The definition of “overwhelm” is pretty intense, actually. It means:
When you’re feeling buried under a mass of so much stuff, and you feel as if you’ve been given too much of a thing, it can feel as if you’re responsible for everything in the whole world. But it is liberating when you step back and get clarity about the things that ONLY YOU can do.
Science shows that “giving compliments in relationships makes both expressers & recipients feel more positive than they expect to feel”.
By the way, have I told you how awesome you are?
Here are a few alternatives to what I call the “Just Checks”.
Take advantage of those moments of down time in between meetings, calls, or whenever. Allow your mind to rest for a bit or engage it by doing something active and positive.
You and I only have so much willpower, decision-making ability, and/or creative imagination throughout the day. Try to reserve that energy for things like deep work, deep conversations, and big decisions.
The more you can automate the inconsequential areas of your life, the the more energy and strength you have for doing your most important work and building your most important relationships.
Lean on your daily habits to let things run “automatically” and thus giving yourself more energy for thinking, creating, and decision making.
When you’re feeling the pain of overwhelm, first, pause and listen to it because there can be two reasons for the stress you feel.
When it’s the former, you need to dial down and create some margin. Make sure you’ve got some things in place so you can stay sane and healthy.
When it’s the latter and you’re on the verge of a breakthrough — you need help and the perseverance to press through.
Capture and organize things in such a way that you will be able to use those notes and ideas, not just feel good about having captured or organized them. Otherwise, just enjoy what you read and learn and keep on going.
If you’re feeling suck on a task or project, ask yourself: What would this task / project look like if it were easy?
When you make something that matters, it will be polarizing. There will be some people who don’t like it. But there will be others who love it. It’s not easy to make something and put it out there. But when you do, look around: are there people you find awesome, and are they happy to be around your work …. then you are on the right track. You’re serving the right people doing something worthwhile.
Some fun ideas from Gretchen Rubin to make space, have fun, and look around.
I’ve had 3 different conversations with 3 different folks in the past 24 hours about how much they are loving Ulysses. It’s such a great app — I still do nearly all my writing in it. If you’ve got a writing / idea project in the works and you’re feeling scattered, you should definitely check out Ulysses and let me show you exactly how to use it.
If you spent 5 minutes every day doing pushups, would your arms get stronger?
What if you did that every day for a year? You would become a pushup machine! You’d be totally unintimidated to do pushups anytime, anywhere.
On the bus and your friend dares you to do a pushup — you’ve got this. At the office and you lose a bet to a co-worker — show them who’s boss and bust out your pushups.
Let’s suppose that in your life, there was a situation every day where you’d need to do some pushups. Wouldn’t it make your life so much easier if you were regularly practicing pushups so that when the time came, you’d be able to crush those pushups and show everyone your awesomeness?
Well, the same goes for ideas.
The benefits of having a functional idea muscle means you can be an idea machine.
Do you run a business? Are you a mom or a dad? Do you write? Do you design things? Do you make stuff? Do you have a challenge or a problem in your life that you’re trying to fix?
Each of your roles in life can benefit from your ability to come up with ideas. And, when you get good at coming up with ideas, it builds confidence and makes problems far less intimidating.
One simple way to build your idea muscle is to spend 5-10 minutes writing down ideas. Just writing and getting things out of your head. You don’t even have to DO anything with those ideas. The act of writing them is enough to un-clutter your mind *and* build your idea muscle at the same time.
I recently got my copy of Todd Henry’s brand new book and I am very happy about it. If you do any sort of creative work, product development, — or just have autonomy in your job — this is a book of daily ideas and motivation to keep you focused on the joy of your craft.
Here are 10 tips to help you stop procrastinating that thing
Which number is most helpful for you?
For me, I lean on 2, 5, and 9 the most: I work more efficiently when I am collaborating with someone else; time blocking my day helps me stay on track; and I’m a chronic over-thinker who has to be reminded to stop overthinking things.
It’s a challenge to have more ideas than time. But you don’t have to be a slave to all your ideas. You probably have lots of ideas that you want to do. But the existence of a good idea doesn’t mean you are obligated to spend time on it. Feel free to say no to your own ideas. Focus requires tradeoffs.