Being able to manage overwhelm as a new entrepreneur, might be one of the most important skills you’ll have to learn. Knowing how to sort through information and useful knowledge from useless knowledge, while also being able to organize what’s on your plate, is essential for you to create a business where you’re thriving and in control.

We’re overwhelmed in epidemic proportions today. I hope this blog post will give you a gentle guide to managing feeling overwhelmed in your new business. Whether it’s a part-time or full-time business, I hope you’ll bookmark this post for when your overwhelm is spinning out of control, so you can return to it and be reminded of ways you can get back to yourself.

Perfectionism is linked to feelings of being overwhelmed

Perfectionism is a major cause of overwhelm. Perfectionism is a fear that is rooted in having unrealistic expectations of yourself and fear of what you think other people think of you. Striving for perfection leaves no room for joy. Even when things are going well, you can’t enjoy it because you think you should be better or do better. A typical perfectionist belief is, that even as a beginner, our work has to be as good as someone who has been doing it for a long time.

As a creativity coach, blogger, and content creator with 3 kids, I wear many hats and have plenty to do. I know how it feels to be overwhelmed. Omg, do I?! I’m also a recovering perfectionist so this guide to managing overwhelm is tried and tested by me.

I use some of these tips and tools every day, and it works for me. I still get overwhelmed, Life doesn’t stop happening because I have some tools, but at least I know how to handle my overwhelm now. I hope it’ll do that for you too.

Tips to manage overwhelm as a new entrepreneur

Write all the jobs down on paper

Write everything down on a piece of paper, a calendar, a diary, or whatever you use. Often things seem worse when they are tangled up in our thoughts.

Make a list of everything that needs to be done. See if there is something you can cross off. Let some of it go if you can.  Prioritize the jobs, so the most important jobs are at the top of your list. That way, you’ll know where to start.

For added positive energy, try and put “I get to” in front of each task and see if you can feel an energy shift from “to-do” to “I get to do this, lucky me.”

See if you can add a little fun

Taking your creative work, and your business too seriously is also a significant part of feeling overwhelmed. If you tend to get all serious about every task related to your business, you’ll quickly lose the excitement of why you started in the first place.

Maybe try and ask yourself this question:

“How can I make this more fun?”

Creativity thrives on playfulness and asking small questions.

When you notice yourself being uptight, have a list of things to do to lighten up. Anything from watching a funny video on YouTube to dancing around the room will work. This makes the stress in your brain relax (your amygdala) and you get access to the front cortex (thinking brain and creativity). If you read this and think being silly is not for you, you definitely need it. :-)

Take small kaizen steps

One effective way to manage overwhelm is to learn the kaizen philosophy of using small steps for continuous improvement.

Kaizen is a synonym for taking small steps, asking small questions to activate the brain, celebrating with small rewards, and solving problems while they are still small.

When we break down the steps that are on our list, we often don’t break them down small enough.

A kaizen step is so tiny that you think it’s silly. When you think your step is so small it’s a bit ridiculous, that’s when you know it’s kaizen.

An example of a kaizen step could be:

You have to write a blog post. The first of your kaizen small steps could be simply to switch on your computer. The next could be to open a document.

Kaizen works because breaking steps down so tiny they become easy your amygdala in your midbrain relaxes and you get access to the front cortex, the thinking brain. By using steps that are so tiny, your amygdala stays “asleep”,  you can bypass it, and get to the part of your brain where thought and creativity are.

If you’re thinking switching on your computer won’t get the blog post done, you’re right. But what makes small steps so effective, is they make it easier for you to get started. Remember how being in a state of overwhelm can keep you stuck? Once you get started, most of the time you’ll keep going. You may not write the post in one go, but you’ll get started and this builds momentum.

Practice self-kindness, every day

Practicing self-kindness might be the most important creative tool you have. Become aware of your self-talk. You don’t get a better life by criticizing yourself. The default of your brain is to go to the negative thoughts, but with a little training, you can begin to treat yourself with the same kindness and friendliness you would a good friend.

As with kaizen, using self-kindness for overcoming feeling overwhelmed, is a gentle way to respect yourself and your creativity.

Self-kindness, patience, acceptance, and willingness, are all gentle ways to approach yourself and your work, and instead of adding to feelings of being overwhelmed, they open you up to inspiration and lightness.

Lower your expectations waayy down

Thinking you have to do everything perfectly, or to an incredibly high standard, is a major cause for feeling overwhelmed.

There is nothing wrong with healthy striving to do the best you can. That’s great. That’s different from striving for perfection, which is fear of what other people might think of you.

Managing overwhelms can also be about allowing yourself to feel overwhelmed for a little while. There will be times when it all seems a bit much and that’s ok. It’s normal. The creative process has ups and downs, as does business, and they have their own cycles. Sometimes you have a clear vision for where you’re going and other times that vision gets blurred.

Examples of lowering your expectations:

• How much you can achieve in a day. There are days when you don’t get much done. That’s okay and part of the journey.
  
  

• The quality of your craft (writing, painting, designing, etc.) Perfection is unrealistic and you still learn a little every time you create.
  
  

• Write a “shitty first draft” as Anne Lamott calls the first version of what you write. Create with the intention of creating bad work. It’s wonderfully freeing.
  
  

• Allow yourself to be a beginner. Everyone you see who is successful now was once a beginner too.
  
  

Create your own personal structure for working

A final tip to this gentle guide to managing overwhelm as a new business owner is to create structure in your working day.

Once you have your list of jobs to do, and you have broken them down into small kaizen steps, it’s time to plot them into a system of structure that works for you.

Most creatives I know, have resistance to a structure. Many of us creatives don’t like following a strict system or rigid structure. So that’s not what I’m suggesting here.

Only you know how you work best. And if you haven’t found that out yet, don’t worry, you will. But I truly recommend you keep trying to find a system of structure that works for you.

I don’t know anyone who is intentional about learning and growing and doesn’t use a system of structure. That’s why you see many successful business owners selling calendars. They have found a system of getting work done that works for them, and they want to help others do the same.

A simple way to start creating a structure for your work is to break different jobs into days or weeks.

This is how I personally work at the moment. I have put my jobs into my diary and that way I know every day when I go to bed what I’ll be working on the next day. That’s all I have to focus on that day, and I relax in the knowledge that I’ll be doing something else to move my business forward tomorrow.

You can try and set a timer too. Work for 15 minutes, then take a 5-minute break. Or some other interval.

For you to manage overwhelm and not get stuck or freeze, it’s important you use a system that works for you.

Feeling overwhelmed is normal, my love.

 As a final thought to this gentle guide to managing overwhelm when starting a business, I’ll say that sometimes the best thing you can do at the moment is to walk away. Take a break or go for a walk. Taking a complete brain and body break is sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself. As you know, business is a marathon, your creativity is never going to leave you and you’re on your own journey.

Feeling overwhelmed is almost the norm these days so having this gentle guide to manage overwhelm will help you navigate your situation.

I hope you’ll take the importance of self-kindness with you from this guide on your journey.

Can you get rid of overwhelm completely? Probably not. But you can minimize it and learn how to manage overwhelming situations with the tips in this guide.

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