How to prevent overwhelm when running a business

Feeling overwhelmed can manifest itself in different ways for different people. Maybe for you, noticing you’re feeling the strain starts with a pain in your stomach or bouts of insomnia. Or perhaps you find yourself overeating or cancelling social plans because you just have so much to do. However ‘overwhelm’ shows up for you and your business, if we had to guess we’d say you’d prefer the feeling to stop.

So what is overwhelm? 

According to the Collins English Dictionary, the meaning of overwhelmed is:

If you are overwhelmed by a feeling or event, it affects you very strongly, and you do not know how to deal with it.

It implies that your thoughts, emotions or senses overpower you and leave you unable to cope. 

Overwhelm is closely linked - in psychological terms - to imposter syndrome. It happens because we’re trying to do a really good job or trying to be the best. For some reason (and this is particularly true when running a business) we feel like we have to be Wonder Woman or The World’s Best Boss all of the time. And this leads to us holding ourselves to impossibly high standards, which we’d never in a million years expect from someone else.

Trying to live up to these impossible standards (and inevitably feeling like we’re always failing) is what creates that feeling of being permanently overwhelmed. The thoughts and feelings we have about our businesses take over and prevent us from being able to cope with the task at hand. Throw in an economic crisis or two, and it’s no wonder so many business owners are feeling more stressed than they can handle.

So how can you stop overwhelm?

The good news is that there are ways to tackle feelings of overwhelm. There are three relatively straightforward techniques you can start to use to get these feelings under control. 

Pay attention to the thing that you’re worried about. 

Is this something that hasn’t happened yet (imagining or projecting into the future)? Or is it something that has already taken place (a past action or conversation)? If it is, you need to tell yourself that these are things that you can’t actually change. Obsessing about them won’t change what could happen or what has already happened. Bring yourself back to the present moment and remind yourself that you’re okay right now. 

Ask yourself - who am I comparing myself to right now?

Comparisionitis (totally a real thing) can trigger or exacerbate feelings of overwhelm. It can lead you to do things you think other people expect you to do rather than what you actually want or need to do. 

It could be that you’re comparing yourself to a friend or family member, to someone on social media, or to a former colleague. Once you’ve identified who you’re comparing yourself to, you need to take any steps necessary to prevent further comparisonitis. Stop following them on social media for example. And give yourself a talkin’ to: you have no idea what’s really going on with them, so stop comparing your reality to their highlights reel. 

Remember that done is better than perfect. 

Write it down somewhere in big letters, or set it as your laptop wallpaper if you have to. Whatever you have to do to remind yourself that there is no such thing as perfect. Waiting until you’ve crafted the perfect social media post, designed the perfect logo, or planned the perfect presentation is all just an excuse not to do the thing you need to do. Instead, start with the most urgent tasks and just. get. them. done.

We promise, no one else will notice that they’re not ‘perfect’. 

Overwhelm is, well… overwhelming. Feeling the pressure to make your business an ‘overnight success’ - with the never-ending to-do lists that come with it - can lead even the most passionate business owner to dream about quitting. But if you can spot the signs of overwhelm and stop it in its tracks using the three techniques we’ve outlined here, you can get back to loving your business - imperfections and all!

Main photo by Usman Yousaf on Unsplash