I’m hearing that a lot of us are facing overwhelm right now, with a mountain of things clamouring for our attention on a variety of channels.

In response, I wanted to take you through a three-step process I revert back to whenever I’m feeling the waves of overwhelm threatening to swamp me.

A is for ANCHOR YOURSELF - start with grounding yourself in what matters most

B is for BRAIN-DUMP - make a note of all the things you need to do

C is for CATEGORISE - sort and filter through your brain-dump to define where to invest your time and energy

Read to find out more - as well as two BONUS additional steps that can make all the difference and five ways we could work together to support you with this in 2021.

Step 1: A is for ANCHOR YOURSELF

This first step requires you to step back from it all for a moment. Why are you here in this context? What are you ultimately looking to achieve?

You know that feeling when you get to the end of a day, a week or a year and it feels like you’ve just been a hamster on a wheel the whole time and not made any real progress towards the things that matter?

Finding things to do is easy. Doing the things that light us up, or move us forward takes continuous and conscious attention.

You’ve been busy sure, but have you been HUSTLING smart?

Take a moment to reflect on your anchor points. Think about the current context that’s giving you overwhelm and focus on things that are above the day to day…

What’s your purpose, what gets you out of bed in the morning? Your focus areas or goals for 2021? Your OKRs or work objectives you’re aiming towards to hit that next promotion or pay rise milestone.

I’ve even got four specific phrases for January that are helping to guide me and surface me back above the overwhelm.

Step 2: B is for BRAIN-DUMP

Now is the time to capture all of those things that are flying around in your mind, keeping you awake at 3am or distracting you while you’re in meetings.

Start with a general capture list of everything you can think of that needs doing right now.

Consolidate the lists in your notebook(s), the things you’ve made on your Notes app on your phone.

Scan through your inbox to see if there’s anything there that you’ve forgotten.

I also like to go through my calendar for the weeks ahead and look at upcoming meetings and any actions I need to take beforehand.

Step 3: C is for CATEGORISE

I’m going to share a few of the ways that I then categorise the brain-dump that ensure I feel motivated to begin and a sense of achievement at the end of the day…

ANCHORED ACTIONS
When I’m feeling really ruthless and like I need to get back to what matters, I borrow a technique we used in our wedding budgeting. We selected the 5 things that mattered the most to us in terms of our and others’ enjoyment of the day and used these as categories for our budget. If new things came up (as they inevitably do), we would have to see if they slotted into one of the 5 categories, otherwise they didn’t get a green light to get time or budgetary resource.
I often do the same with my to-do list – taking my key focus areas for the business, writing them out as columns and then slotting things from my brain-dump into these columns. There is inevitably a lengthy list of OTHER that I’ve accumulated along the way and this gives me the chance to assess whether these are things I need to give my energy to, or whether I’ve picked up distractions that will keep me busy, but won’t move me towards where I need to be.
IMPORTANT x URGENT
It makes sense that we focus on the tasks that are due imminently – but this can definitely contribute towards our feelings of overwhelm as it feels like we’re constantly on deadline.
The Eisenhower Matrix is a great way of prioritising items on your to-do list not just by the tasks that are screaming out at your with an urgent deadline, but also giving weight to the tasks that are important as well.
Draw up a grid with important on one axis and urgent on the other. You'll end up with four boxes: urgent and important, urgent and not important, important and not urgent, not urgent and not important.
Now plot your brain-dump into them. The theory is that you tackle the urgent and important tasks first, you schedule in time for the not urgent and still important ones. The urgent but not important (to you) are ones that could be queried or delegated to others and (no surprises here) the not urgent or important ones get axed.
TO-DO LIST and TO-DON’T LIST
If it feels like the categorising is just moving a lot of things around on a page, then try this one.
Start by reflecting back on your anchor points and then ask yourself, what are the three things I could do today that would move me closer to these. These three items go on your to-do list.
Then ask yourself what are the six things that if I do them today, will take me further away from my anchor points? These three items go on your to-don't list.

As Steve Jobs said, “people think focus means saying YES to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying NO to the hundred other good ideas there are.”

Two additional steps that can make a real difference…

BONUS 1: D is for DRAFT A NEW STORY

It may be that you’ve created a story for yourself that you’re feeling overwhelmed right now. That there’s not enough time to get everything done. That you’ll never make any progress towards where you wish to be?

Based on what we observe and believe to be true, we then craft a story about our situation and it’s this story that feeds the emotions we feel about the situation and this in turn drives our actions and behaviours.

Take a moment, to update this story based on your reflections in ABC and draft something new for yourself.

Look back over your anchor points, and your (re)categorized brain-dump and ask yourself – what is the story I want to tell myself about the tasks I’m doing today?

Perhaps, it’s “I am working hard to achieve the things that matter to me”. Or “I am actively choosing where I spend my time and energy today”.

Notice how this new story impacts your mood when you think about what has to be done and the way you go about actioning your tasks.

BONUS 2: E is for ENGAGE OTHERS

Finally, how could you engage others to support you in this?

Would you appreciate talking this through with someone?
Who else needs to be aware of your anchor points – or do you need to clarify with your boss or team what these are?
What additional information might you need from someone else in order to categorise a task? Deadlines, objectives?
If you feel that there are tasks that aren’t best placed for you to action, who else would be in a better place to do them?

5 WAYS WE COULD WORK TOGETHER TO SUPPORT YOU FURTHER WITH THIS...

Lacking anchor points for 2021? Download the RECAP 2020 + ROADMAP 2021 digital workbook now for only £20 to help articulate your 2021 focus areas.

Drawing a blank when I mentioned your purpose? The 8-week Aligned Ambitions Group Coaching Program only has two places left on it. Book in for your introductory call here, we kick off at the end of January 2021.
Curious about how to delegate – aka how to let go and empower others around you? This is something we can explore together through 1:1 coaching (I’ve got spaces opening up in March 2021), or I also run workshops on this for teams and groups within businesses (with spaces available at the end of January and early February 2021). Reach out to find out more - or book in a free call to chat here.
If despite all of this your time feels finite, remember it’s our energy that is malleable. Book yourself in for the first Energy Map workshop of 2021 here to see where you might be able to unlock some more of that for yourself.
Tapping into your unique Strengths Profile of what you’re great at doing and what lights you up is another great way to filter your tasks. I’m taking bookings in February for single session Strengths Assessment debriefs if you’re curious about how this could help you - book your free exploratory call here.