look the same every week and we must check off every task or activity is what adds to overwhelm. Things come up and you need to prioritise what’s more important for that week.

Share Your To-Do Lists

I am the world’s worst for this. Always thinking I need to do everything myself, but when you’re busy one of the best things you can do is to ask for help. Share the general things you need to get done in the house with your partner or flat mate, see how they can help. It can be as simple as them making dinner one night because you’ll be finishing work late. In your business, think of tasks you could potentially outsource to help you get on with other areas you enjoy more. I have been working with a virtual assistant recently and it has really helped me. It’s liberating having someone work on the tasks you don’t really enjoy or that will take you longer, working on the areas of your business that you enjoy will 100% reduce stress and business overwhelm.

It’s Ok To Say No

Just because we have been in lockdown and everyone is keen to meet up again, it doesn’t mean that you have to. If you have enjoyed certain elements of a slower life in lockdown, there is nothing stopping you from keeping them. You also aren’t on a deadline, if you would rather wait and ease yourself back into normal life then that’s fine. As hard as it seems sometimes there is absolutely nothing wrong with saying “I’m just going to have a night in tonight" and people should understand that.

I hope these pointers help you and if you have also been feeling overwhelmed then please reach out to me and let me know how you have been dealing with it! Drop me a DM and we can swap our stresses, they never seem as bad when you say them out loud!