Are you overwhelmed? Making decisions as an Idea Addict is difficult. Whether it be in starting a business, starting your year, or starting your day, I have a TIP for you. TIP stands for time, information and people. It is my method for how I do for one what I wish I could do for all.

When it comes to being overwhelmed, normally one or more of these areas of my life have gotten out of control. Have you ever had this happen? Your project load has expanded beyond what is reasonable. You are given more books than you can possibly read. The list of people you “need” to meet with has grown out of control. 

You have to decide how you are going to manage your time, information, and people. You have to be intentional about doing for one with each of these. Let me explain.

Time

It is important whether you are deciding your business or managing your week, to decide what is going to be in and what is going to be out. How can you move forward with one direction and not be paralyzed by not doing anything nor be overwhelmed by letting all the different options stand in your mind.

So, what do you want your time to look like? What is your ideal schedule? Which projects are you going to do and which are you going to decide not to do? Say “no” so you can say “yes” to the right ones.

Information

You are going to regularly have options to consume information. Whether it be a book, a podcast or a conference, what you need to do is to do for one what you wish you could do for all. Do not try to read 40 books in a month. Rather, read a book in a month. Do not decide, “I’m not going to read any books because I can’t read all the books I want.” Make a decision and read a book a month. Choose one or two podcasts, not 15. 

People

What I am about to tell you is pretty difficult. You cannot be everybody’s friend. You cannot serve everybody with your business. You cannot help everyone. You can try. You can try to go out and serve everybody and be everybody’s best friend. But it will wear you out. It will burn you out.  

I know what you are thinking. Since you cannot serve everybody and since you cannot be everybody’s best friend, you are just not going to be with people at all. I do not think this is going to help though. Instead, I want you, when it comes to people, to do for one what you wish you could do for all.

In your business, you are going to pick an audience and serve this audience really well. Yes, there are a lot of audiences to choose from, but, for now, I want you to do for one what you wish you could do for all. In your personal life, it is the same thing. Prioritizing relationships is key.  

Next Steps

1) List everything. Make a list of everything absorbing your time. Make a list of all the books, podcasts and conferences you could or want to consume. Make a list of all the people and organizations in your life.

2) Prioritize. Decide who and what you must say “yes” to. Circle these.

3) Delete the rest. That is correct. Go ahead and cross out what remains.

4) Move forward. For the next 90 days, prioritize this list when it comes to your schedule, consumption of content and relationships.

5) Set up a Quarterly Offsite. Schedule a time to do this again before the next quarter begins.

Can you see how this will bring clarity and focus? TIPing your overwhelm will help you remain undistracted.

Let me know how it goes. Please share in the comments section any thoughts or questions you have in going through this process. 

You can escape overwhelm. You can have clarity and focus. You can thrive in your life and work.