Two Steps to Greater Calm and Clarity
Overwhelm is a major cause of stress for many of my business coaching clients. Too many thoughts, too much to do, in too little time, with everything feeling like a priority. Years ago, when I was having my own overwhelm attack, I reached out to one of my mentors who shared this extremely simple and miraculous cure for overwhelm. I call it the Mental Relief Two-Step, because it’s easy and almost as fun as learning the two-step!
Step 1: List Everything
Grab a pad and pencil (or your tablet or PC) and list EVERYTHING that is on your mind right now – EVERYTHING. That includes worries, fears, to-do’s, errands, appointments – everything!
For example:
- Prepare draft presentation for committee and send to Pat for review
- Pick up milk during lunch
- Worried about Dad
- Update my LinkedIn profile
- Very nervous about my committee presentation
- Set up candidate interviews
- Overwhelmed, discouraged, and feel stuck
- Lay out my calendar for the week
Step 2: Prioritize the List
Prioritize the entire list in order of importance, by numbering each item, with 1 being the most important and so on.
For example:
- Lay out my calendar for the week
- Prepare draft presentation for committee and send to Pat for review
- Set up candidate interviews
- Update my LinkedIn profile
- Pick up milk during lunch
- Worried about Dad
- Very nervous about my committee presentation
- Overwhelmed, discouraged, and feel stuck
Just try this! Believe me; it is very likely you will feel relief just by listing everything on your mind. Also, in prioritizing your worries, you might find yourself laughing as your mind gets how ridiculous that is and releases them. And there’s a good chance you’ll get more done with more peace of mind!
“Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organize your life around it.” – Brian Tracy
Enjoy the Mental Relief Two-Step!
Written by Maddisen K. Krown, MA, Personal and Executive Coach, Holoenergetics© Counselor /
The Huffington Post / nohoartsdistrict.com
Photo via Flickr