It's pretty crazy around this weekend - I'm neck deep in the planning and execution of the Historical Tour of Homes (see info here). Lucky for me, Vicky White has stepped in with the most appropriate post! Now - if you can't come to the tour, we'd sure love it if you could donate!
Overwhelm stops you living the life you're here to live. It stops you stepping into your unique brilliance. It blocks your creativity, your intuition, your inspiration, your very life force. It keeps you distracted from what's most important - and makes you feel there's not enough time to do what you want to do, not enough time for yourself.
Luckily our friend overwhelm makes himself (herself?) known pretty fast so you can send him packing.
Take a deep breath! These 5 strategies will help you do just that.
1. Be intentional about your life: Starting with the assumption that there is no end to the things on your to-do list..... what are your priorities? What is most important to you in the coming year, this month, and today?
One of the most important things I do each morning in my ME time is to set an intention for the day, and decide what my 3 most important tasks are. Tasks are bite sized pieces of my most important goals for the week - things I can accomplish in one sitting - for me that's anything up to a two hour stint. And then I schedule those blocks of time in. That means I'm focused on what's most imporant and I'm not sitting there wondering what to do next, and deciding it's more fun to check email yet again....
Having a specific block of time to accomplish something ensures it gets done in less time. When I feel I've got all day, guess what? It takes all day.
The days I handle one of these tasks before I even open my email are the days I accomplish the most and feel most satisfied.
Then - I get my yellow highligher and put a line through them as I complete them - very satisfying.
2. Set boundaries around time, space, energy, email: you have the same amount of time as anyone else. Where do you choose to spend it?
Everything is a choice. If you hear yourself thinking or saying, you 'have' to do something or you 'should' do something, that's a red flag. You don't 'have' to do anything. Before you bite my head off over that statement - let me explain.
This is your life and you do have choice. There are always consequences to those choices however. So taking into account the consequences, what do you choose to do? Asking this question puts you in a position of power. It's no longer some outside person or force making you do something. So listening to your heart and taking into account your priorities and energy available, what do you choose to do?
Most likely you'll need to say 'no' to some things - some activities others might be used to you doing. If you say 'yes' to everything, that's a sure recipe for overwhelm, resentment, health consequences and not getting to live the life you're here to live.
What's one thing you're thinking you 'have' to do today? Can you find a good reason to choose to do it, or is it something you'd like to let go of? (letting go of 'shoulds' and 'have to's' is a great way to get things crossed off your to-do list fast!)
3. Take time for yourself: This may be a little counter-intuitive. Here you are feeling overwhelmed, and I'm suggesting you take time for yourself! What's that about?
Women are designed to create life and shape lives. And women wait to do things for themselves. Wait for the right time, wait till everything else is done, wait for permission, wait till everyone else is taken care of. I'm sure men can relate to some of this too.
You cannot keep giving out. As I said earlier, there is no end of things on your to-list. You will never be done with them. Never!
First thing in the morning take some time for yourself. If you need to get up earlier to grab some minutes for yourself, do it. Make this appointment with yourself and keep it - it's important. You'll find you get more done in the rest of the day.
If you're feeling overwhelmed it's a sign you're out of integrity with yourself. Step away from the scene of the crime, take a few deep breaths and spend a few minutes in silence, in nature, in a different part of your home or office. You'll shift your energy and see things more clearly.
4. Be in integrity: Clutter represents who you used to be and if you're surrounded by who you used to be, you're sending the Universe mixed messages. On the one hand you're asking for what you want and stating your intention for who you wish to be, and on the other hand your environment is filled with things that do not represent that.
Definition of clutter: anything unfinished, unused, unresolved, tolerated or disorganized.
Clutter will make you feel overwhelmed, will stop you expressing your purpose and connecting with your spirit.
This is where to start: what's bugging you the most? Handle that one first.
5. Take baby steps - remember 20 minutes is your friend. Even with your most challenging task, the one you've been procrastinating over, setting a timer for 20 minutes will make it less daunting. Twenty minutes a day will add up and once you start, you'll most likely want to continue because it feel so good to finally be tackling this thing.
Save this article and next time you're feeling overwhelmed, take some of these steps. And even better, put some of these strategies into practice now and you'll likely avoid overwhelm all together.
Let me know how you do with them. I'd love to hear. You were born for greatness, not overwhelm.
Any thoughts or questions? Please come share them on my blog.
©2009 All Rights Reserved - Vicky White
Vicky White, The Feng Shui Coach. Get Vicky White's FREE "5 Biggest Attraction Mistakes " report and her FREE articles to boost your creativity and your bottom line, at: www.LifeDesignStrategies.com
Thanks for the read! Take a tour of the green home - see where you can make your home safer too. www.debthinksgreen.com
Luckily our friend overwhelm makes himself (herself?) known pretty fast so you can send him packing.
Take a deep breath! These 5 strategies will help you do just that.
1. Be intentional about your life: Starting with the assumption that there is no end to the things on your to-do list..... what are your priorities? What is most important to you in the coming year, this month, and today?
One of the most important things I do each morning in my ME time is to set an intention for the day, and decide what my 3 most important tasks are. Tasks are bite sized pieces of my most important goals for the week - things I can accomplish in one sitting - for me that's anything up to a two hour stint. And then I schedule those blocks of time in. That means I'm focused on what's most imporant and I'm not sitting there wondering what to do next, and deciding it's more fun to check email yet again....
Having a specific block of time to accomplish something ensures it gets done in less time. When I feel I've got all day, guess what? It takes all day.
The days I handle one of these tasks before I even open my email are the days I accomplish the most and feel most satisfied.
Then - I get my yellow highligher and put a line through them as I complete them - very satisfying.
2. Set boundaries around time, space, energy, email: you have the same amount of time as anyone else. Where do you choose to spend it?
Everything is a choice. If you hear yourself thinking or saying, you 'have' to do something or you 'should' do something, that's a red flag. You don't 'have' to do anything. Before you bite my head off over that statement - let me explain.
This is your life and you do have choice. There are always consequences to those choices however. So taking into account the consequences, what do you choose to do? Asking this question puts you in a position of power. It's no longer some outside person or force making you do something. So listening to your heart and taking into account your priorities and energy available, what do you choose to do?
Most likely you'll need to say 'no' to some things - some activities others might be used to you doing. If you say 'yes' to everything, that's a sure recipe for overwhelm, resentment, health consequences and not getting to live the life you're here to live.
What's one thing you're thinking you 'have' to do today? Can you find a good reason to choose to do it, or is it something you'd like to let go of? (letting go of 'shoulds' and 'have to's' is a great way to get things crossed off your to-do list fast!)
3. Take time for yourself: This may be a little counter-intuitive. Here you are feeling overwhelmed, and I'm suggesting you take time for yourself! What's that about?
Women are designed to create life and shape lives. And women wait to do things for themselves. Wait for the right time, wait till everything else is done, wait for permission, wait till everyone else is taken care of. I'm sure men can relate to some of this too.
You cannot keep giving out. As I said earlier, there is no end of things on your to-list. You will never be done with them. Never!
First thing in the morning take some time for yourself. If you need to get up earlier to grab some minutes for yourself, do it. Make this appointment with yourself and keep it - it's important. You'll find you get more done in the rest of the day.
If you're feeling overwhelmed it's a sign you're out of integrity with yourself. Step away from the scene of the crime, take a few deep breaths and spend a few minutes in silence, in nature, in a different part of your home or office. You'll shift your energy and see things more clearly.
4. Be in integrity: Clutter represents who you used to be and if you're surrounded by who you used to be, you're sending the Universe mixed messages. On the one hand you're asking for what you want and stating your intention for who you wish to be, and on the other hand your environment is filled with things that do not represent that.
Definition of clutter: anything unfinished, unused, unresolved, tolerated or disorganized.
Clutter will make you feel overwhelmed, will stop you expressing your purpose and connecting with your spirit.
This is where to start: what's bugging you the most? Handle that one first.
5. Take baby steps - remember 20 minutes is your friend. Even with your most challenging task, the one you've been procrastinating over, setting a timer for 20 minutes will make it less daunting. Twenty minutes a day will add up and once you start, you'll most likely want to continue because it feel so good to finally be tackling this thing.
Save this article and next time you're feeling overwhelmed, take some of these steps. And even better, put some of these strategies into practice now and you'll likely avoid overwhelm all together.
Let me know how you do with them. I'd love to hear. You were born for greatness, not overwhelm.
Any thoughts or questions? Please come share them on my blog.
©2009 All Rights Reserved - Vicky White
Vicky White, The Feng Shui Coach. Get Vicky White's FREE "5 Biggest Attraction Mistakes " report and her FREE articles to boost your creativity and your bottom line, at: www.LifeDesignStrategies.com
Thanks for the read! Take a tour of the green home - see where you can make your home safer too. www.debthinksgreen.com
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