When Tackling Your To-Do List Feels Like Punching in a Dream

There are those days, weeks (months even, if Mercury is out of retrograde and you walk backward around the coffee table three times chanting a mantra) where you get deep in the workflow and are setting up and knocking down every item on your to-do list. Ahhh, it feels so good, doesn’t it? You’re in control. A total boss-badass. And you think, “I can DO this! I can totally maintain this momentum!”

And then there is reality. Something might go wrong, or maybe it’s gone right and your client roster is full, your social calendar is bumpin’, and you’re ready to go all in on your schemes and dreams. But you’re already tired just thinking about it and your brain is foggy with overwhelm so you procrastinate, which leads to more overwhelm. And round and round you go.

This was exactly my reality last week. I got out of bed with a pounding headache and felt like I was practically vibrating. By 11:00am I was dizzy and my chest was tight. I kept looking at my planner going over and over in my head everything I had to keep up with. “Alright” I told me, “I know you don’t feel like it and you don’t know where to start, but pulling the covers over your head isn’t going to make you feel better. Do something. Anything that feels like forward motion. What can you control? What is looming next?” (I’m very good at giving myself pep talks sometimes. High five, me!) I made my bed, pulled on my happy blue yoga pants, smeared on some tinted moisturizer, and soldiered up.

Like any war, it's best to remove the weakest links first. Divide and conquer. I always chip away at overwhelming to-dos like this:

1. Get organized. 📝

I usually start by decluttering my desk. Visual overwhelm is a real thing. Then I have a brain dump. Whether it’s making a list of every single thing swirling around in there, or setting up tasks in Asana (I’m not an affiliate, just a happy little VA using the free version), I get it all out and in front of me. Visual control is also a real thing. Seeing it makes it much easier to determine what is actually necessary, what can be delegated/outsourced, and what can be scrapped altogether.

2. Do the easy things first. 💁‍♀️

Whatever I can knock out the quickest comes first. I usually respond to “easy” emails as the first order of business to keep my inbox clean and update my daily task list, then flag anything that will be more time consuming to be addressed later. Setting a twenty or thirty minute timer and completing any task that will take five minutes or less can completely change the trajectory of my day. As my pile dwindles and things get marked off my list two things happen: I gain momentum and I build focus. By the time I have to face the more daunting work I'm in the groove and there's not a long list of things taunting me while I do it.

3. Identify and prioritize the deadlines. 🕑

Next, I ask myself what must be done most urgently. First, I address any task that gets the business (mine and my clients’) paid this week. From there I prioritize deadlines relative to consequences. The nearest deadline with the greatest impact takes precedence over what may be due sooner, but is of less consequence, relatively speaking. For example, I’ll file my taxes due in three days before completing a blog post scheduled for tomorrow. By this point, my brain starts to relax and, more often than not, I discover that when I look back at the tasks I've completed I see that it really wasn’t that much to do, it was a lot to think about.

With the pressing deadlines out of the way and a much clearer mindset, I can start addressing the emails I flagged, meeting the next set of deadlines, and planning and prioritizing upcoming projects and ideas. Taking this approach of organizing, cinching up the easy things, and prioritizing deadlines gives me a roadmap when I’m so overwhelmed I’m stuck in analysis paralysis. Some research suggests that doing the easy work, as I’ve suggested, may keep you feeling stressed and distracted by the looming, more daunting assignments. Simply tune in to yourself and if you find that to be the case for you just switch it up! I personally feel more overwhelmed when I have a large quantity of tasks to complete versus having a few challenging tasks on the roster so I’m telling you what works for me. The rule here is to get organized then divide and conquer. It may look a little different for you and that’s okay.

If you have a system that works really well for you I’d love to hear about it! Seriously. I’m always looking for more efficient ways to approach workflows; tell me in the comments! On the other hand, if you’re struggling and need help assessing, strategizing, and implementing workflows I’m here to help each step of the way!

- Candi

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