Are you constantly working late in the evenings? Do you feel like you always have things to do, and it’s stressing you out?
I get so many questions about time management and how to make sure you’re not always working evenings. As a full-time, self-employed, business owner — I get it, it’s not easy to get your working hours right. But if you keep working evenings, you will burn out.
Sometimes we all feel stressed or lose track and that’s okay. Things are going to happen in your life that will throw off your routine — I experience this too.
In this episode of the FastForwardAmy Show, I am going to keep it raw and real with you by sharing my best tips to help you stop working evenings and get more of the right stuff done within your working day.
This blog contains some of the discussions I had with you via Instagram Live on this topic and a sneak peek of those key tips you can find in this week’s episode.
First, recognize when you are overwhelmed.
Most of the problem lies in not being able to recognize when we are really overwhelmed. When I get overwhelmed I get emotional and sometimes frustrated. If you can’t control your frustration, you may end up getting angry at those around you.
So — what do you do when you get overwhelmed? How can you tell you are overwhelmed in the first place?
I can always tell I am becoming overwhelmed when I stop sleeping well. Or maybe you realize you are constantly on your phone, even with friends and family, because you’re thinking about work and all the things you need to do.
When you begin to recognize you are overwhelmed, then you can do something about it.
Run the day, don’t let it run you.
Recently, because I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed, I messed up my morning by snoozing and worrying about things instead of getting up and sticking to my habits.
It is easy to feel overwhelmed and feel like staying in bed a little bit longer, but I set my alarm for a reason. By staying in bed and not sticking to the promises I made to myself I am only making it worse.
Taking back control of your day is what helps you feel less overwhelmed. If you don't run the day, the day is going to run you.
Taking some time at the end of your day to look at what you need to do tomorrow and what the next day entails will really help you run the day. Make a quick plan, and then switch off for the evening.
Don’t negotiate with yourself. When you wake up in the morning, remember that you from the evening before knew better, and stick to the plan that you made then.
You need to be disciplined — not only make the plan the night before, but honor it.
Identify your priorities.
Do you know what your priorities are? Usually when we are overwhelmed, or when we are working evenings, it's because we still have a lot of stuff we need to do at the end of the day. It might also mean that we don't really know what the priority is.
We often postpone important stuff because we put too much value on it or we procrastinate it because we're afraid to fail — but these are actually the tasks we should be doing first.
By doing the important tasks first, your priorities are taken care of and you’re going to be quicker at doing the smaller stuff because the big things are looked after. Focusing on one task at a time means you are no longer splitting your energy. You will get through things faster and ultimately, feel less overwhelmed.
If there are annoying jobs that bother you all day and slow you down, but you keep putting them off, you need to start making a shitlist. What is a shitlist? This is stuff that isn't necessarily going to help your business grow, but it might become urgent after a while, or really important if you don't manage it.
Today’s world makes it easy to get distracted.
We live in a world where we are constantly getting notifications, constantly scrolling. It’s easy to get distracted, it’s easy to lie in bed on your phone, it’s easy to be thinking about a million different things during your workout.
I vow to always be real and raw and honest with you. I hope that this week’s episode will help you realize that you're not alone and that it's okay to be overwhelmed at times, but I do want to urge you to recognize it on time.
Are you ready to take action? Then register for my free Dutch training 7 commandments for working from your passion according to your own rhythm. You’ll learn how to stop following a 9-5 rhythm, and find the unique entrepreneurial rhythm that suits YOU. Go to fastforwardamy.com/7commandments to register!
RECAP
To help you take back control of your evenings and stop letting work overwhelm you, I have summarized the tips and habits I discuss in this week's episode in the list below. For more advice on how to stop working evenings and get your life back, listen to the rest of the episode here.
Top tips to help you take back control of your evenings and stop letting work overwhelm you:
- Set your priorities, and define your 80-20
- Create a shitlist
- The Catch, Batch, Act (CBA) Principle
- Realistic planning
- Define your golden guidelines
Listen to this episode via Apple Podcast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and search for episode 149 of The FastForwardAmy Show.
PS: If you want to work with me but aren’t sure where to begin, head to fastforwardamy.com/findyourfit and answer the questions — we’ll point you in the right direction!
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