#123 — How to Focus When You Feel Totally Overwhelmed or Unclear

You wake up in the morning, look at your to-do list, and find that you have 27 things on it. Then throughout the day, somehow projects just keep unfolding and expanding in front of you. No matter how much coffee you drink or deep breathing you do, you just feel totally overwhelmed by it all and don't know where to start. 

Sound familiar? It's an experience almost all of us can relate to, and these feelings of being overwhelmed can take even the best of us down.

Today Sarah shares her three best tips for how to focus and regain clarity when you're in the fog of overwhelm, so that you can keep going and get your most important work done. 

Having clear priorities, using quarterly and monthly planning, and getting a good nights’ sleep are all great tools for planning and mapping out your time—but as a parent? Yeah, that’s harder. Invariably, as a mother and a worker, unexpected projects and challenges will constantly get thrown in your lap. So how do you handle those days when you just can’t seem to get ahold of your to-do list or even figure out how to get started when so much is being asked of you?

If you are feeling swamped, or you're back in that place where it's hard to focus and you don't know what to do, listen in. This one's a good one.

IN THIS EPISODE WE TALK ABOUT

• The three tools Sarah uses when—despite her planning and best of intentions—she ends up feeling overwhelmed.
• The danger of prioritizing little wins and counting on that momentum to guide you through the day.  
• How many big projects Sarah believes people can truly prioritize at any given moment. 
• What “Yak Shaving” means and how to stop yourself once you realize you’ve gotten off course. 
• Why, intense metaphors aside, working moms need to not just “kill their darlings” but “stab their YouTube dreams in the eye.”
• How to use your calendar to prevent overwhelm and account for even the smallest tasks. 

FULL SHOW NOTES

Get the complete show notes with episode quotes, photos, and time stamps at http://www.startuppregnant.com/123.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• www.startuppregnant.com/ask
• www.startuppregnant.com/courses
• startuppregnant.com/question
• Annual, Quarterly, and Monthly Review Templates

 
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS EPISODE, CHECK OUT

• Taking a Maternity Leave When You Run Your Own Business — Episode #031 With Stacey Trock