Calm the Overwhelm by Saying “No”

I received an email recently that summed it up best…

“I’m overwhelmed, over stimulated, interested in everything … recently got a promotion…have more responsibility that I don’t feel prepared to handle…feel like quitting and hiding from everyone.  I’m spinning my wheels and not accomplishing anything…I’m burnt out to the point of avoiding everything, and not caring what happens and really creating a point of no return for myself.”

Overwhelm is everywhere.  There are so many things that you think you should do, have to do, or want to do.  How do you find your way through the maze of these ideas in order to accomplish anything?

For many people, especially entrepreneurs like myself, the overwhelm often comes in the form of ideas.  It might be projects or programs that you want to create or take part in, ideas to follow up on, events to attend, people to connect with and even clients to work with.

New ideas are tantalizing.  To me they symbolize “bright, shiny object syndrome” better than anything else.  You find yourself reaching out and grabbing them.  Unfortunately, the reality is that when you reach out and grab too many they end up sitting in piles on your desk, or muddled in your mind.  The ideas aren’t bright and shiny anymore, in fact they get old and tarnished.  What’s worse is that they somehow silently mock you as you get sucked up into the next best thing.  You feel defeated and guilty and you promise yourself you’ll get back to it really soon.

In order to fight that feeling of defeat it is important to consciously decide what you are going to work on and what you are going to give yourself permission to say “No” to.  This is true for ideas or projects that you come up with or that others ask you to do.

When you say “No” you define your boundaries. It is a sign of respect to yourself as well as to whoever else asks you to do things.  By saying no to something you allow yourself to truly invest in the things that you decide to do.  When you say no to someone else you explain to them that the idea is a good one but that you won’t be able to do it justice.

Here’s a recommendation: When a new “bright and shiny” project presents itself, either one of your own or someone else’s, follow the following four steps BEFORE you grab on:

1. Don’t say “Yes” immediately.  Take a little time to think it through.
2. Make sure you really understand the scope of the project including deadlines.  Are there any answers you need so that you can make an informed decision?
3. Consider what you will get out of the project versus the time and effort you need to put in.  Is the payoff worth it?
4. Consider that when you say “Yes” to something you say “No” to something else.  Is this worth saying “Yes” to?

Remember that saying “No” to one thing allows you to say “Yes” to other things and gives you the time and space to do those things well.

What are you going to say “no” to?  Leave a comment here to let me know.