Overwhelmed! Part I

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It seams like sometimes in life, there just aren’t enough hours in the day.  I know this has been true for me lately.  I have gotten myself involved in more projects and “to do’s” than I feel like I can handle.  Some of this is my own fault.  I seem to offer help in areas that follow my passion.  This means that I am now involved with a feature film project, a television project, and a short film project, along with a few other small parts in other films that are being filmed in my area.

Of course, on top of this, I have this website, my Ryan M Hall site, and The 20/20/20 Diet site that I am currently maintaining.  I am promoting the Diet as well as redesigning the site and working on videos for the site.

Now, add to that an unexpected car repair, and a home repair, both of which I will be doing myself.  I work more than full time from home and I have 3 kids here with me all day.

It’s no wonder with all this going on, and more, I have begun to feel overwhelmed.  So last night, I said enough is enough, and decided that by the end of the week, I have to have some structure and I have to weed out some of the unimportant so that I can get these tasks off of my “to do” list and behind me for good.   But that begged the question, without revamping my entire day, or locking each day into a rigid schedule, how can I start to feel in control immediately, and start to get some relief from the list looming in my front pocket.

So, last week, I created an action plan that wouldn’t interrupt my daily routine, but would allow me to get more done, despite any interruptions that come about.

List it ALL

Take a deep breathe and list everything you need to do….everything.  This is perhaps the scariest part for me.  my lists go on and on, pages really, but list all of the important things you could do now.  Go ahead, and pause for a moment and get it all down on paper.  Get it done now before you lose your nerve.

When you take the time to list it all, you will purge it from your mental to do list, and allow yourself to relax considerably, just because you aren’t trying to keep it all in your mind.  This will literally allow you to take a load off your mind.

Once this is done, you will be much clearer and you can move on to the next step.

Give Each Task a Place

Sort your “to do” list.

Don’t just sort it, assign a place where you will get each task done.  My most common items are Computer-  Phone- Car-  House-  Video/Home-

This gives me the freedom to just glance at the list and prequalify what I can work on right at this moment.  So if I am sitting at the computer, I can glance down the computer list and check to see what I can work on.  Then I can pick something I can do at the computer, and start to work on it until I finish it.

Once this is done, you can find the most important task and get to it.

Choose Your MIT

Find the Most important thing you can do today on your list.  Scan the entire list and find the item that will make the biggest difference in your life, business, career etc.  This will be your MIT, your Most Important Thing to do today.  If you’re unclear as to which one is your MIT, because everything on your list is pretty important, ask yourself a few of these questions:

1) If accomplished only one thing today, what would be the most important?
2) If I accomplished one thing today, and only one thing, what would have the most impact in moving me toward my goal?
3) If I accomplished one thing today, what would I be happiest saying I accomplished?  What would I feel happiest crossing off my list?
4) What item on my list scares me the most?

These questions will help you narrow down your MIT for the day so that you can get to the most important first.  This alone will make a huge difference in your day, I know it has in mine.

Now that you have your MIT chosen, do it.  Make it the first thing you do today.  Treat it like it’s the only thing you have on your “To Do” list, and get it done.  This will free up so much mental energy just because you started the day out getting the most important thing done.  Often the MIT is the scariest thing because it is the most important and, whether you consciously know it or not, you spend a lot of energy thinking about it, even small little thoughts can add tension to the day.  Doing your MIT first will also start great momentum for the day.  If you have already crossed off the most important thing, you have the ball rolling and doing those “little” things is much easier.  Another benefit of finishing the MIT first is that you have finished your MIT, so now if you want, you can relax and enjoy the day a little more.  It’s up to you how you use this.  Remember, it’s all about getting more done and feeling less overwhelmed.  So pick your MIT and get to it.  Do it Now!

Above, I have listed the “To Do” List fixes I have put into place, but just as important are the small life tweaks I have made in my day to help me feel freer and less overwhelmed.  I will list these daily changes in Part II of the Overwhelmed Article series.  Remember as you start to institute any changes, that this is all about making small changes, tweaks, in the way you go about your daily routine to help you feel less overwhelmed.  Hopefully these small changes I’ve made will find a way to help you in your daily life.

I Hope this Finds you Well,

Ryan M. Hall

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