This week my advice to you when you’re feeling overwhelmed and under pressure is two part.
Firstly, make a list of all the things you need to do. Break it down to teeny tiny steps. Don’t get too hung up on making sure you’ve got every job covered – you don’t want to end up running out of time to get shit done. (I mentioned this strategy to my husband the other day, and said it kind of made me feel like that old episode of Red Dwarf where Rimmer spends so much time revising his revision timetable that he runs out of time to revise. Husband laughed in recognition of my antics and then asked me which task I was going to knock off my list right now. Good man, he’s been living with my Alchemist tendencies for a while and recognises the pitfalls!).
Now, the next stage is to look at the list – this is going to feel unsettling, because it’s going to feel potentially unwieldy, but that’s okay. You’ve got to get objective now and triage the shit out of that thing. Ask yourself:
- What is the most important/ time sensitive task?
- What has to be done first so other things can happen?
- Where are the easy wins?
- Are there are tasks I can put off?
- What am I absolutely dreading doing?
Alrighty, now the game is afoot!
Pick a dread task, a time sensitive task, plus one other. Nailing the dread task will feel audacious, and you’ll probably save yourself a whole heap of time that would just have been wasted in fear and procrastination.
The time sensitive task is an obvious one, but you’ll be glad that you’re no longer fretting about it. And number three will feel like a winner.
When you feel completely stuck, unable to focus or doomed to failure, that’s when you start to hit the easy wins. Make sure that no matter what kind of task you do, or how big a chunk of time and energy it takes up, you tick off each section that you’ve completed.
Let me give you an example. I’m launching my first book, Hot Mess Alchemist, in July. There are a million moving pieces to a book launch. If my list was to say:
- Book launch party venue
- Complete final edits and launch
- Send out excerpts for reviews
I would stay overwhelmed and get fack all done. Instead my list says:
- Launch party venue
- Make a list of possibles
- Short list two
- call/email for availability/ prices
- Decide and book
- 2. Complete final edits
- Front cover
- Back cover
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Yadda yadda..
- Upload manuscript to KDP
- Research categories
- Add reviews
3. Send out excerpt for reviews
- Create 20 page pdf excerpt of book
- Contact 5 blurbers – yes? Then send
- Contact 10 blurbers – yes? Then send
- Contact 15 blurbers – yes? Then send
See what I mean – there’s a LOT of detail in my list, but that helps me to see exactly what I need to do, chunk by chunk and because I’m looking and doing small bits I can cross them off and see that I’m making progress and achieving.
The second part is to take breaks away from your desk. Especially if you feel stressed. Trust me, sitting at your desk feeling anxious will not get things done any quicker nor will they be done any better. Taking 20 minutes to get a glass of water, take a walk, and move your body will reset your ability to focus. You’ll be able to make clearer decisions and it will help you to feel calmer and more grounded.
If you are at the crunch point where taking a break feels counterintuitive, then you are probably at the point where you need a break the most.
Both of these techniques feel counterintuitive – why would you want to make your list longer? Who has time to go for a walk? But they work, they really do.
Life’s a lot more fun when you work smarter.