Dealing with Overwhelm with Megan Flatt
It’s another part of our Well Planned series on the Plan Simple Podcast. I’m talking again my friend Megan Flatt, a business coach to Mama CEOs and pro at planning. We’re taking on a question from the audience today. Angela is getting back into her business and blog and feeling really overwhelmed — and like she needs to be making some money.
Megan and I agree that getting all your ideas out on paper helps when you’re facing overwhelm. Once it’s down on paper, you stop worrying about the things you might forget. Plus you can start to make sense of things—figure out what has to happen now (hint: It’s not everything), what you can hold off on, delegate, or let go of all together.
We dive into getting past overwhelm, dealing with breaking back in after a break, and both practical and mindset approaches to the money piece.
We talk about:
- Writing down the stories in your head and seeing if they are even true
- Using a brain dump to get out all your ideas and a 90-day plan to make sense them
- Starting with the results you want
- The importance of grounding yourself so that you can listen to your intuition
- Making the right next decision instead of getting paralyzed by all the steps
- Doubling down on what works
Doable Changes
KNOW THE RESULTS YOU WANT. Before you take the next step or even create a plan, think about what results you want. If you know where you are headed, you can make better decisions about how you choose to spend time, money, and other resources. So right now, get clear on your results.
MAKE THE RIGHT NEXT MOVE. Are paralyzed by all the things you could do or feel like you should do, or by all the steps to get to your goal? Make one decision. What is the one next thing you need to do? Decide that and do it today. Then repeat.
LISTEN TO YOURSELF. Most of the time, even when you are overwhelmed or feeling really uncertain, you know what you want and need to do. We offer a few of ways listen to yourself. Try getting really quiet. This might mean meditating or going for a walk or doing a big braindump and then covering it up so you can breathe into the space in your head. Listen to what your intuition tells you. Say what you are going to do and notice how your body feels—do you tense up or light up? That’s a clue. Or literally listen to yourself. Megan suggests talking to a good friend, one who can listen without advising, because sometimes just hearing yourself say an idea aloud gives you clarity. Pick one of these tools and try listening to yourself the next time you feel overwhelmed.
