092. Overwhelm and Organization: What to Do When You Are the One Person That Has to Do It All

Welcome. I am marketing expert and business coach Melissa Kellogg Lueck. And this is the Doing Business Like a Woman podcast where we are exploring and teaching you how women are reinventing the way business is done and money is made to help you create greater impact and financial freedom one business at a time. Well, hello, hello, hello ladies. How are you? I hope you are having a fabulous day wherever you are. Whenever you are listening to this, I'm so happy that you're here and I am so happy to be with you. I am getting over a cold. I've had it for like a week now and I just get so annoyed at colds. So I was just at that annoyed part. So I'm hoping my voice will hold out. I haven't been speaking all day today, so hopefully it is going to all work out and I will sound beautiful for you because I have a very special episode for you today. I was recently speaking with a group of women and in a small group wisdom circle that I host once a month and was asking them a question around like, what are some of the things that we all struggle with, that you see women entrepreneurs struggle with, that you struggle with the most and the things that are standing in between you and getting to that big goal. And one of the first things that they said to me was that organization and overwhelm was one of the top things. And I totally resonate with that. Right? I think we all, at any point in our business, whether we're just starting out or whether we've been at it for almost two decades, like I have, it's, it's all always something that we feel, right? That we're feeling overwhelmed by our to do list, our responsibilities, our big goals and dreams. And we can also feel like we're disorganized or don't have it all together or have it all together enough. And so I wanted to talk about these two things today and especially around, like, what to do with. When you are the one person that has to do everything, when you're the one person that has to do everything in your business, whether or not that's 100% true or not. When we get into a place of feeling overwhelmed, our minds often go to this. I have to do everything, you know, thinking. And I wanted to just offer a completely different look at overwhelm that you may not have heard anywhere else before. So, so let's dive right in the first I, I recently posted about this on social media and I got such a huge response. And so I wanted to just make a point of discussing it with you here as well, that let's just be real and admit that overwhelm is going to happen. If you're a woman entrepreneur, building a business, living a life, have friends, family, all the things, feeling overwhelmed is going to happen. It's completely reasonable that sometimes we're going to feel overwhelmed. And I want to offer that there is no shame in feeling overwhelmed. Can we just like, normalize it and bring a sense of neutrality? Sometimes we're just going to feel overwhelmed. Right? Right. But instead of resisting it or wallowing in it, I want you to just remember that you are not your thoughts or feelings. You, the essence of you is the subject of them, but you are not your thoughts and feelings. So you are not overwhelmed. You are feeling overwhelmed. Right. And sometimes I think that when we draw that distinction, it can kind of take us out of like, you know, feeling like we're underneath overwhelm, like it's a heavy elephant sitting on us and we can get above it and have a more neutral stance. Right. So when you realize and have awareness that you are not your thoughts and feelings, you're just the subject of them, you can get above that. And when you're feeling overwhelmed, what I like to do is have that awareness, have that realization, and put aside any resistance or any shame about it. Because you're feeling overwhelmed doesn't mean there's something wrong with you or that you are indulging in some awful emotion or that you are a weakling or whatever. It just simply means that there are messages coming through that we need to pay attention to. So what I like to suggest is that you take a few minutes and sit down with your overwhelm and hear her out. Okay. What is the message that she wants to get across to you? What is she saying? And yes, she may be coming across as dramatic and extreme. And that's okay. Let's just let her be dramatic and extreme. Remember, you're not your thoughts, you're not your feelings, you're just the subject of them. And so just make a list. What are all her gripes? Make a list of everything that's overwhelming. What are her demands? List her demands. Right. And for me, this can look like one of my default overwhelms is around time. Right. So my. For me, this can look like, you know, I don't have enough time to get all these things done on my to do list. I have to leave the office early and drive my kids around, and I need to create this presentation or email or social media post or whatever it is. It's going to take me more time than I have. I'm not fast at doing this and if I don't get it done, I won't bring in new business and the business is going to fail and I'll be humiliated and my husband will leave me and take my kids away from me and I'll go have to go live in a box somewhere. That's what my overwhelm often says to me. It's quite dramatic, right? But when we can get above it and just sit there and listen to the gripe and say huh, huh, huh huh and take notes, then often what you'll have as a result of this practice is a roadmap to solving your overwhelm. She will lay it all out before you if you give her a listen. So for example, if we look back to what, you know, the example I gave just a moment ago, my overwhelm says I don't have enough time to get all this done on the to do list. So that's the gripe, right? And so the message there is I am putting too many things on my to do list that I want to accomplish in a day or an afternoon or whatever, right? I'm putting too many things on there. So I need to solve for that. I need to not be putting as many things as I have been on my to do list, right? Okay, we can do that. We can solve that, right? The next thing I have to leave early and drive my kids to and fro to all their things, right? So what might be an option there? Maybe I ask for help. I could ask my husband to help. I could ask my niece who often drives our kids around to things. I could ask her like I could ask for help, right? So there is a solution that's available to me for that I item. Okay, I have to create this presentation or email or post whatever's on my mind. It's going to take more time than I have. What is that telling me? That's telling me I'm not scheduling enough time on my calendar for these important things that I need to get done, right? So I need to be more mindful of that. Be more mindful of that. And then I'll say, oh, I'm not fast enough at doing this stuff and I don't get it done. And it won't bring a new business if I don't get it done, right? So that goes again back to I need to devote enough time for the thing for these important things that create business that are revenue generating activities, right? So you can See, if you sit down, listen to the overwhelm, what is she trying to tell me? She will lay out an entire roadmap, right? I can solve for each one of those issues that I'm feeling overwhelmed around, and then I can make those changes and learn from that and go on. Right? So that's how. That's one way I like to deal with Overwhelm. And when we don't resist her, but we just allow her and we invite her to have a seat and tell us what's going on, that overwhelm, the grip of that overwhelm will loosen and it won't feel so heavy, and you will have some solutions. You will realize that you have power over this, that there are changes that you can make and you can, you can, you know, take better care of yourself, schedule your things better, or whatever it is, ask for help. And that often helps me as I'm feeling overwhelmed, and I hope that helps you as well. And so as we know, running a business, you know, in the early years, you're probably not quite there to hire much help, right? So you will be doing all the things. And even I, having been in this almost two decades, and I'm still doing most all the things, I have a great team and I could be better at delegating to them, truth be told. But. But as a solopreneur or someone with a small team, I always suggest my clients examine where you can simplify your business. There are so many shiny objects out there on social media in the world and books in podcasts. All. We're continually being told all these things that we should be doing, all these pieces of technology that we should have. But I want to suggest that the more you simplify your business and focus on the core, most important things, the less overwhelm you're going to have and the more organization that you're going to have in your business. Right? And I am the queen of simplifying. I've told that story before, but I always, you know, I've been working on having and creating and building a simple business for the last 18 years. And so, of course, if you ever need specific suggestions for your business, let's get on a call. I'm happy to help you strategize, but in the meantime, I wanted to share with you a half a dozen ways. Let's see, what's my list? Seven here, seven different ways that I have simplified my business and that have really helped me the most, given me the most help on my journey to six figures and beyond. And So I wanted to share these very tactical solutions for you that will really help you to simplify your business and overcome that overwhelm and feel more organized and be more organized in your business. So number one is to identify your work hours. Now I love having work time and non work time. I think that it's so important to, I heard this, this advice long ago and it really, really stuck with me to really be present where you are and that's when you're at work, be present at work. And when you're in non work time, spending time with your family, taking care of yourself, be present where you are. Right? I feel like we lose so much productivity and so much quality of our lives when we're thinking about, oh, I should be somewhere else, I should be looking at email when I, when you really are sitting on the floor playing with your children, or I should be, you know, writing a social media post when you're, you know, making dinner for your family or whatever. Or I should be spending more time with my family when I am thinking about that when I'm spending or in a session with a client. Right? When we are present where we are, we will be so much more productive, we will create so much more quality in our relationships and quality in the tasks that we are in, the work that we are doing. Right? So understand what your work hours are. Set your work hours and just let them be what they are and then you can create a business that happens within those hours. Right? Because there's a hundred other things we could be doing, right? But the Parkinson's rule says that the tasks always expand to the time you give them. So if you want to work 30 hours or less a week like I do, then set that as your work hours and create a business that fits within those hours. Right? So one thing that I like to suggest that's very tactical is understand what you're doing during your work hours. Spend a week or two documenting how you use your time in 15 minute increments and really look at what's happening during your work hours. Are you doing the things that only you can do? And I know we've said earlier, you know, in the early years of our businesses were doing all the things. Yes, but think about what can you automate? We have AI now, my friends, there's a lot of things we can automate. Whether it's, you know, idea generation or writing quick emails or creating images, there's all different things that we can use AI and automation for. So what can you automate? What can you delegate yes. You might not be able to bring on a full time staff person, but you could, you know, have a VA for a few hours a week or delegate to other people in your household. Right. Because it's not only just about work. I find a lot of times it's things that, you know, like driving the kids around, like asking for help around that or doing, doing trades with other businesses, service businesses where you need their services, right. Maybe you can do some trades or delegate to your kids. Like, I love putting my kids to work. Sometimes they enjoy it, sometimes they don't. But I have them do things like I have a business card scanner, right, where it scans when I meet people and collect business cards that will scan them in, put their contact information in my database. That's something that I have my kids do. So I don't have to do that. And so I don't have piles of business cards all over with people that need to be followed up with. Right? So I have them do that. What else do I have them do? Open mail, you know, things like that you can delegate to other people in your house. And then what can you eliminate? What are some things that you are doing that you really don't need to do? I always say to question everything. When you have spent a week or two documenting everything you're doing, just question it. Do I have to do this and do I want to do this? And if the answer is no, then let's just get rid of it. Okay? So number two is to simplify your marketing. And I see this, and this is, you know, we all fall victim to the shiny object syndrome when it comes to our marketing, right? We see all these things we should be doing or should be having elaborate funnels and technology and, you know, being present on 100 different social media platforms and all these things. I want you to reduce your marketing activities to six things that you can do with quality, with consistency and with attractive energy, right? So you're going to have three things that connect you to new people. You're going to have three things that nurture relationships with your audience. So for example, I connect with new people by networking in person, being active on social media. I'd love to connect with you there, by the way. And speaking or podcast guesting. Those are three things that connect how I connect with new people. There's three things that I nurture relationships with my audience. Doing hosting events. I host two networking events a month and I host some online things too. Podcasting is number two. And then emailing my list, that's three Things. So those are six things. That's my entire marketing plan. And then of course in all things, you're making offers, making lots of offers to your people within those six activities, right? So simplify your marketing and then just say no to everything else, right? Because yes, there are a hundred different things we could be doing to market our business if we were doing that, you know, if that's all we were doing. But we've got a lot of other things on our plate. All the marketing things work. So there's no one magic marketing thing that you're missing out on. You are the magic thing that works. So wherever you show up, you're going to get business, right? I mean really show up, right? Show up in attractive energy and meeting people, nurturing relationships and making offers. That's all you got to do. So I also want you to pick those six marketing activities that are fun for you and not a pressure filled slog that you don't want to do, right? So if you could find six things that you actually want to do and do them, you're golden. Okay? So number three is simplify your client experience. So what I think of this as is having checklists or like little processes for onboarding new clients for managing your client experience, like while you're serving your client, fulfilling your obligation, your service to your client, right? And then process for off boarding clients or anything else that you do regularly. It's just have a little process like a checklist. I mean I could call it a standard operating procedure and sop, but that's very official and very formal. But simply all it is is a checklist, right? So have these checklists so that every time you onboard a client, you do it the exact same way. You pull out your checklist, you do the things and they're onboarded. You don't have to think about it, you don't have to reinvent the wheel, you don't have to try and remember, oh, are these all the things I do have? I done it, you know, the way I did the last. And it just removes that cognitive load, right? So you're setting yourself up for success, reducing your cognitive load. And then you have that brain time and energy that you can spend on serving those clients, right? And coming up with better and better ways to serve them and help them get better results. So number four, I encourage you to utilize a project management system. So here I am recommending technology. But yes, I think there are certain pieces of technology that are critical and project management is one of them. I started, I use ASANA A S A N A and I use a free version. I don't pay for it. It's no cost, but it's extremely high value and it helps keep me organized. And I started using it kicking and screaming. My project manager got me started on it and it took me a while to adopt it fully, but now it's like Asana and my Google Calendar basically run my work day and it takes all of the guesswork out of what am I supposed to be doing today, right? I never sit down at my desk and I'm like, all right, what should we do today? Like, I have it all planned out. I have all my tasks in Asana. I have the time that those tasks are going to get done in my calendar. And so I get to just sit down and just be super valuable all day long. So Asana helps me to systematize my workflow. So simplifying your client experience, like, I just talked about having those checklists, all those checklists are in Asana for us. And so I can, I know exactly where they are, where to find them, and it can just create a very smooth flow for you, for your clients, for any team members that you have. And it's a great way to simplify your business. Number five is to get help. So we talked about delegating earlier, but I think that's one of the keys to growing your business. Now, we know statistically that the average Solopreneur in the US makes about $44,000 in gross revenue per year. However, a company with 2, 3, 4 members on the team, their average gross, or yeah, gross revenue is over $300,000. So if you want to grow, you need to get help. And I always say, get help. Invest in help before you think you can. And you can start small, right? Even if it's having help for five hours a week, you would not believe how amazing those extra five hours are. How much more if you just focused on marketing and selling for those extra five hours a week, that person is going to pay for themselves. So easy peasy, right? Like, it's a great investment in yourself and in your business. So number six is to group your schedule so that you reduce context switching. And so what I mean by that is, and I recently, over the past few months, changed up my schedule because I noticed that I was doing a lot of context switching. And what I mean by that is, like, I would have a client and then I would have a block of time where I was supposed to write an email and then I'd have some more clients. And then I'd have a block of time where I was, you know, supposed to, I don't know, do follow up or go meet new people or have a networking event or something. And it was like my brain was kind of all over the place, right? So I learned this. Well, I've learned this in a lot of different places, but most recently in this book that I'm reading with my book club, 10x is easier than 2x, he talks about grouping your time. And so I decided to try this, and it's worked really well. So I try to group things in my sketch group, like, things. So, for example, I have three days a week, three full days each week that I coach my private coaching clients. And so 100% of my focus for those three days is on being a coach, coaching my clients, focusing on them, helping them solve problems, serving them. And so that's all I'm thinking about for those three days now. I get a lot of really great ideas for content, podcasts and posts and things that come out of those, but I don't necessarily force myself to be creating content during those days. I can take notes and I'll talk about that in a little bit where I capture my ideas, but I really have taken or set aside those three days for focusing 100% on coaching my clients. And then I have one day a week that is my CEO slash creative day, where I do lots of content creation and thinking and take time to really develop new ideas and new concepts and. And tools. And I often don't have a lot of meetings on those days. And so it's like I can just, you know, put on my sweatshirt and my yoga pants and no makeup and come to the office, right? And just like, get immersed in creation. And I love that and organization, too. Like, it's the day where I get organized. It's kind of like I'm backstage, you know, and then I have one day I spend focused a hundred percent on my E Women network members and serving them and talking to them and growing our chapter. And so that's kind of how I've broken up my week. And I have. I'm finding that to be really helpful and such a nice, smooth flow. I look forward to each one of the days for its own reasons. Right. Like my coaching days, coaching is my favorite, favorite, favorite thing to do. So I always look forward to those days. But when that gets, you know, when they're over with, I'm glad because it's also a lot of energy and cognitive load that I need a break from. After I've spent a lot of time coaching. And so think about how you could possibly group your schedule so that you reduce that context switching. Now, we know from research that when you switch a lot from task to task to task, it takes about 25 minutes, I think, it is, for your brain to catch up with the new thing, right? So it can be a loss in productivity and time, right? So think about how you can create sections, groups of time, where you can be thinking and working on one specific thing, and you'll get a lot more done on that. And then finally, number seven is to have a system to capture ideas. Studies show that only about 16% of us create great ideas or very creative while we're sitting in front of our computers. Shocker, right? But I'd say, like 99% of us, right, expect that when we sit down in front of that computer, in front of that blinking cursor, that these amazing ideas are going to come to us. But I don't know about you, but most of my ideas happen when I'm driving, when I'm cooking, when I'm taking a shower, like, not in front of the computer. And so that's just natural and it's completely fine. We don't have to expect, expect ourselves and our brains to be completely creative when we're sitting in front of a screen. So what I would encourage you, though, is to work within that, right? Like, you know, when your best ideas come to you, so have a system to capture those ideas on the go. And it's so funny because I'll always think, oh, I'll remember that. I'll remember that. And then later on, I'm like, oh, my gosh, I totally forgot this really great idea and I can't recall it. And I get so frustrated with myself. So I have forced myself, I force myself now to capture those ideas because they are coming to me for a reason, and they're always going to come to me at places and times when I'm not sitting in front of a computer. So I just know that about myself. So I use the Notes app in my phone. I have an iPhone, so I use the Notes app, where I'll take notes in there. I also use an app called Evernote, which I've used for probably 10 years now. I used to do a lot of research and writing for clients, and I started using it when I was doing a lot of research. But I still use it extensively now to capture ideas. I can use it on my phone. It syncs to the Evernote on my desktop. And so I always have plenty of ideas that I've captured for content creation and business planning and podcast ideas, thought leadership, where I'm developing new tools and concepts for you. So I capture all of that in there. So when it's time for me to write a post or create a podcast or, you know, really develop these ideas, I just go into my Evernote and they're all right there and I can develop them from there. That helps me to be more organized and then also to not to spend a lot less time sitting in front of a blank screen at the computer with nothing coming to me. Right. So. So I hope those seven ideas to to become more organized will help you on your entrepreneurial journey and to help prevent that overwhelm. Being an entrepreneur for 18 years, I've become very skilled at realizing what's absolutely necessary in building a business and what is not, because there's a lot of distraction out there. Right? And not to say I don't get distracted, I definitely do. But I have developed or devoted my life and my career to create creating a simple, elegant business that I can do and grow in 30 hours or less a week while my kids are in school. And that's what I love to help my clients do as well. So I would love to support you in this. If you'd like me to help you create a simple business or a more simple business that can fit into the hours that you want it to and that you can grow to success figures or more and serve more clients and have a greater impact, I would love to help you and help you strategize create a plan. I know that this is a challenge for so many of us, and so if there's anything I can help you with, please feel free to reach out to me at my website. And I hope this has been a super helpful episode for you and helps you to simplify and be less overwhelmed and feel a little bit more organized. I would love to invite you to visit my website, melissam Kellogg.com and you're always welcome to book a call with me. And I would love to strategize with you as well. And I'm also on social media. You can also always DM me on Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn and I'm happy to chat and answer questions. Well, I hope you have a fabulous rest of your day and I thank you so much for being here and I'll see you again real soon. Take care. Bye, ladies. I can't believe I'm saying this, but we are nearing our 100th episode. Woohoo. I would love to hear from you. In celebration of our 100th episode, I am wondering if you would share with me a question you would love to ask me or a topic you'd love to hear me cover on the podcast and I'd love to hear how this podcast has impacted or served you over the last two years and 100 episodes. So I have a really cool new app that I'm trying. It's called Speak Pipe and so there's a link to Speak Pipe in the episode description and show notes that you can just click on and it'll take you to Speak Pipe and you can ask a question or suggest a topic that you'd love to hear me cover on the podcast and share with us how this podcast has impacted or served you. So you can visit www.speakpipe.com Doing business like a Woman podcast and record your voice message and we may even feature you on the podcast. Yay. Thank you.