By goodness, I think I’ve finally licked overwhelm!
Six days into 2010 and my year-end is done, reconciled and ready for the accountant. Not only that, but I’m making great headway on a number of other projects that combined had me overwhelmed to the point of complete inertia.
In addition to the books, I’m juggling home renovations, the AffiliateBloggerPro project, a new book, Affiliate Summit preparations (Jan 16-19), a surprise birthday party (Jan 20th), winter vacation planning (Jan 23 – Feb 10), workup to Valentine’s Day for 101Date.com, and queuing up posts for all my sites while I’m unavailable for almost 4 weeks…not to mention eating, sleeping, snow shoveling and other forms of exercise.
Phew.
Under normal circumstances my brain would seize at the prospect of all those tasks and you’d find me on the couch in the afternoon watching something inane like a Real Housewives of Orange County marathon for hours on end, trying to relieve the stress.
Let me tell you, that form of ‘stress-relief’ doesn’t work.
Instead, I lie there thinking about everything I have to do and berate myself for having accomplished absolutely nothing, while the real housewives go about spending $18,000 on a 10 year old’s birthday party and buying $5000 handbags (for which I berate them even more). 🙂
But I finally discovered how to overcome the overwhelm and it was actually easy to do.
Take for instance the year-end. I have always been accounting phobic and to make matters worse, I changed from Quicken to QuickBooks this year, the multi-currency version, no less.
On January 2nd, I realized that it would be easier to do my GST (Goods and Services tax) submission for January 30th, if my books were up-to-date. Then I realized that (despite good intentions) I’d made no entries since firing my useless bookeeper in June.
Ugh.
Six months of entries. Considering I’m leaving on January 16th, talk about overwhelm!
But… when I looked at it positively, I realized that I had 13 days.
13 days, 6 months, half a month per day… … hmmmm.
I thought I could chunk the process down and spend an hour per day doing entries and have it done before I left for Affiliate Summit, and still have time to work on other projects.
Turned out that I was wrong.
The data entry went far faster than I expected — especially after I figured out what I was supposed to do with those multi-currency options.
Here’s the crux…
Just deciding to start by doing a little bit and limit the time I spent per day got me off the couch.
And once I started to see the results, I got on a roll. I discovered that the work wasn’t nearly so heinous as I presumed.
It never really is.
So, there’s the big tip for overcoming overwhelm.
Don’t fret over having to do the WHOLE darned thing at once. Nothing ever happens that way. Just as a book is written page by page and houses are built board by board, your project too will be completed step by step.
Give yourself a time limit during which you’ll only focus on one aspect of your project. That way you won’t get fatigued by doing one thing for too long. Best of all, you’ll feel great that you’ve made some progress as opposed to none.
Now all you have to do is get off the couch and start. 🙂
Hi,
What a great way to look at it. Break it down into small chunks, instead of looking at the whole picture all at once. I like it.
I’m gonna give it a try, starting with my quicken entries. I tend to be a real procastinator, and then I stay up all night stressing getting it done on time.
By the way, how hard was it to pick up quickbooks after having used quicken? I’ve had thoughts of stepping up to the big boy program, but am real comfortable with quicken and at this point, it does everything I need.
Thanks for the idea. Say goodbye to overwhelm.
Mona
Hi Romona,
Now that I’ve used it, I actually prefer Quickbooks to Quicken.
I resisted the transition for years and now I’m so pleased that I’ve finally done it. Not to mention the fact that it will save me thousands in accounting / bookkeeping fees every year. (My accountant’s bookkeeper used to do ALL my entries at year-end.)
Cheers,
Ros
Cheers to you! I am doing the same thing with all the year end stuff- I made my to-do-list and prioritized it with plenty of breaks! Now if I could only do it with the affiliate marketing!
It’s always a great reminder to learn how to overcome overwhelm with breaking it down into small achievable goals. I made a goal to develop a daily writing habit and what I’ve found to work for me thus far is to create an outline first. Even if it just says Intro, Points, and Conclusion. It somehow works better than having a blank screen staring at me — eventually the ideas start flowing in and it’s not so hard. I hope this momentum keeps up throughout the year 🙂 Kudos to you for tackling the accounting feat.
Ros,
Thanks so much for sharing your experience with QuickBooks. Glad to hear your transition from Quicken was easier and faster than you expected. I’ve often found that the anticipation (and fear) of the new and unknown is often MUCH worse than the reality that eventually unfolds.
QB is an awesome program and like any full-featured software program, can appear quite intimidating to beginners. And you’ve shown that it CAN be used successfully by breaking up the work into manageable chunks and concentrating on the specific task that needs to be done rather than attempting to master everything about the program before beginning to use it.
It’s been my experience (and I’ve seen it with many clients as well) that the fastest way to learn new software is by using it to get real work done, not by trying to read a 3-inch thick manual about it (though those are great for reference when you get stuck).
For anyone needing a bit of support when making the move to QB, I’ve got some tips and training products on my web site.
Thanks again for sharing your story.
Sheryl
Well said. Sometimes I too get so overwhelmend I can’t do anything. Glad to hear others have the same problem. Thanks Rosalind for the reminder. This is a tip I will start putting into practice today with my own receipts that are piled high in a file folder. I always tell others to break things down into manageable pieces but I guess I better practice what I preach. have a great day.
I have been hired to do this as a job this is overwhelm!
1.Article Marketing
2.Content Marketing
3.Forum Marketing
4.Squidoo Marketing
5.Audio Marketing
6.Teleconferencing Marketing
7.YooNo Video Marketing
8.StumbleUpon Marketing
9.Video Marketing
10.Opt in Traffic Marketing
11.Social Media Marketing
12.Directory Marketing
13.Ebay Marketing
14.Craiglist Marketing
15.BackStage Marketing
16.Web 2.0 Marketing
17.YouTube Marketing
18.Kaboodle Marketing
19.Twitter Marketing
20.Power Linking Marketing
21.Vlogcast Marketing
22.Word Press Marketing
23.Reverse Polarity Marketing
24.Linkbacks Marketing
25.Pings Marketing
26.Webinar Marketing
27.Online Classified Ads Marketing
28.Ezine Marketing
29.Email Marketing
30.Bookmark Marketing
31.Hubpages Marketing
32.Facebook Marketing
33.Myspace Marketing
34.Blogs Marketing
35.Wiki and Wikipeda Marketing
36.Tazoodle Marketing
37.PR Press Release Marketing
39.Weebly Marketing
The simple things are best Thanks, Rosalind, for the encouragement. Here in the UK we also face an end of January tax date – will be using these tips as I haven’t got started yet!
Hi, Rosalind,
It’s the same way with writing a book. It you break the writing down into small “chunks” and worry ONLY about the chunk you’re writing at the moment, eventually you get the entire book written.
Happy New Year!
Suzanne Lieurance
When Your Pen Won’t Budge, Read The Morning Nudge!
Rosalind,
Read your book. Built this website from it. Thought you might like to see what 1 of your students has done. http://www.topfivepocketknife.com
Thanks,
Dave S.
Hi Ros,
I’m glad I’m not the only one suffering from overwhelm. It gets frustrating at times,but,breaking everything into small, doable pieces, trying to adhere to a reasonable schedule, and being grateful for the little victories all help. I try to appreciate how far I’ve come in the last 6 months, and put the next 6 months into proper perspective.
All the Best.
That’s right! All it takes is to decide to do something about it and take one step at a time. That’s it!
So simple but so true. Chunking up any project helps keep one from getting overwhelmed, but I find that even after chunking it up, I still need to laser focus on only the current chunk or I still flounder. My New Years resolution (one of the many) is to do a better job of staying focused on the “chunk d’jour.”
Thanks for the reminder Ros and Happy New Year to you!
The hardest part of any required task is just getting started. Even if you spend as little as fifteen minutes gathering your financial records together or filling the sink with hot soapy water to wash dishes you just need to get the ball rolling. I often make myself do this and then find I don’t want to stop the task until it’s finished. Inch by inch anything’s a cinch (US only).
This article came at a great time. I felt the same way last night with all the things I wanted to accomplish this year.
So feeling overwhelmed, I said what’s the point. I decided to spend the night doing what normal Americans do… I laid on the couch and watched minding numbing television until I fell asleep. Terminator 2 was the last thing I remembering seeing.
This morning, I woke up, saw your article and feel mentally better.
Now its time to be an “abnormal American” again.
Moving Forward,
Kendall Matthews
Love your ‘Hit the Couch’ response to actually doing something Rosalind.
Sounds exactly like me. I’m suffering from exhaustion having flown 27 hours from the UK (Family Christmas) to New Zealand.
I have to get going. But when I look seriously at what I have to do, it seems to look endless and lack luster. But I’ll grab your idea and get going: “…Just deciding to start by doing a little bit and limit the time I spent per day got me off the couch…”
Off I go!
Jonathan
Hi Roz,
This is so weird because this was a realization I just came to yesterday when I started charting my business goals for 2010.
It’s really important to just start somewhere and let things just kind of happen. Limiting the time is also key like you’ve said. The important point is that nothing you do can’t be undone or changed later. But if you never get anything on paper you have nowhere to go and nothing to build on.
Another great and timely post.
Jeff
Hey Rosiland,
I TOTALLY endorse this method! 🙂
Think of a puzzle – its easy to get overwhelmed thinking about how you’re going to get all those 500 pieces together eventually.
But we all know that you look at the box (the goal) and start building it piece-by-piece.
As you continue to build it, the picture/goal gets clearer and you put pieces together much easier and more quickly – until you get to the point where it’s almost effortless.
I hope this isn’t spamming, but I have a couple free tools to help wrap your mind around this concept and get things done (there’s no sign-up or catch):
http://www.theactionmachine.com/how_to_hit_your_goals.htm
Hope it helps, and have fun on your vacation!
Derek Franklin
I actually prefer Quickbooks to Quicken too and I resisted it for years also. I had ‘the crud’ over Christmas and New Years and got absolutely nothing done. (It was all I could do to breathe!) Now that it’s over, I feel great and am ready to get back to business as usual. There’s a lot to be said for taking a respite too, no matter how you get it!
Hi Ros, thanks! You always hit right on it. My personal nightmare is clutter ~ this article is just the inspiration I need to just get chunks done in between other stuff!
Donna
Hi Ros! This is a great post – especially for this subject this time of year when accounting/tax phobias kick into full gear (myself included)! This is also a great coaching technique I use with clients for just about everything and you can use it on yourself too: “What is one small thing you can do right now to move you one step closer to your goal without feeling overwhelmed and stuck?” If accountability/encouragement is needed, add “When will you complete it and how will I know when you have completed it?” For some, a reward is also in order once it is completed! It is also my own secret for “tricking” myself into doing something I really do not want to do. I agree to just do one small part of it and once I start, I can’t stop myself! 🙂 When all else fails, I call my amazing Virtual Assistant for help! I am finally giving in too and setting up QuickBooks with the help of my VA. I wish you all a year of amazing productivity and prosperity!
Discover Your Passion & Follow Your Dreams,
Michelle Sanchez
Really liked the overwhelm article. However, when I checked the related posts, I was particularly interested in the one regarding “a cure for email addicts and other stuff” I went to that post and tried to go to the temptation post by Jim Edwards and got an error message. Can you tell me where to go to read the article?
Thanks,
Sylvia
I truly enjoy your articles, especially the ones that “own up to being normal”.
I’ve used QB for years, even when I was in the ‘business’ world. Now that I’m in the Internet world, it’s even better/easier to use/simpler especially when ‘transferring’ invoices. I believe, once you’ve used it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t go with it long ago.
BE BLESSED in “2010”
[WOW, I can hardly believe it]
Thank you so much. Like other people say it’s a relief just to see others have exactly the same problem and the tip about setting a time limit is a very good idea. God Bless you 🙂
GOD bless you for being so “down to earth” with us and for sharing how you overcome all the obstacles you find yourself facing! *HUGS* 😀
Thank you. I have been pondering the number of things I have to do this month. Today I decided to go through my emails again and I read this article. Thank you for the reminder. I am going to DO something tonight. Thanks again.