Are you feeling overwhelmed with work as a freelancer? That's NORMAL: You are in charge of EVERYTHING in your business. That is a lot to put on one person!
Being a solo entrepreneur can be overwhelming, and it does NOT mean you aren't cut out for business ownership.
If you are struggling with overwhelm as a freelancer, a service provider, an online course creator, or any other type of small business owner, here are the top three things you need to know about entrepreneurial overwhelm…
All videos in the Solo Entrepreneur Overwhelm series:
- Tips for When You Feel Overwhelmed with Work as a Freelancer (that's this one!)
- Small Business Overwhelm Assessment
- How to Overcome Small Business Overwhelm in 30 Seconds
- Step by Step Guide to Beat Freelancer Overwhelm for Good
The Top 3 Things You NEED to Know About Overwhelm:
Tip #1: Overwhelm is a very real feeling… But it's also exactly that: A feeling.
Overwhelm is an internal response or reaction to the world around us. Keyword: “internal,” which means that we have some measure of control over it.
Overwhelm is a state of mind; a perspective. That's why two different people can have the exact same task list over the exact same period of time, and one of them can thrive with it, whereas the other one gets completely overloaded and overwhelmed by it. How much you have to do isn't what leads to overwhelm. It's your perception of what you have to do. It's how you respond or react to those things. It is your perspective from your current position.
What we want to do is shift that perspective. The way that overwhelm affects you is very real; it has tangible repercussions. But again, it is a perspective, it is a state of mind. You have the power to shift that state and work through the overwhelm.
Here's the trick:
First, you need to be able to recognize the overwhelm for what it is. And then second, you need to be able to pull yourself back and take a new approach from a different perspective.
This is doable, but not always easy — Otherwise, you wouldn't be feeling so overwhelmed right now.
Here's a really important note that I want to mention here: Be skeptical of any coach who says, “Stop being overwhelmed.”
There is a REASON why you feel overwhelmed with work as a freelancer. And if you could just magically snap your fingers and stop it, then you would have done it by now. Telling yourself to just stop being overwhelmed is not enough.
You have control over it and you can stop the overwhelm in its tracks, but you need to be able to do the deep inner work in order to make that happen.
It's not about disciplining yourself. It's not about just telling yourself to stop or forcing yourself to stop. It's not about disciplining yourself to stop feeling overwhelmed. It's about understanding the deeper root things that are going on that are leading to your overwhelm, and it's about being willing and able to shift your perspective on it.
Another thing that you might hear some coaches say is, “Start taking action. When you take action, you will stop overthinking.”
Now, that can work… but usually it's only a temporary fix. To force yourself to just move forward and force yourself into action is a band aid solution because it doesn't address the underlying reasons for why you are feeling overwhelmed in the first place. You cannot discipline your way out of the deep inner work.
And by the way, I talk more about this in my Personality-Based Productivity Training, which is totally free for you — my gift to you:
Tip #2: Overwhelm does not need to be ignored or bypassed or shoved aside for it to stop affecting you.
If you feel overwhelmed with work as a freelancer, that is not a dig on your character. It does not make you weak. Overwhelm can be an internal safety mechanism. It is your mind trying to prevent you from moving forward, because there are too many risks or uncertainties or unknown in that space.
There might be too much discomfort in the road ahead. Overwhelm can then disrupt your ability to take action. It prevents you from taking strides to accomplish your goals — Not because it wants to hold you back from achieving your goals, but because it wants to keep you safe in the status quo. Overloading you, overwhelming you, stops you in your tracks.
That's why improving your relationship with yourself is a really powerful method for preventing the overwhelm from taking control: When you are kind to yourself and loving to yourself, when you allow yourself to feel afraid and move forward anyway, you are paying respect to the overwhelm that is trying to overload you. You are recognizing the uncertainties and the unknowns that are coming up for you. You are keeping yourself safe as you move forward, which is all that it really wants.
You don't need to ignore it. You don't need to bypass it. You don't need to shove it aside. You can acknowledge it, appreciate it for what it's trying to do. And then take a different approach by being kind to yourself; by improving your relationship with yourself.
Tip #3: Depending on the degree to which you are feeling overwhelmed, the strategies that you choose and the mindset you use to work through it will be different if you want to get unstuck.
You need to be able to pinpoint at what stage of overwhelm you are currently in. Maybe you're at an early stage of overwhelm. You can feel it just lightly brushing you. That might be a time to take a step back and look at things logically. Here you might want to take action on preventative measures to increase your chance of success.
On the other hand, if you've already been overloaded with that crushing sense of overwhelm, you'll want to do things a little bit differently. In that case, the more effective management of it might be rooted in self kindness and in resting. So these are just two examples of how your priorities will shift in what you will focus your energy on to move past the overwhelm and to manage it.
Where to go from here…
Those are the top three things that you need to know when you feel overwhelmed with work as a freelancer:
- Tip #1, overwhelm is a feeling of perspective, a state of mind that you can shift out of.
- Tip #2, overwhelm doesn't need to be bypassed or ignored or shoved to the side in order for you to effectively deal with it. You can acknowledge it.
- Tip #3, how you handle the overwhelm is going to be different depending on what stage of overwhelm you are currently stuck in.
Now that you have a better understanding of the effect that overwhelm is having on you, it is time for you to do a small business overwhelm assessment. It's going to help you determine the degree to which you are overwhelmed.
Stay tuned for our next video where we are going to do a quiz to assess your overwhelm! It's going to help you begin making strides to effectively overcome it.
