I’m feeling overwhelmed with my business. What can I do?
When you are overwhelmed, the instinct is often to just keep pushing. You put your head down, carry on, tick a few more things off the list. But if you are honest, that usually keeps you stuck in the same cycle with no end in sight. You are simply chasing your tail, busy but not actually making meaningful progress.
If you are feeling this way, the solution might feel counterintuitive, but bear with me, it works! The key is not to keep going faster but to pause. Step away from the noise and create the space you need to figure out what actually matters. From there, you can clarify your direction, create a plan, and then move forward with focus.
Take a pause
This does not need to be forever. Even a few hours will do, and you can absolutely spare that. Go somewhere you feel calm, where you can breathe, think clearly and feel good. It might feel wrong to stop when you have so much to do, but this is the point at which you will begin to move forward again. Stopping helps you shift from being busy for the sake of it to being intentional with your time and energy.
Clarify your direction
Once you have created a pause, take time to remind yourself why you are doing this. What is your purpose? What is your long-term vision? What goals are you working towards? If you do not have these mapped out yet, do not panic. Simply start small. Think about what you want to achieve in the next three months. Clarity on your direction will immediately help you focus your actions. It will stop you pouring effort into things that will not take you to where you want to be. When we are constantly busy we lose sight of what is really important, and while it feels as though everything is urgent, the truth is it cannot all be urgent. Refocusing on your direction reminds you of what truly needs to happen first.
Get everything out of your head
A simple but powerful step is to write down everything that is swirling around in your head. Every task, idea, worry and half-done project. When it is all trapped in your thoughts it becomes noise, impossible to prioritise. Once you put it on paper you can begin to see it clearly, organise it and make decisions about what to do next.
Use a model to prioritise
Now you have your list, work through each item and use one of the following models. Both create clarity. The key is choosing the one that resonates most with you.
The 4 D’s: Do, Defer, Delegate, Delete
This works well when your to-do list feels endless. Draw four boxes and label them with each D, then go through your list with your purpose and goals in mind:
Do: This matters, only you can do it, and it needs to be done soon.
Defer: It is important, but not right now, so schedule it for later.
Delegate: Someone else can handle this, so remove it from your list.
Delete: It does not really need to happen, so cross it out and let it go.
The 4 D’s cut your list down to the essentials and free you from carrying the rest.
The Eisenhower Matrix: Urgent vs Important
This model is ideal when everything feels like a fire drill. Again, plot your tasks into four boxes:
Important and Urgent: Do it first.
Important and Not Urgent: Schedule it.
Urgent and Not Important: Hand it off.
Not Important and Not Urgent: Drop it.
The Eisenhower Matrix stops you from reacting to whatever shouts the loudest and helps you focus on what will actually move your business forward.
Narrow your focus
Once you have worked through one of the models, narrow your focus to the top three priorities. Time-block them into your diary and protect that time so you know they will be completed. Then look at the other tasks that are important but not urgent and schedule them into your calendar as well. If you dislike the rigidity of time blocking, you can try setting aside “Admin” days instead and assigning tasks to those days. This gives you more freedom day-to-day, while still creating the structure that ensures everything gets done.
Build control into the way you work
Overwhelm often builds because you are stuck in a cycle of reaction. The difficulty with that is every task feels equally important, so they blur into each other. Decisions then get made from a place of stress rather than intention. The way out is to build regular planning and review into your rhythm of work. At The Pocket Strategist, we recommend the following:
One or two days each year to set your annual strategic plan, defining what you want to achieve that year in order to move towards your long-term vision and goals.
One day each quarter to review and reset your plan, creating quarterly goals, focus areas and projects that align with the annual strategy.
A few hours each month to check progress against the quarterly plan and to set more specific monthly goals and actions.
A weekly habit of aligning your tasks back to the monthly plan, so the day-to-day work always connects to the bigger picture.
When you build this routine, you are working backwards from the vision rather than forwards from a chaotic list. Each time overwhelm creeps back in, you can go back to the plan, reset your focus and continue with confidence.
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This blog is based on real questions from SME business owners. Have a question about your business you would like answered? Just comment with your question or email hello@thepocketstrategist.com, and we will answer it.
