Business owners, especially solopreneurs, often experience symptoms of overwhelm. This often feels like not enough time, energy drain, being pulled in several directions at once, and an inability to focus. Overwhelm feels debilitating and stressful.
If you feeling like you're "spinning your wheels" perhaps the following analogy will help. Winter driving can sometimes involve getting stuck, and if you accelerate while your vehicle is stuck in the snow, you only dig yourself in deeper! The same is true for your business; the harder you work, the more effort you expend, the more stuck you end up feeling. If you are working harder and spending longer hours on your business while continuing to feel stuck, the overwhelm comes with trying to balance everything while wanting to move your business forward, and as your focus and energy diminish, your sense of overwhelm increases.
The solution? Evaluate your work, your habits, and your willingness to make positive changes. Here are some brain science-based suggestions to help business owners move out of overwhelm - or avoid it completely:
1. Develop a plan. This may seem obvious, but many solopreneurs operate spontaneously according to external demands. This is particularly true of creatives; however, it's important to have a business plan that keeps you grounded and operating from that level.
In order to create a workable plan, you'll need to harness the power of your will to make changes in your business. The brain is capable of forging new connections to hone skills and modify old habits, but also likes to conserve energy by resisting new neuronal connections, so you'll need to ignite your will to change by forming a clear purpose. Ask yourself what might happen if you don't create change. What opportunities might be lost? What benefits will come with your proposed plan and changes? What will it be like when your changes become a habit?
2. Operate from priorities. Once you have a plan in place it's important to work from focused priorities, which helps to keep your energy focused. Without priorities it's easy to be in reactive mode. If your priorities are clear, you can stay task-focused, which will help you to be calmer and more focused energetically.
If you want to experience enhanced clarity and focus in your business, you'll need to develop neural pathways in your brain. One way to do this is to ask yourself: How does a clear and focused person sound when speaking, laughing, acting questions? How does a clear and focused person listen, walk, sit, gesture? What does a clear and focused think about?
3. Develop systems for your business. Create systems and a process that works for you and your business. You might try using a journal to record your creative impulses so that you can stay task-focused. This way you'll be taking action, but still staying focused on your current task.
If you become distracted from your stated direction by feelings of anger, annoyance, confusion, jealousy, or other such feelings, brain research provides a way to deal with your distraction - by labeling the feeling. Neuroscience calls this "labeling the affect", and as we do so, the part of the brain feeling the emotion is calmed, so that we can return to clarity and purpose. Practice making mental notes throughout the day such as "I am eating" or "I am pleased" or "I am thinking about the proposal." As your facility with this practice increases, you will find yourself able to remain calm in the eye of the storm.
4. Estimate realistic time-lines for your business goals and projects. The timelines allow you to feel as though your business development is unfolding at the proper pace, without feeling pressured to have everything done at this moment. If you mentally rehearse how you will feel once your goals and project timelines are complete, your skill levels improve and your brain is changed. Mental rehearsal is an effective tool for self-leadership.
5. Give yourself the gift of support. Successful business owners are willing to accept outside support and create systems of accountability. Without support your unproductive habits (those that are your 'default') and "inner" obstacles will continue to create bottlenecks in your business. A mentor or coach can give you an invaluable and objective perspective, assisting you to change the course of your direction by managing your inner resources, attaining optimal living strategies and expanding your influence, leveraging your time - and working less - to contribute and achieve more.
Contribution by Sue Stebbins
If you feeling like you're "spinning your wheels" perhaps the following analogy will help. Winter driving can sometimes involve getting stuck, and if you accelerate while your vehicle is stuck in the snow, you only dig yourself in deeper! The same is true for your business; the harder you work, the more effort you expend, the more stuck you end up feeling. If you are working harder and spending longer hours on your business while continuing to feel stuck, the overwhelm comes with trying to balance everything while wanting to move your business forward, and as your focus and energy diminish, your sense of overwhelm increases.
The solution? Evaluate your work, your habits, and your willingness to make positive changes. Here are some brain science-based suggestions to help business owners move out of overwhelm - or avoid it completely:
1. Develop a plan. This may seem obvious, but many solopreneurs operate spontaneously according to external demands. This is particularly true of creatives; however, it's important to have a business plan that keeps you grounded and operating from that level.
In order to create a workable plan, you'll need to harness the power of your will to make changes in your business. The brain is capable of forging new connections to hone skills and modify old habits, but also likes to conserve energy by resisting new neuronal connections, so you'll need to ignite your will to change by forming a clear purpose. Ask yourself what might happen if you don't create change. What opportunities might be lost? What benefits will come with your proposed plan and changes? What will it be like when your changes become a habit?
2. Operate from priorities. Once you have a plan in place it's important to work from focused priorities, which helps to keep your energy focused. Without priorities it's easy to be in reactive mode. If your priorities are clear, you can stay task-focused, which will help you to be calmer and more focused energetically.
If you want to experience enhanced clarity and focus in your business, you'll need to develop neural pathways in your brain. One way to do this is to ask yourself: How does a clear and focused person sound when speaking, laughing, acting questions? How does a clear and focused person listen, walk, sit, gesture? What does a clear and focused think about?
3. Develop systems for your business. Create systems and a process that works for you and your business. You might try using a journal to record your creative impulses so that you can stay task-focused. This way you'll be taking action, but still staying focused on your current task.
If you become distracted from your stated direction by feelings of anger, annoyance, confusion, jealousy, or other such feelings, brain research provides a way to deal with your distraction - by labeling the feeling. Neuroscience calls this "labeling the affect", and as we do so, the part of the brain feeling the emotion is calmed, so that we can return to clarity and purpose. Practice making mental notes throughout the day such as "I am eating" or "I am pleased" or "I am thinking about the proposal." As your facility with this practice increases, you will find yourself able to remain calm in the eye of the storm.
4. Estimate realistic time-lines for your business goals and projects. The timelines allow you to feel as though your business development is unfolding at the proper pace, without feeling pressured to have everything done at this moment. If you mentally rehearse how you will feel once your goals and project timelines are complete, your skill levels improve and your brain is changed. Mental rehearsal is an effective tool for self-leadership.
5. Give yourself the gift of support. Successful business owners are willing to accept outside support and create systems of accountability. Without support your unproductive habits (those that are your 'default') and "inner" obstacles will continue to create bottlenecks in your business. A mentor or coach can give you an invaluable and objective perspective, assisting you to change the course of your direction by managing your inner resources, attaining optimal living strategies and expanding your influence, leveraging your time - and working less - to contribute and achieve more.
Contribution by Sue Stebbins
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