Are you feeling overwhelmed in your beauty business by everything that’s going on in the world? You are not alone! It’s a lot to deal with, especially when trying to run a business.
Many beauty business owners I speak with are experiencing emotions. Let’s talk about how to deal with the rollercoaster of emotions and learn how to become more productive!
It’s tough managing life, let alone our beauty business, during this time of turmoil. This is not surprising since our mood and emotions have a significant impact on our motivation and productivity.
As we go through emotionally challenging times, we often feel that it’s hard to keep going.
The reality is that we might be dealing with the COVID crisis for a while longer, so it’s important to do what we can to stay mentally and emotionally stable.
Overwhelm Is a Productivity Killer
Did you know that the cognitive impact of feeling overwhelmed can manifest as mental slowness, forgetfulness, confusion, difficulty concentrating, a racing mind, and an impaired ability to problem-solve?
No wonder our productivity suffers when we feel overwhelmed! Overwhelm can paralyze us and cause us to stop doing anything in our beauty business.
To avoid getting stuck in the vicious cycle of overwhelm, which impairs our ability to take action and causes even more tasks to pile up — we need to get creative.
We feel overwhelmed when we focus on everything that’s happening around us — we work ourselves up and spin out. We run around trying to “solve” everything all at once… the day comes and goes, then we realize that nothing got done yet we’re exhausted. Been there? Yeah, me too.
The good news is that you can take control. I have a simple two-step strategy to tame overwhelm and improve your energy: identify things that are within your control.
Tame Overwhelm With This Two-Step Process
This two-step process will help you complete tasks like managing your mental energy since you won’t get anything done if you’re mentally exhausted!
First, you need to take inventory of everything that’s on your plate. There are things within your control and things that aren’t. List out those that you can control. Table the rest and put them aside for now. Do you notice that the feeling of overwhelm is already starting to lift? 🙂
Next, let’s tackle the list of items within your control. You may still have a lot on your list so let’s “chunk down” your list so that you’re not focusing on everything.
Chunking down prevents us from trying to handle everything all at once. We don’t usually accomplish anything anyway when we’re looking at our full plate.
As the saying goes, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
Ask yourself this: what’s the very first thing you need to do on your list?
What comes to mind first? That “one thing” that jumps out?
Don’t overthink it!
Your subconscious mind knows what needs to be done first. Follow your gut and just take action on that “one thing.” This is often the task that puts the biggest mental load on your mind so taking care of it will alleviate a large portion of your stress.
Here’s the most important thing — taking action helps you break the pattern of inaction and ending paralysis. When you get that first thing done, you’ll gain the momentum to move on to the next thing, and the next, and the next…
Even if the first thing you do isn’t the most important task — it doesn’t matter! As you knock things off your list, the sense of overwhelm will subside because there are fewer things to compete for your attention.
When you’re tackling the tasks on your list, use these strategies that will manage overwhelm:
- Set boundaries on your time and workload to help you focus on what matters most at this moment.
- Leave your perfectionism behind because it can make tasks appear bigger than they are, leading to procrastination and psychological distress. Remember, “done is better than perfect!”
- Identify tasks that you can outsource or delegate so you can focus your time and energy on those that you can create the most value.
- If you feel like you’re stuck in unproductive behaviors that cause overwhelm, you may have to examine your assumptions and challenge your limiting beliefs.
A lot is going on during this extraordinary time and it’s human to feel overwhelmed. Allow the 2-step strategy to help you break the pattern of inaction, procrastination, and paralysis so you can start taking action. Build the momentum you need to get back in charge.
What’s your strategy for overcoming the sense of overwhelm during this time in our world? Leave a comment below and share your experience!
