The Simple Mind is a newsletter to help you reduce overthinking and boost self-confidence.

This week I talked to a few people who struggled with too much going on.

Leaders and entrepreneurs alike, at least the ones I work with, go through these phases where they have a lot on their plates. Needless to say, they are the ones that served most of the plates.

It usually happens after a phase of slowdown. They basically got into their comfort zone, stayed for just a tiny bit, and then came up with new ideas, got promoted, started new business initiatives...

Now they are out there, figuring out where to put their energies, feeling overwhelmed.

I do this myself, I get it. It’s the chaos of creative minds. We feel overwhelmed by it, yet we love it.

So how do we navigate the overwhelm of a lot going on with a quiet mind?

Let’s dive in!

Orianne

Reading time: 3min.

You should focus on one thing

Should you?

As an entrepreneur or leader, you can’t sleep on what’s working. You can’t change what you do constantly either. You have to respond, or better foresee what the market will need. It requires creativity, vision but also discipline.

Also, if you read this newsletter you likely have too many ideas, need the constant stimulation. Because worse than a business not working, would be a boring day to day where you do the same thing repeatedly. Am I right?

Instead of beating yourself up for how you are wired, try the following:

Marie Kondo the sh.t out of your head

Get out of your messy head, now.

Overwhelming comes from too many thoughts, ideas, things to do, scattered all over your mind. Map everything out, get it from mind to paper.

However you like to work, on paper, through presentations, one pagers, with Postit, just get everything out.

Treat it like you would treat different business units if you were leading a big group like Coca-Cola.

• What are all the projects/business units?
  and you can throw in the personal stuff too

• What’s their purpose?

• What are the goals?

• For who?

• What needs to happen to make it work?
  Give it a tentative timeline, and be realistic

• Also, how urgent/important is this specific business unit?
  Is it the cash cow of the group? The CEO's passion project? Something that could be big?

Why it helps: organizing your thoughts helps you see more clearly, putting it down on paper (or computer) gives you back control and factual knowledge on what needs to happen.

Find the common thread

Part of the overwhelm comes from some sort of guilt from feeling all over the place. It feels like you’re chasing too many things, and none of it makes sense. Why do other people's stories and products make sense and yours is all over the place?

It’s not, you’re just too zoomed in on the details.

This is my favorite thing in coaching, helping people see everything they gravitate towards links back to a why they actually have super clear. They just keep forgetting about it, or not seeing the common thread.

Use your mapping. For each business unit, create keywords or one sentence main idea and then find the commonalities in each business unit. You basically work backward, finding the rational behind your intuitive ideas.

Why it works: It helps you go from I don’t know what I am doing to There is a meaning to what I do. Deep exhale.

Focus on one thing at a time

Ha, but not in the way you think. I highly recommend watching this Bunch session with Amanda Goetz where she shares her best practices for managing a business and many things at the same time — and avoid burnout.

Do watch the videos for many tips, but here are the two that will help you most in this situation:

• Create sprints
  Look at your mapping, and what needs to happen. Sprint on one thing and one thing only. It will be short, so you won’t get bored, and intense enough that you get a lot done. By focusing you’ll learn and create a strong muscle, allowing you to reduce time of production for this side of the business specifically, and focus on a new spring whilst effortlessly still running that side of the business.

• Have a Two-do

  At the end of the day, list for the following day two things that need to get done to advance your business units. Yes, only two, but you know the drill, we overestimate what can be done in a day, and underestimate what can be done in a week. Two high-focus productive tasks a day is a lot. You’ll obviously do other things, but the rest will be what Amanda calls ‘defense’ (responding to what other people need, not what you need).

Also, stay hydrated and remember to breathe. I’m not your mom, but you know we do forget to do it sometimes.

As always, thank you for reading.

Orianne

PS: if you think you need extra help with the overwhelm, let’s chat!

PSS: Read about being intentional which can help when you’re overwhelmed.

If you’re new here, welcome! I’m Orianne, I share weekly tools to help you reduce overthinking and boost your self-confidence.

A bit more about me: I am a mindset coach. I coach brilliant humans who perform very well but want to improve their relationship with themselves (their minds). I am a chocolate addict, live by the beach, and always read several books at the same time (currently The Housemaid, and surrounded by idiots).

If you enjoyed this newsletter, you can read the previous editions and subscribe here. If you’re ready for coaching you can book an intro call.