Running a successful online business is a lot like juggling. In many cases it’s up to you to do it all, and sometimes your never-ending to-do list can get the best of you. Left untreated online business overwhelm can lead to a serious case of analysis paralysis.
What is Analysis Paralysis?
Analysis paralysis is the infamous state of over-thinking every action item you are facing. Instead of actually doing the very action items you’ve set out to do, you just think about doing them. You think about how you’re going to do them. You think about why you should do them. You think about when you’re going to do them. Then you think about how you’ll never get them done. The problem: You’re thinking about taking action so much you end up not taking any action.
Why Overwhelm Leads to Analysis Paralysis
Overwhelm leads to analysis paralysis because it shifts your mind into overdrive. When you look at the client work you have to complete, the product you desperately need to launch, and the marketing you need to execute, your mind can start racing with thoughts. When you allow this to happen you’re not far off from a serious case of analysis paralysis. This means crushing analysis paralysis begins with beating feelings of overwhelm, and beating feelings of overwhelm starts with a shift in your mindset.
Beat Overwhelm By Being Present and Fully Engaged
You may often hear new age philosophers refer to the concept of “being present.” To “be present” simply means to allow yourself to experience each moment and minute of your life exactly as it is. Basically, you are “present” when you give your full attention to whatever it is you are engaged in at any given moment. For example, if you are working on a client project, you are fully present if all of your attention, energy, and focus is on the work you are producing. If you are working, but you are also thinking about what you have to do next (the recipe for overwhelm), or you are having a conversation with yourself in your mind, then you are not “present.” You are only partially engaged in your work.
How Full Engagement Eliminates Online Business Overwhelm
When you are fully engaged in your activities – no matter what they may be – you are not worrying about the past or thinking about the future. When you are fully engaged you can only do and think about one thing at a time. Increasing your awareness about your level of engagement will help you eliminate online business overwhelm because instead of thinking about all of the things you have to do, you will just do them. This simple little shift in your approach to daily life can radically transform your ability to get more done and feel less stress.
Everyone Can Beat Feelings of Overwhelm
The cool thing about eliminating feelings of overwhelm is that once you learn how to shift your focus you will see immediate results. Overwhelm lives in your mind. It’s a state of mind, and if you feed it it grows. When you stop worrying about, and meditating on, your to-do list you stop feeding the overwhelm machine. All you have to do is quiet that voice in your head and fully engage in your first action item of the day. Before you know it, you’ll wonder why you felt so overwhelmed to begin with.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Analysis paralysis is such a monster. We all succumb to it from time to time but the objective is to press beyond it! You have to put something out there and gain momentum. If you wait to align everything perfectly (won’t happen) you not only rob yourself of real productivity but you miss out on the live feedback you COULD be getting from your audience if you just “shipped.”
Hi Jon!
Thanks for sharing your insights. You are so right about “missing” the live feedback you could have gotten. There is no better indicator as to whether or not you’re meeting the needs of your clients or if you’re on the right track with your audience, than by having their feedback. Get it straight from the horses mouth, and Git-R-Done!
Thanks for visiting!
Ouch! You’re blog me with that “Analysis Paralysis”. I guess that’s exactly the thing I must change in myself. To not oversee the things I planned. Glad to read your post… It opened my eyes.
Hi Angelique!
Thanks for visiting. I’m glad that you’ve found this article helpful.
If you start taking action instead of over thinking things, you’ll be amazed
at how much more you actually get done. It’s a great feeling. It builds
self-confidence and it brings you closer to your ultimate goals.
Don’t be a stranger!
Marlee – I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve had Analysis Paralysis! It was what lead me to procrastinate the number of times I have, and it was what lead me to fail goals and halt progress.
The way I overcome business overwhelm is by listing the projects I need to complete in a given week and writing out the steps each project requires before it’s completed. In that way, I’m focused on completely each step at a time, rather than worrying about the project whole – it’s definitely a lot less stressful and I can get more work done.
Great read! And I absolutely LOVE the video by the way. You go girl!
Christina
That’s what I need to do! Take things slowly so that I can be more effective with my online efforts. I’ve been doing a lot of things without careful planning which can be overwhelming. So for 2011, I want to start out the right way so I can improve my online business. I like the vid btw!
Thanks Kevin. It sounds like you’re on the right track. Planning is important, but you still have to take one step at a time. It’s just like when you ask your computer to execute a command and it doesn’t respond. Your computer is working, and if you start clicking your mouse incessantly, you freeze it up. Our brains work in a pretty similar way. Give yourself the time and space you need to do everything you need to do with excellence. Best of luck in 2011!
I’ve worked with people who’ve had analysis paralysis. When you’re building websites for people who fall into that, it’s incredibly challenging. You’re right – nothing gets accomplished except more analysis.
Being present – being very focused – helps me a great deal.
Also, luckily for me I am a jump right in person. I tend to learn by doing. Some people consider it a waste of time, but I don’t. I consider learning what doesn’t work to be just as important as learning what does work!
Great post, Marlee.
Thanks Tia!
You’re right! Learning from what doesn’t work IS just as important as learning what works. In most cases, it’s exactly that approach that leds to more rapid success. The more you take reasonable risks that you can learn from the more quickly you gain the expertise you need.
Hi Marlee! I came over here after you RT’d me on Twitter, just curious to learn more about you, and saw this fantastic video. REALLY good advice, thank you. I tend to let myself get overwhelmed way too easily. I didn’t realize I was thinking too much about all the stuff I had to do instead of just doing one thing at a time. Which is all I can do anyway, hehe.
Thanks!
Welcome LaVonne!
Thank you so much for stopping by. I’m glad you found the video helpful. It’s taken me awhile to learn to channel my attention and energy to my work instead of feeding the voice in my head that often keeps me stuck.
If you can master this shift you will be blown away at how much more enjoyable your work will be, and how much more confident you will feel about getting things done. It’s a great method even for the most complete flake of flakes!
Hey, nice and a very good piece of share. I like the way this has been crafted. Keep up the great work. promoted the post.. Thanks
Thanks Praveen! And thank you for stopping by. I love the look of your tech site, and I look forward to learning more from you there!
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