You are overwhelmed, stressed out and feel like you never get ahead.

You know something has to change but you have no idea what or how.

You don’t have time to breath, much less sit down and re-organize your over flowing life.

Boy oh boy, do I know exactly how that feels, because not that long ago, I was right there.

I had managed to ignore it for a while because of my organization and time management skills, but the truth is, humans are just not made to go that hard, for that long. 

My husband and I were on a sure course to burnout because we simply had too much going on.

So how did we get out of the situation? Without feeling even more overwhelmed?

Step by step, in an order that gives you the time and freedom to do the next one. 

Eliminating whats not a priority

This one may be the hardest. 

Because as multi-passionate people it can be so hard to let go of things, amirght?!

Or maybe you feel like you have no choice but to do all you do.

But, and this may trigger you, you almost always have a choice.

You need to figure out your top priorities and eliminate some things outside of these. 

Maybe that’s no longer being on the parent committee at school, or making home made EVERYTHING, or organizing the monthly book club meeting.

Maybe that even means downsizing your home so you can afford to work fewer hours.

So whether you eliminate expensive payments or activities, identify a few to eliminate as soon as possible.

You don’t have to go big either. Often times it’s all the little things that add up to too much. It’s perfectly fine to eliminate some of the smaller things. Also, remember this isn’t necessarily permanent. You may very well be able to come back to these things in the future when you have less going on.

This should free up some time to work on the next step.

Delegating

It can take some time to properly delegate, which is why it’s important to free up some time with step 1 first.

Teaching someone else to do something you’ve always done can make you wonder if it’s even worth it.

Stick it out, I promise it is.

And it’s a game changer.

So start by making a list of all the things you could possibly delegate to someone else, whether it’s someone you hire, or your kids.

You might be surprised what you can hire out and for how little, so don’t be afraid to list out the tasks you dislike the most.  That’s where this gets fun because not only does it take stuff off your plate, but if you choose wisely, you get rid of things you don’t like to do.

So you could have your kids do laundry, the dishes or cleaning.

Or you could hire someone to do your groceries, mow the lawn or clean the house.  Heck, some grocery stores even deliver to your door now! 

When my husband and I hired the woman that helps me with the business accounting I wasn’t really sure I wanted to.  I thought it would be more trouble than it was worth and that I would have to spend a ton of time teaching her and correcting mistakes.  And could we even afford it?

Best. Decision. Ever.

When it came down to it, we couldn’t afford not to, because looking back now, I know there is no way I would have managed it all. 

And guess what? It really wasn’t hard to teach her my systems and the transition ended up being super easy.

If the money is what’s making you hesitate, ask yourself what price you are paying now? Your health?  Your peace of mind? Quality time with your kids?

Bet your cable subscription is not worth nearly what those things are to you.

One last thing; delegating doesn’t have to be hiring out or forcing chores on your kids. It can be simple little things like asking an employee to take on a small task at work that you don’t really have time for, or getting another member of the committee to take on some of what you do.

Creating systems

Now that you have freed up even more time, you need to create some systems. This step can take a bit more time and you will likely work on it slowly over time.

Systems are basically any routines or habitual ways you have of doing things that requires less effort and time because all the decisions of how and when things are going to get done, are already made. 

Systems, like planners and particular ways of arranging items or information, also can help keep you super organized.

Check out the planner I use here, designed for the busy and ambitious person just like you. 

Get my free Family Binder printables that will help you organize all the important and often used information right at your fingertips. 

Start with one area and when you have a system down pat that works well, move on to another.  Trying to change everything all at once is going to stress you the heck out.

Take a few minutes to think about all the areas of your life that are hectic; times when you are always running late, moments when you often forget things, or tasks that take longer to do then they should.

Choose one and come up with a system that makes it easier.

For example: Mornings in your home are a mad rush with everyone running late and forgetting things.

So what can you do to make it easier?

Maybe the evening before you make lunches, prep the coffee maker and pick out outfits.

Or maybe you buy more lunch foods that are ready to go, like precut veggies and fruit and wake up an extra 15 minutes earlier each morning.

Whatever works for you and your family.

It may take some trial and error to find the perfect systems and don’t forget that as time goes by, things in your life will change and you will likely have to adapt your systems. 

You may even have some routines already in place, some of which are working and some that aren’t.  The easiest place for you to start is probably with the systems that simply need modifying.

Honouring yourself

You might roll your eyes at me and wonder how in the heck this will help you tackle your over-stuffed schedule but hear me out.

This is you warning, I am going to throw out some clichés…

You cannot pour from an empty cup.

I am willing to bet half of your overwhelm is coming from the fact that you seriously neglect your self-care.

I get it, this subject kind of drove me nuts too. Until I really understood the concept.

It’s amazing what you can get done, how high your energy can be and how calm you can feel when you take care of yourself.

Take some time every day, whether its 5 minutes or 45 to do something that fills your cup.

That means anything you do for pure joy.  Those activities you can just get lost in and that always make you feel great, like listening to music, going for a walk or talking with a friend.

Don’t be afraid to be honest about what does this for you. One of mine is organizing and tidying up the house. It truly makes me feel better when the house is tidy or I get a particularly disorganized mess under control.

But obviously, that’s not true for everyone.  And the exact thing you might need on any given day might be different too. Some days all I need is a good book and a comfy chair.

I hope you are feeling calmer now that you have read this, because now you have a plan. You know what to do to get your life under control so you can get back to enjoying your everyday life.

Because that is the ultimate goal, right?

Still need some additional help? Come join us in my free FB group, Goals for Greatness where you will find the community, support and knowledge you need to help you do just that.

Need a step up with some serious accountability? The Accountability Club delivers that tenfold inside a community of ambitious people just like you where you will find an amazing choice of resources designed to get you organized, productive and help you achieve your goals. 

Here’s to a calm but productive and fulfilled life!

Jennifer

I don’t know about you but there is almost nothing I hate worse then having to jump out of bed in a mad rush, hurry through the day constantly last minute, overwhelmed and wondering what I am going to forget next.

Which is why I have worked so hard over the last few years to figure out how to be uber organized so I can be productive, prepared in advance and actually get back to enjoying my day to day life.

The System

It all comes down to the system you use to organize your time. Having a well organized life means you know exactly what you have to do, when  you have to do it and how long its going to take.

You do this by getting things out of your head and down on paper. Writing stuff down gives you clarity, makes you more productive and reduces stress.  Which means that the first step to organizing your day is to create a plan on paper.

If you don’t have a planner, stop what you’re doing and run, don’t walk, to the nearest office supply store and get one.  Better yet, get the planner that was created for a busy person with big goals like you. Check out the Life Book here. It literally has EVERYTHING you need to organize your life and achieve your goals, and none of the useless fluff found in a lot of generic planners.

If you happen to have a planner (paper or otherwise) that works well for you now, of course, keep on using it. This is not my way or the highway, you ultimately have to do what works for you.  However, you must be honest about what is really working. If you use an app on your phone but NEVER remember your appointments then…maybe its time to try something new.

The Non-Negotiables

In order to be able to plan out your day, you need to first  deal with what I call the non negotiables. These are the things that absolutely have to happen and at a specific hour that you have no control over. This might include taking your kids to school, a doctors appointment, garbage pickup or a meeting at work.

Once those are scheduled into your day, take a minute to see how much time you have left. Don’t forget to calculate travel time as well as the time it takes to switch from one task to another. 

The Priorities

Next, take a look at your to-do list. Which 1-4 items are your top priority? As in they must get done today or there is an immediate negative consequence. Some days you will have 3 of these, some days none. Schedule these in, ideally at a time when you will have the energy and focus to concentrate on them. Of course, I know that thats not always, or even often, possible but do your best. Try and do the hardest tasks first thing, or at least during the hours you work best.

The If-You-Get-To-Its

And lastly, if time permits, create an ‘if you get to it’ list. Choose 3-4 items, max, from your running to-do list and add them one at a time to your daily list, only once your priority tasks are completed, throughout the day.  These items should ideally be ones that have a deadline coming up. Fitting in tasks like this in advance when you have the time is the key to not always being last minute.  If you feel like you are constantly running behind, after a while of scheduling your days like this, you will start to catch up.

Of course, being able to schedule your day like this requires a certain level of organization that you might not even have yet.  And thats ok! We all need to start somewhere. Keeping a master, monthly and weekly to-do list will help you be able to quickly choose your tasks for the day. If you try to do this from your head, you will likely forget things.  So make sure you write down anything and everything task that pops into your head. Maybe its not a priority now, but it may become one soon and you don’t want to have forgotten it!

Still feel overwhelmed by all this? Check out the Work With Me section or send me a DM on IG and we can set up a free call to see how I can help you.  Or head on over to my Facebook group Goals For Greatness for weekly in depth trainings and a community of people just like you on their journey to a more organized life.

Also, in the freebies section you will find a bunch of FREE resources designed to help you get organized and productive. There is a free mini planner, family binder printables and more.

Jennifer

We’ve all heard it a thousand times; if its really important to you, you will just do it.

Except, you want to achieve this goal so bad you can taste it.

Does this mean you don’t really know what you want?

Or that you’re simply a lazy person?

While either of these are possible, I don’t think thats why most people don’t achieve their goals.

There are a lot of reasons why you might struggle to work towards the things you really want, but one of the most common ones I see is one of the simplest to fix.

Whatever you want to be a priority in your life, needs to be in front of your eye balls every day.

Which means if you do your goal planning in a notebook that gets put in a drawer and forgotten for 3 weeks, you are likely lacking the visual reminder you need on a daily basis to keep you focused.This doesn’t mean you have to read your goal plans cover to cover everyday and obsess over them for hours (Although that would likely be effective, however unnecessary). It simply means that at the very least, the tasks you need to be doing in order to achieve your goals, should be written down somewhere you look every day.

The simplest way to do this?

Keep all of your goal planning inside your daily planner. And not just the tasks you are scheduling into your day. The entirety of your goal plans for the whole year (or duration of your planner).

What this does, is it makes working on your goals a part of your everyday life. If your planner has pre established space for all your goal related tasks and deadlines, it effectively encourages you to fill it out and therefore, actually do it. Having the goal plan itself in there as well makes it a lot easier to schedule the tasks and deadlines you have outlined in the plan.

Of course you can modify the planner you use now or whip up your own but if you are the type of person that would rather have it all done for you in a neat little package, check out the Life Book planner here. It was created EXACTLY for this but it also has all the features you need to keep the rest of your life uber organized.

And being uber organized means being more productive (ie getting ish done!) so you have more time for the things you love.

No ready to commit? Get a FREE copy of the mini Life Book here, a 1 month version that will give you a great idea of what its all about!

Where do you do your goal planning? Are you committing the same mistake I did for years?

The great news is that if so, this is such an easy fix! Regardless of whether you modify the planner you have, create your own or get a Life Book, you can tackle this right this minute and be on the fast track to achieving your goals.

Happy planning

Jennifer

Looking for some more easy fixes? Come join my FREE facebook community where I share all I know to help you get more organized and productive so you can create the life you really want.

The secret trick to achieving your goals

Why is it that some people just seem to smash through their goals while others have set the same New Years Resolution for the past 10 years?

Its not that they have some natural talent or skill that the others don’t. Or that they were just meant for success while others are meant for mediocrity.

They simply go about achieving they goals a different way.

And that is:

Habits

Think about those things you do automatically everyday without even thinking about it. Brushing your teeth, drinking your coffee, scrolling through social media, eating meals.

You don’t have to remind yourself to do these things, you just do, right?

You don’t need to put in extra effort in planning, scheduling and getting yourself to actually do them.

So imagine you created new habits that were designed to get you closer to your goals?

After the initial work of getting these habits to be automatic, just think how much easier it would be to reach your goals!

If working on your goals was automatic, success is almost guaranteed. And if you hit a bump, it doesn’t matter, because they next day you’re going to go back at it because ITS A HABIT!

So how exactly do you do this?

Ask yourself this: Who do I want to become?

Instead of concentrating on the outcome you want, focus on the person you want to be. What would they be doing? What habits would they have?

For example, you want to run a marathon. Instead of thinking about the actual marathon, think about what a marathon runner does.

They likely eat a certain way for maximum health and energy. They train a specific way on a regular schedule. They have certain daily practices (ie: habits) that make them a marathon runner, versus someone who wants to run a marathon.

You will likely come up a bunch of habits that would resemble the plan you might have come up with had you not thought about habits. However, now you have action steps entered around actual habits that will make long term progress and success much more likely.

Another example: You want to become a successful entrepreneur. Of course, you will still need some sort of a business plan but along with that, take a look at some of your entrepreneur mentors. What habits so they have that lead to their success?

Maybe they exercise and eat well so that they have the energy to work hard. Maybe they read and learn something every day. Maybe they take time every day to network and connect with new people. Maybe they always work at a certain time and place to maximize their productivity.

If achieving your goal requires mostly you just sitting down and actually working on it, then consider making it a habit to do so everyday for an amount of time that works for you. For some people that will be 5 minutes, for others, an hour.

Putting it into place

So once you have identified the habits you want to put into place, the next step is to get them to automatic status.

Part of the process will be using visual cues like a planner. If you don’t have one, I cannot stress enough as to why its important to start using one ASAP. And if you want to roll your eyes at me and tell me that you are not wasting another dime on a planner you won’t use…here’s the thing; its not the planner, its you.

#sorrynotsorry

Why? You didn’t make using the planner a HABIT! Ha! See where I’m going with this habit stuff?

Check out this blog post where I talk about how to do that with a process called habit stacking. Seriously, it will be a game changer for you if you have ever failed miserably at starting a new habit!

Of course not all planners are created equal and you will likely have to look at a few to see what works for you. You can check out the one I use here. It has space to organize your entire life AND do all your goal planning too. Which is dang handy! You can also test it out for free first here.

So go get yourself a planner that works for you and start setting some shiny new habits!

I can already see your success;)

Jennifer

The thing about planners is that they are only as useful as you make them. Simply bringing a shiny new planner isn’t going to change your world and make you into an organized do-it-yourselfer/achiever-of-all-goals.

However, if you use it properly, you can come pretty dang close.

The first step is to make using it, into a habit. This is probably the most important part because if you don’t consistently use it, well, it can’t do much for you! Check out my blog post here, to learn how to do just that.

Make some decisions

In order for your planner to really organize your life, it needs to have a certain amount of space available for you to customize it. So make sure, when you are picking one out, that it has ample space for the following things:

Master To-Do list

Important Dates list

Goals/Project planning section

Budget (this is optional; for some people its not necessary)

(Can’t find one that has space for that? Check out the Life Book planner here created specifically to give you place for all these things)

Decide where you are going to keep each of these things inside your planner and take some time to fill each one in. Write down all the things on your Master to-do list (things that need to get done but you don’t know when), any important dates like birthdays or anniversaries you want to remember, create your budget and when you have the time, do your goal planning.

I know doing your goal planning inside your planner might be a new idea for you but I strongly urge you to give it a try, it is by far, the most effective change I made that holds me accountable and keeps me focused on my goals so that I actually achieve them.

Set up your monthly calendars

Next, you need to dedicate some space on each monthly calendar page to write down your to-do list for the month, your goal task list for the month as well as any events or activities you will be planning.

Do a brainstorm and set up your calendar with all the things that need to be written down such as:

work or sports schedules, appointments, meetings, daycare or school closures, activities, holidays, vacations, events, plans, birthdays, garbage/recycling/compost pickups, etc.

Set up your weekly calendar

The idea is the same for your weekly calendars. Decide where you are going to write down your to-do list, goal task list and possibly bills to pay list, if that is pertinent for you.

Next, dedicate a space for each day to plan your meals, your physical activity or workouts, your deadlines (super important for your goals!). Keep a small space at the top of each day to write in birthdays, anniversaries or any other special occasion you don’t want to forget.

Create your system

Here’s where it gets fun. Its time to create the system you are going to use when you plan out your months, weeks and days. Decide on what you are going to write with and how many different colours you want to use for the various categories in your life. You also need to figure out how you are going to check things off. You can use highlighters, check marks, symbols or you can just cross out the item. Just to give you some ideas here is my system:

Purple = Appointments, Red = Urgent, Pink = Plans/activities, Dark Blue = Meals and workouts, Light Blue = Important dates and deadlines, Dark Green = to-do’s, Light Green = to-do if I have the time and bullet journal squares.

I use Pilot Frixon pens because they erase and come in a variety of colours and use a corresponding highlighter colour when an item is done or over.

You can get as complex as you want, just make sure it doesn’t become a distraction or too much work. I do recommend at least a simple colour coded system because once it becomes habit, its easier for your brain to recognize the different colours and their meanings with just a glance at your planner.

You might have to shop around a bit to find a planner that will work with this system but when you do, you will be amazing by how less overwhelmed you feel when everything is out of your head and down on paper, organized in one spot.

If you can’t find one, or would like to check out the planner created exactly for this system, with all the necessary sections already in it, go here for the Life Book.

Or, check out the FREE one month version first.

Happy Planning!

Jennifer

Need help with all this? Come join my free facebook community full of ambitious people just like you where we can help you get organized and productive so you can build the life you want. Join here.

Creating a goal plan is not that complex, yet so often we set goals that we never reach because of a plan that wasn’t quite complete.

And when we don’t really know why we keep falling short it gets dang discouraging, right?!

The reality is, its not going to be easy to achieve your goals even if things go ‘well’. There is going to be resistance, bumps in the roads and days you just. don’t. freakin’. feel. like. it.

So lets get you set up right, so we can eliminate some of that frustration that discourages and makes you want to throw in the towel and settle for life as it is now.

Get clarity

Before you even start making a plan, its important to make sure that your goals truly align with your priorities and values, that you are willing to actually do what its going to take and that you are tackling the right goals first. Today we are talking about creating the actual plan but you can download my free Goal Setting Guide to help you with those steps.

The first step is to do a big brainstorm or brain dump and write down everything you think that you need to do in order to achieve your goal. Everything. Even the tiniest detail. Leaving things out here is going to cause hiccups further down the road like when you go to set up your shopping cart the night before you launch your new product and you realize forgot to open a new business bank account because you thought you would remember.

Go one step further and take 10-15 minutes to do some research to make sure you haven’t left anything out. Youtube or Google the subject and see what others have done or the problems they encountered. For some goals, this may take 2 minutes but take the time just the same so you know you have all your bases covered.

Organize and order

If you are anything like me, your thoughts didn’t all magically come out in logical order so now its time to organize the tasks you need to do and put them into the order in which they need to get done. A little research at this moment might help as well. Don’t worry if there are steps or tasks you don’t know how to do at this moment, we’ll get to that in the next step.

Plan out the next 90 days

Now its time to identify those tasks that you are going to tackle in the next 3 months. If you can achieve the entire goal in that time, perfect, plan out the whole thing. However, if its a larger goal that going to take longer, its important to only create a detailed plan for the first 90 days. You can’t know exactly how things are going to go so planning too far in advance could likely be for nothing.

Instead, after those 90 days, review where you are at and then create another detailed plan for the next 3 months. Have you gotten to where you want to? Did things come up that slowed you down or pushed you further ahead? Has parts the goal changed? Or maybe the whole goal itself?

When you are creating this detailed 90 day plan, make sure you break down all the tasks you have to do into small actionable steps. Need to build a website? Don’t just put that down on your to-do list. Instead, break that task down into smaller steps that you can schedule in, even on days when you don’t have much time. Some days you will be able to do bigger tasks but often you will likely only have shorter time periods to work on your goals so make it easy to make progress by breaking down all tasks into short actionable items.

Make sure you cover the 5 W’s and H when creating your plan. What needs to be done, who is going to do it, when it’s going to get done, where it’s going to happen, how exactly it’s going to be done and why it’s being done. Answering the why helps you to make sure its something that truly needs to happen.

Consider the materials, tools, experts, or information you may need. Are you going to hire someone to help? Invest in a course to learn how to do it? Are there tools or materials you need to buy?

Take some time to decide on what forms of accountability you are going to use as well and make sure they are in place before you start. Going to use an accountability partner? Get one set up and know how often you are going to talk and how. Going to listen to a motivating podcast when you feel like giving up? Make sure those podcasts have been chosen and are ready to go.

Create a sense of urgency

What happens when you set a goal but don’t give yourself a deadline? You start tomorrow, right?

The key is to give yourself a time limit that requires you to get started now, and to kept at it consistently in order to get it done on time. Of course, working on your goals shouldn’t stress you out so make sure the deadline you set creates that sense of ‘I need to get started now’ without forcing you to slave away for hours a day in order to achieve your goal.

Set a deadline for the goal in its entirety as well as some deadlines for various steps or tasks within that 90 day detailed plan you have created. So if your plan requires that you accomplish 3 bigger tasks, set a deadline for each of those so that it keeps that sense of urgency through out the plan which helps you to stay consistent.

This may seem slightly overwhelming or like a lot to consider while making a plan but the extra time you put into it is going to save you a ton of time and frustration later on.

Bonus tip: take some time to create a goal plan outline with the steps I’ve outlined here. Pull it out every time you create a plan so you don’t have to try and remember all that should go into your plan.

Still need some help? Check out Goals for Greatness, a complete online course that will walk you thought the whole process of setting, planning and implementing your goals.

Happy Planning!

Jennifer

How many times have you given up on yourself?

Your knee jerk reaction may be to say never but think about it, have you ever stopped working on a goal because it got hard, or you just didn’t feel like it?

Or stopped a healthy habit, like working out or cooking your own meals because you put someone else first and yourself last?

I don’t think very many people can say they haven’t, myself included. Especially myself!

This was the story of my life!

And I eventually learned it was because I was lacking 2 very important skills:

1- Personal Integrity

2- Effectivement accountability

I call them skills because we can work on and hon our personal integrity as well as our understanding of what forms of accountability work for us.

Showing up for yourself

So what exactly is personal integrity?

Following through on things we are doing for ourselves. Our dreams, our self care, the things that make us happy and whole and a better person for the rest of the world.

In other words, keeping a promise and doing what we said we were going to do, even if the only one would be letting down is ourselves.

Which isn’t true, but thats a discussion for another time.

And much like confidence, it is not something you are born with, its something you cultivate. Breaking through the pattern of giving up on yourself is hard, but each time you do it, you set the bar a little higher. So the next time your natural instinct to quit will be even further along. Keep doing this a little at a time and eventually your brain will understand that you just. don’t. quit. on. yourself.

The best way to do this? Like most things, by starting small. Don’t try and do it with an entire diet overhaul if you’ve never made it past day 1 of a diet…(yup, that would be me).

Instead, choose one thing and stick with it. For example: Your ultimate goal is to run 30 km but you’ve only ever run 4. Each time you run instead of trying to do the whole 30 km, you aim to surpass the best you’ve done. So do 5. Next 6. Then 7. Then 8…you get the picture.

Your brain and body will want to stop when reach the best you’ve ever done. At 4 kms you will hit resistance. Push past it and move that bar up. The more you do this, the quicker you will retrain your brain to follow through for yourself.

Accountability is personal

Let me explain;

The type of accountability that works best for each person is going to depend on a couple of factors: what motivates them and their personality.

So if you are motivated by the knowledge that you are healthy and the way you feel when you are healthy, creating a vision board of super fit scantily clad women is probably not going to help you stay committed to your fitness goals.

However, pictures of the activities you will be able to do once you are fit, or of you from a time you felt great, are going to be so much more effective in keeping you accountable day in and day out.

Another example: If you are someone who is creative and free spirited, having a super structured routine and schedule is not likely going to help you achieve much, like it would for a type A personality.

Truly understanding what works for you, is going to be game changing, especially if you tend to use the same techniques over and over that don’t truly do much for you.

Do some research to get some ideas and try each of them out. You may be surprised by what works for you.

There is one, however that it pretty universal: Investment.

Because nobody likes to waste something they have invested that is precious to them, whether thats money, time or things.

We just don’t appreciate and fully take advantage of the things we have gotten for free. That sucks, but its an unfortunate part of human nature.

It doesn’t have to be huge, just enough that it will motivate you to get your money’s worth. My suggestion? Combine the power of investment with that of a truly, well crafted planner and get double the accountability. Check out the Life Book planner that was created to incorporate your goals into your daily schedule as well as allow you to organize your entire life in one simple spot. Or try out the free one month version here.

I know figuring out both of these things may seem daunting but the wonderful thing is that they are not some natural talent you need to be born with. They are 100% learnable skills and, not to go all woo-woo on you, but once you have them, you will be UNSTOPPABLE!

I believe in you.

Now you just have to believe in yourself! If you are struggling with that, come join my free facebook group Goals for Greatness where we will help you gain confidence in yourself, learn the skills you need to achieve your goals and hold you accountable to them!

Hope to see you there!

Jennifer

Maybe it only happens once in a while or maybe its a common occurrence for you, but when we get overwhelmed by all the things on our plates it can easily derail the rest of our day or even longer.

Thankfully, there are some simple steps you can follow to greatly reduce those feelings of overwhelm and get yourself back on track in short order.

Do a brain dump

One of the reasons we feel so overwhelmed is because we are trying to juggle too much in our heads. The best way to get clarity on what actually needs to get done right away is to get it all down on paper. Write down everything bouncing around in your brain from to-do lists to events to things that are worrying you. All of it.

Get clarity

Now take a look at each item on your list and ask yourself if there is anything you can actually control concerning this item. If not, cross it off the list and move on to the next. This will eliminate those things you are worrying about but that you can’t change.

Once thats done, for each item thats left, ask yourself if there is a negative consequence to not dealing with it today, and if so, write down what that would be. After you have gone through the list regroup the items that have immediate significant negative consequences if not dealt with. These are the items you can going to concentrate on today. You will probably be surprised at how few there actually are.

Take some things off your plate

If the urgent items you have left is more then you can do in one day you have 4 options: Reschedule, delegate, eliminate or ask for help.

Maybe an employee could take one of the tasks off your hands, or perhaps theres an apt that can be rescheduled or maybe you just need to eliminate one of the items all together. You are only one person after all and ultimately if you don’t do this, somethings not going to get done anyway and that negative consequence is going to happen.

Next, take those 4 options and go through the rest of the less urgent items and see if you can reschedule, delegate, eliminate or ask for help. If you get overwhelmed often this is something you absolutely need to do because your plate is too full and something needs to go.

Consult a friend or mentor

We all have that person in our lives that we can count on to shoot straight with us. If you are struggling to see what you can get rid of, have them take a look at the list with an objective eye and see what they suggest. They may come up with solutions that you never would have thought of. Plus they will be able to tell you when something is just not as important as you are treating it.

Don’t have one of those? Join my Facebook group Goals for Greatness where myself and all the other awesome peeps in the group can be that for you. You will also find a ton of great free trainings and tips to help get you organized, productive and achieve your goals. Come join us here!

Get down to work

Now its time to take those urgent tasks and get to work. Remove distractions and concentrate on them, one at a time until they are done. Each one you complete and cross off your list is going to make you feel lighter and more energized and motivated to keep going.

If you are crazy strapped for time, go straight to this step as soon as you have identified those tasks that must get done today. You can sort through the rest of the list and consult a friend when the time sensitive stuff is done.

Don’t be afraid to take 5

This step probably should have gone first but if you are so overwhelmed by frustration that you want to break something because nothing is going right or you’re on the verge of a panic attack, take a few minutes to do an activity that calms you down first. Intense emotions are going to make this whole process harder then it really is.

So go for a short walk or listen to your favourite song to get yourself back down to earth and then grab a pen and a piece of paper and get to work!

We all get overwhelmed from time to time, no matter how organized our lives are. The key to moving past it is knowing what you are going to do when it happens and putting certain measures in place, like a priority system, to make sure you don’t take on more then you can truly handle while remaining sane.

Life can be crazy but you don’t have to be:)

Jennifer

Routines give you freedom.

Let me say that again;

Routines give you freedom.

The word routine gets a bad rap because its often associated with words like boring, same ol’ and stagnate.

And a routine certainly can be those things, but when you use them the right way, routines will give you the freedom of schedule and time you so crave.

The benefits of good routines

A well constructed routine does 2 things for you;

One, it ensures that you get those things done because, well, its a routine you do daily.

And two, when you do something the same way every day, you eliminate the time you waste deciding how and when you are going to do these things. So basically, it makes you more efficient.

That means that you get the important things done, quickly and efficiently each day, leaving you more time to do whatever the heck you want.

They don’t sound so bad now, do they?

Your routines must make sense

There is one caveat though…

You routines must be properly constructed and aligned with your goals.

What I mean by that is, if you have a routine every morning that includes more break time then work time and you also let multiple distractions like your phone and the tv compete for your focus, its not going to do you much good. Your routines need to follow the rules of productivity in order for them to be effective. Check out my free guide on productivity to find out to do this.

The point of a routine is to get things done quickly, so if your’s isn’t set up the right way allowing you to focus on what needs to get done, its not going to serve you.

Also, the things you do in your routine must be getting you closer to your goals. For example, if your goal is to make 6 figures in your business so you can outsource some of your work and have more time to travel or spend doing things you love each day, filling your day with housework routines is not going to be effective.

Use the 80-20 rule: make sure your routines are mostly the 20% of work you do that gets you 80% of the results.

Don’t confuse routine with comfort zone

Want your routines to be even more effective? Have them built around activities that push you out of your comfort zone.

Just because you do these tasks every day, doesn’t mean that they should be, well, routine. You know what they say, everything you want is just outside your comfort zone. Annoying, but true. So often the most important tasks we have to do each day are ones that are scary for us anyway, so make sure stepping outside your comfort zone is a daily part of your life.

Its true for bad routines too

Unfortunately, routines centered around bad habits have just as much power. Its often why its so hard to change bad habits because you keep doing the things that trigger you to do whatever bad habit it is you are trying to stop.

The easiest way to eliminate a bad habit is by removing the trigger, which is usually the routine you currently have in place. So instead of sitting on the couch after supper, which triggers you to snack all evening, go work on a project in another room or take a walk outside.

Change your routines = change your habits.

Which leads me to my last point.

Its the easiest way to encourage good habits

A well chosen routine has the power to help you adopt healthy habits. A habit is something you do automatically because something else triggered you to do it. So if the routines you have in place trigger you each day to do a healthy habit, not only has the routine made you more productive and efficient, it also has enabled you to take on healthy habits too.

Now thats a lot of bang for your buck!

The best way to create new routines

Its not enough to just say you are going to change your routines. They are, after all, routines so you tend to do them without much thought. To effectively end bad routines and start new ones you need to get really intentional about your time, until things have become automatic again.

The easiest way to do this is with a planner. Its #1 purpose is to plan your day so its the best place to write down your routines and track them until you do them without thinking. Even once you are at this point, a planner, in my opinion, the single best tool to help you manage your time and the tasks you do. Check out this one that allows you to organize all areas of your life and do all of your goal planning at the same time! (seriously, its a game changer!)

What do your routines look like? Are they helping you or hindering you? Check out my free productivity guide that will teach you the most important elements to consider when creating your routines.

Jennifer

Need some extra help or motivation to achieve your goals? Join my Facebook group Goals for Greatness where you will find a ton of free tips and tricks to help you reach your goals, as well as an awesome group of ambitious, like minded people just like you there to support you along the way.