When we are super busy and
have overloaded our plate with too many action items, we feel as if we
are "333%" overwhelmed. I had this happen to me during a
particular time in April of 2001. I had company coming to visit, my house was a complete
mess, I had work to do for my new job, taxes were due, AspireNow stuff had to be
done, etc., etc., it was all so much I was stressing out!
What
if when we're stressed out feeling 333% overwhelmed we could consult a magical
list of how to make it 100% achievable (within our time frame) and be able to
gain control back over our situation?
I
sat down with a good friend, that day, and she helped me focus:
"Ok,
what do you really think you have to do?" she asked.
I
wrote down this list of five things when she said, "WAIT - you're getting
ahead of yourself."
It
dawned on me - if I cannot be PRESENT doing #1, I won't focus on it. She
was right!
REALITY CHECK: We never have more
to do than we can accomplish, if we are properly focused.
Read that again. It is
true, but only if we realize that our problem is simply one of FOCUS and
belief that we CAN do it!
I
continued down my list - it looked something like this:
1.
Build account plan and send out emails - 3 hours.
2.
AspireNow Advisor Edits - 3 hours.
3.
Weeding - 3 hours.
4.
Organize stuff in Front Room, Dining Room, organize house for visit - 3 hours.
5.
Taxes, bills - 2 hours (I just had to send them in).
6.
Clean house - 2 hours.
7.
Wash truck.
8.
Pick up dry cleaning.
(There
were another 20 things on my list -- all which SEEMED pressing, but weren't).
As
it turns out, the #1 thing that gave me peace- of- mind was to organize my
house. So, I did that first. the #2 thing for peace- of- mind was
taxes and bills. #3 was Instantis account plan. Everything else was
put off for another day. And that was okay. Because I was no longer
stressed out after getting the first three off of my to-do list.
Sometimes,
we get 333% overwhelmed because we "think" we have to do everything on
our list. And we really don't. Some things just need to be drawn
through and put back on or dealt with later.
I
decided to tackle the 3 things on that list that mattered most,
first. There is power in threes (see Abundance
Rule of 3's).
Sometimes,
if we need control, just look at the list of to-do's, and ask: "what three
things must I do to have peace-of-mind?" Those are most often the
three we must do. At that point, we once again can realize balance in our
life.
