The truth is there was a time a few weeks back where I came into the office and said to my most trusted team member that I wasn’t coping. I had said yes to too many things – speaking gigs, gallery openings, exhibitions, mentoring, business operations tasks, writing, organising a trip overseas…I could go on and on.
I was dealing with so much stress that I was waking up at 3am every morning and couldn’t go back to sleep. Which was good in one way as it meant I had more time to get stuff done. But obviously, not healthy.
Lists are my saviour
Jo, who has worked with me for a long time and knows how my brain works, said “Let me get my notepad”. She sat with me and I told her everything I had to do. Three pages of items later, she put them in order, and even typed up an action plan (similar to how we do client work).
I slept through to 5am that night…because I had some order to the chaos and a plan of attack. And you know what…I’ve nearly ticked everything off my list! Such a great feeling.
Ditch faffing
You know faffing…taking ages to make a decision or finish things off. I enjoy being highly focused, and often set myself false deadlines to eliminate faffing. Although, I find myself faffing about certain things…my inbox is currently sitting at 3,792 unread emails.
Use your time wisely
My business is run with military precision. We have procedures for everything. It’s structured in a way so time isn’t wasted. Also I maximise my effort and time. For example, all of the articles I write aren’t just used once in an email to you. They are used multiple times across every social media platform, sent to journalists, uploaded to news sites and then they are used in an ongoing basis as evergreen blog content.
Busy isn’t always bad
I like to be busy. I’m happier when I’m doing and achieving stuff. But I also need to have downtime, whether that’s catching up with the people that make me feel good, spending the afternoon at the day spa or walking in the bush. My mantra during these times is be still and let the beauty emerge.
So I guess for me, sometimes I wonder if I get addicted to the adrenaline that high pressure situations bring with them. But when you realise that you’ve pushed yourself to the point of not feeling like you’re coping, it’s important to ask for help from people that care about you and put in place actions that help you organise your time more effectively.