Managing stress and deadlines

Been there done that, felt awful.

So, these are three little things that work for me because sometimes I need to remind myself that putting things off will never be helpful.

Start
Beginning as soon as possible gives you the most amount of time to work on your thing. I’ve found that it’s often when I leave things until the last minute I don’t have time to work through the challenging bit which shows up as things being too difficult when maybe what I needed was more time.

Plan
So I’m a planner. I find that it helps me feel less overwhelmed and gives me the structure I need. Otherwise I get caught up in my thoughts and nothing gets done. It also makes things easier for when you’re doing the work and leaves less room for distraction.

Talk
A recent lesson I’ve learnt. If you’ve started and made some plans but are still finding things difficult or maybe if it’s just stressful, talking helps . You might not think it’s true but you might be surprised. Voicing how you feel can be freeing and also depending on who you speak to you might get some helpful advice or a fresh perspective.

What works for you?

Meeting expectations

Not those of others but your own.

I think a lot of people have expectations for what they want out of life. And despite the popular phrase that goes something like ‘If you’re dreams don’t scare you they’re not big enough’, high expectations can be overwhelming.

But something that I’ve learnt is that you have to be committed and pace yourself. If you truly want to achieve something it shouldn’t be conditional, you should be dedicated to it.

I’ve also found it useful to check in and like to refer back to something Seth Godin once said about how you’re either talking to the wring people or you’re not making good enough stuff.

And I’m at a point where I can see that just because I’m trying hard doesn’t mean what I’m producing is good enough for the outcome that I want.

When that happens I take a step back and re-group. I think about what I’m doing that is good and how I can make it better.

My expectations of myself are quite frankly ridiculous which is why I find them overwhelming. Plus I often make the mistake of focusing on too much on the end goal instead of simply just doing the work.

I don’t have a roundup or a takeaway as I’m still learning how to manage the expectations I have of myself.

However, what I will share is that if you find yourself getting overwhelmed or frustrated you probably need to change what you’re doing or the way you’re thinking.

Who you are and who you want to be

Through discovering the kind of person that I want to become I’ve learnt a lot about who I am.

It’s interesting to observe yourself and how you interact with others. Are you kind to yourself, what are your relationships like, how do you show up in different situations.

When you uncover the things you need to work on it can be hard to accept them in a loving way and not get frustrated at how much work you have to do.

But that awareness is important. Being able to see yourself as you are is important and even though you might feel like the work is too much or overwhelming you don’t have to do it all right now.

You just have to start.

Then work your way through it bit by bit, until eventually you’ll be transformed.

Unfinished business

What happened to all those plans you made?

Starting is always exciting and finishing is always the aim. But somehow you let stuff get in the way of your plans.

You focused too much on the problems instead of how to make things happens.

You used your free time passively and felt like you needed more hours in the day.

You ran out of steam.

You listened to that person who said it wouldn’t work.

You lost faith in the plan.

You got stick and didn’t push through.

If your plans are often ending up unfinished you might want to figure out why. You might want to slow down and not get carried away with the joy of starting something new.

You might want to learn to stick things out until the end because some things are worth finishing.

Is it helping?

A question worth asking when you’re trying to overcome feeling discontent or stuck.

So let’s say you’re feeling unsatisfied with where you’re at. What are you doing about it?

What are you doing to get past where you’re at and more importantly is what you’re doing helping?

For example if you’re feeling uninspired to create, what are you doing?

Scrolling social media, taking a walk, watching Netflix or youtube, trying to create in spite of the ‘block’, avoiding creating until the feeling passes etc.

Whatever it may be ask yourself ‘is this helping?’

Social media could inspire you or overwhelm you because you already don’t feel great and now you’re filling your mind with other people’s stuff.

But maybe that walk refreshes you or creating when you don’t feel like it allows you to get past the not so good stuff and onto the stuff that’s great.

However, if it’s not helping do something else.

What do you need?

In moments of stress and panic it’s important to know what it is that you need.

It could be a drink of water, to take a walk, to stretch your body, deep breaths or even someone to talk to.

The great thing about knowing what you need is that when these moments come up they become easier.

Instead of your body getting worked up, your chest getting tight and your breaths shallow you can instead just go for a walk.

I find EFT to be incredibly useful in situation of overwhelm. The combination of repetitive tapping and comforting words can totally shift my physiology.

I love that it’s free, almost anyone can do it and it can be done anywhere.