{"id":11238,"date":"2011-07-25T04:00:21","date_gmt":"2011-07-25T09:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=11238"},"modified":"2011-07-25T04:00:21","modified_gmt":"2011-07-25T09:00:21","slug":"are-you-tired-of-feeling-overwhelmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/are-you-tired-of-feeling-overwhelmed\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Tired of Feeling Overwhelmed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the last few months, people have asked how I am doing since leaving my CEO post<\/a> at Thomas Nelson. For the most part, great. I am really enjoying this new phase of my life.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com\/OtmarW<\/div>\n

But last week, I was feeling overwhelmed. It seemed that I was spending all day, every day mired in administrative detail—responding to emails, making travel plans, and filling out expense reports. Ugh.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This the first time in more than a decade that I have been without an executive assistant. I had clearly taken this role for granted, not realizing how much it had freed me up to do what I do best.<\/p>\n

So what to do?<\/p>\n

At first, I decided to power through it. But that didn’t work. The tennis balls have been coming over the net faster than I can hit them. My volume of email alone has doubled in the last 90 days.<\/p>\n

Next, I tried to enlist my wife, Gail, to help. Bad idea. She already has a full-time job as a homemaker, mom, and counselor to countless women. (After watching her in action for the last few months, I have a whole new appreciation for her!)<\/p>\n

Finally, I decided that I had had enough. Something had to give. I needed to take a different approach if I was going to get my head above water.<\/p>\n

I took the following seven steps:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I decided I had to make a change.<\/strong> This sounds almost trivial, but it is essential. Evidently, some people like being overwhelmed. They wouldn’t admit this, of course. But they thrive on stress in a perverse way. Perhaps it makes them feel important or indispensable. They may complain about their workload, but they are unwilling to do things differently. Are you ready for a change?<\/li>\n
  2. I identified my three high payoff activities.<\/strong> I asked myself, What is it that only I can do? Where do I add the most value? What is really important as opposed to merely urgent?<\/em> For me, that is writing, speaking, and networking—in that order. Anything else is a waste of what I have been given. What are your high payoff activities?<\/li>\n
  3. I identified my three biggest productivity sinkholes.<\/strong> This was easy. For me, it is responding to email, booking my own travel, and meeting with acquaintances who want my advice. (As much as I’d like to do this, I am drowning in requests.) I decided I had to eliminate—or at least dramatically reduce—these activities in my life. What are your productivity sinkholes?<\/li>\n
  4. I spent time reviewing the productivity basics.<\/strong> In his book, The 4-Hour Workweek<\/a><\/em>, Tim Ferriss, says that the key to productivity is elimination, automation, and delegation.<\/em> Some stuff is just no longer worth doing<\/a>. Other stuff can be put on auto-pilot<\/a>. Most of the rest can be delegated<\/a>. Have you made a list of which activities fall into which category?<\/li>\n
  5. I decided to do the math.<\/strong> Unfortunately, I had fallen into a common paradigm: I was thinking that if I could<\/em> do something I should<\/em> do it—myself. Balderdash! If you can make $50.00 an hour, is it a good investment for you to do tasks that you can hire done for $12.00 an hour? I don’t think so. This is not only bad math, it is bad stewardship.<\/em> What do you make an hour? Could you be more financially productive if you delegated?<\/li>\n
  6. I hired a virtual executive assistant.<\/strong> I realized that I wasn’t ready for a full-time one. I wanted to take this one step at a time. Thankfully, there are scores of companies (offshore and domestic) that specialize in providing virtual assistants for as many hours as you need. I did this several years ago, and it was a positive experience. I decided to go with Miles Advisory Group<\/a>. I am very impressed with their responsiveness. Have you ever considered a VA?<\/li>\n
  7. I am scheduling the important tasks.<\/strong> I know, I know, I teach this stuff<\/a>. You’d think I would already have this nailed. Well, I did. More or less. But it was a completely different context, namely, CorporateWorld. Now I am having to implement the same thing in a different<\/em> context. I am now scheduling my important tasks first and forcing my productivity sinkholes into small blocks of time. How much of your calendar this week is dedicated to high payoff activities?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Just going through this process has had a huge, positive impact on my attitude. Nothing has really changed yet, but I am already feeling less overwhelmed and more in control. I am ready for a change. Are you?<\/p>\n

    Question: If you hired a productivity consultant, what would they advise you to do with your workflow? You can leave a comment by clicking here<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Are you feeling overwhelmed with work? I was, too. Last week, I finally decided to take these seven steps to take back control.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1394,1395,503,257,326,1396,948],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAre You Tired of Feeling Overwhelmed?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are you feeling overwhelmed with work? I was, too. 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