When you’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed by a mountain of ‘to-dos’, try asking yourself the following list of questions (core questions plus ‘–>’ follow-up questions):
Get out a piece of paper or open up a Word file and answer the following questions by writing down whatever comes to your mind (stream of consciousness exercise):
Replacement Plan:
“If I got sick who would end up doing my work?”
–> “Would all of it need to get done?”
–> “Would some of my work be completed 80% as well by someone else?” (virtual assistant, junior staff in the office, contractor, etc.)
If so, find/hire that person and give them the majority of your work so you can focus on high-value activities that other people find difficult to replicate.
Fear-setting:
“What’s the worst that would happen if I failed at this?”
Write out the scenario with as much detail as possible – who’s involved and what does it look like.
–> “How certain am I that it would be that bad? How can I be so sure?” (poke some holes in your logic)
–> “How likely is it that I would bounce back? Have I bounced back from a similar event in the past? Is this time really that different?”
Non-Doing:
Isolate each ‘to-do’ item and ask yourself: “What if I simply didn’t do it?”
–> “What effect would that have 10 Days From Now?”
–> “How about 10 Months From Now?”
–> “How about 10 Years From Now?”
Asking this question helps you realize that many things that you deem ‘critical’ have very little impact on your future. Asking this question helps you realize that very few things have a major impact on your life.
Memento Mori:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news…but we’re all going to die someday :).
Death shouldn’t be something to scare you into doing something rash, but to help you remember what’s truly important.
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.” – Steve Jobs
“Knowing that I’ll be dead soon, what’s truly important in my life?” (even if you die in 40 years, those years could go by quickly)
Just ONE Thing:
Make a list of everything you need to do at this moment.
Look at the list and ask yourself:
“What ONE thing makes everything else seemingly unimportant or irrelevant at THIS TIME?”
–> “What’s not absolutely essential at this time?”
- Cross out 50% of that list and re-write the remaining 50% to make a new list.
- Ask the question again and cross out another 50%.
- Continue this process until you have 1 or 2 items remaining.
Set a 25-minute timer and commit yourself to working on one thing without self-criticism, self-doubt or worry about the future. Commit to ignoring the voice in your head and just do the movement needed to do the work. If doubt or fear come up just tell yourself you can think about it later, but right now you need to focus on what you’re doing. You have permission to be worried, stressed and overwhelmed after the timer is up.
If you had more than 1 item on your list, alternate working each item until you determine which one is more important at this time.
Happy Anyways:
“It sounds crazy, but what if I didn’t need to achieve it all to be happy?”
–> “What if I could be just as happy without it?” (extra money, status, promotion, etc.)
Less is More:
“What if I could achieve more by doing less?”
This question can often turn the feeling of overwhelm into a feeling of curiosity.