Dealing with overwhelm and low productivity
Do you ever feel like you have so many things to do and so little time to get them done? Do you ever feel like life is happening to you and sometimes the high quality of your life or day just isn’t there?
In our fast-paced life we want to be wonderful parents, lovers, business people, friends and contributors to others. In addition, we want to have lots of energy, money and to live a healthy life that is fun, fulfilling and rewarding. It’s no wonder that overwhelm seems to be a common side effect.
I say that feeling overwhelmed is an “effect” because any feeling we have must be produced by something prior to the feeling. Your thoughts, reactions and actions produce your feelings. So what is the solution for eliminating your overwhelm and feeling less than highly productive?
In my own quest to manage all of my daily, weekly and monthly responsibilities and personal desires and to live an abundant and fulfilling life, I created a values-based decision and action process for myself that many other people have found useful. I hope you do also.
First and foremost it does not need to be complicated. Simplicity is the way of nature and nature does what she does with maximum efficiency, on time, every time.
So, with that said, let me ask you a question. Of all the things you value in your life… what do you value the most? Is it your health? You connection with God? Making money? Your children? Your family? Doing charitable things? Compassion? Peace? Serenity?
We developed and acquired most of our values from our parents and teachers during our very early years of imprinting and through our modeling and mirroring stages between the ages of 14-21. Some of what our parents/teachers valued and deemed important to them may not be what we value most or what will serve our lives best.
When you start your day off with what you value most, your sense of doing and living with your highest purpose and for your highest values will make you feel great every day.
We all get caught up in all the stuff there is to do and get overwhelmed when we don’t get it all done and our day has just slipped by again. By doing THE highest and most important stuff first, every day, the little things that don’t get done seem trivial. In addition, by prioritizing what is really important and MUST get done vs. all the stuff that needs to get done, you begin to shift your mentality to one of high impact and high value.
There are two steps to this process and they both require a bit of thinking and planning.
Take 15 minutes and write down all the things you value in your life. When you are done, rate them from 1-10 or more. Next is ask yourself this question:
What must I do today to act upon my highest value?
For example, if health is on your list as one of the top things you value, what can you do every day (including today) to make sure that you take care of that value? You then schedule that somewhere in your day and you make sure you do it. If it’s being connected to God, what can you do every day, including today, to take care of that value?
When you take care of the highest values and most important things first, your life has more meaning and you feel fulfilled.
In addition, when you have lists upon lists of things to do, you cannot give the same value to all the stuff on the list. You must prioritize the ones that will have the highest impact on whatever outcome you want to achieve. Not all your activities are worth or are valued the same. Learn to say “no,” and learn to prioritize your to-do list and do only your highest-impact or income-producing activities first.
This process may take you 10 minutes a day, and it will save you hours every day when you apply it. Here is a Daily-To-Do document I use to plan my day.
Feel free to use the Daily To-Do, and please pass it on to friends (The “Share This” link at the lower left allows you to e-mail this to friends, and to Digg it, which is another great way to pass it on. You can also Digg it from the link in the upper right corner.)
You can use the Daily To-Do for both your personal life and your business. Filling this out daily will keep you focused and help you achieve more than ever before.
All my best,
John
Hi John,
I saw you on The Secret and I’ve read some of your material but this is the first time I’ve commented on your blog.
You are completely correct. By getting clear on our values and then aligning our priorities in line with them puts order to the chaos and allows us to live our lives in alignment with what we most value.
Cheers, Niro
[...] Right planning Reading John Assaraf’s post Dealing with overwhelm and low productivity reminded me the great example that teaches us an important lesson in prioritizing things: *Read [...]
good point John. I started this week to actually PRINT out my highest values. It made me realize that certain people were keeping me from achieving my important values. Thanks for sharing this tip.
[...] John Assaraf asks: “Do you ever feel like you have so many things to do and so little time to get them done? Do you ever feel like life is happening to you and sometimes the high quality of your life or day just isn’t there?” [...]
Thanks for the blog John. That daily plan suggested was a great idea. It make life easier when you make it simple.
Thank you John having watched the Secret DVD, I usually control my thoughts and take it simple as you put it. thank you again
Greetings John, The day planner is very simmilar to the one I have in my one- coach material, I like the idea of the 5 decisions this way I stay laser focused. You and your “group” are included in my grateful for list. Thank you
Thank you John, I needed to read this because I have been experiencing feeling there isn’t enough time in the day. I am going to use the daily to do document and see how I get on.
Thanks again
John – the ‘to-do’ sheet is wonderful. Years ago, I downloaded a 100 question exercise from your site, that divided four categories of our lives: relationships, finances, personal, and health. I copied it, and use it to “keep score” on how I’m doing. Do you remember which one I mean? If that is still available, I think it would be appreciated by all. Great “wake-up call” and a way to measure progress.
Ironically, I am of Greek ancestry (Speak, talk and can write) and have been to greece at least 8 to 10 times and SANTORINI is our next goal. It is breathtaking. I have a picture of it and visualize daily with me and my wife in the scene.
John, can we have a private conv by phone (you know what this is from our emails) – just a question on things like what bob schienfeld talks about in his stuff and TLC stuff in general…
Thanks,
nan
John, thanks for the Daily To Do Planner. It is just what I need at this point in my life. I need to stay focused on what is important. Thanks again.
I keep making changes to it on a regular basis so that it morphs as my responsibilities change- that is why I like it organic and on one simple page. With that said, feel free to print as many as you like.
John, would you consider printing your Daily To Do Planner as a yearly calendar? It would be great to have it in bound form and I’m sure that your fans would be eager to buy it.
[...] article with ideas on how to time manage and stay in control!read more | digg [...]
All these comments are great and I am so glad people all over the world are reading them.
It makes me want to keep writing my thoughts and sharing the stuff I think about.
All my best!
Wow. This is exactly what I am struggling with this week so much to do and so little time! Thanks so much for the Daily-to-do Sheet. Just what I needed and greatly appreciated!
keep shining your light:-) in peace and joy
Nyilah
http://www.nyilah.com
As a person who worked as executive secretary the majority of my workaday life, I learned prioritizing very early in my career. It has proved to be a blessing to have conquered this skill. I have been a landlady, managing my own rental property for approximately 18 years. I even ran a sideline small business for 5 years – and all of this in addition to my 40 hr. a week job as secretary and wordprocessor. When you get organized, you can accomplish so much more.
Thanks John,
Did this with SMI, got me back on track.Little victories add up to big. Thanks again.
Brad Root
Thank for sharing this John. I love this and know that this will give me great focus in my day. It would be great to have a daily planner that had this exercise in it for each day! Thanks again!
Awesome. The pdf file’s just what I needed to get focussed. Thanks a lot John.
This is a usefull concept…I like it…
Thank you so much for sheet. What a great gift. Anne
Thanks John,
Next to being grateful for what we already have, focus is probably the biggest “missed step” that keeps people from achieving what they want to.
I nearly missed it! I almost didn’t look at your “Daily to-do document,” thinking it would be like countless other goal sheets I’ve seen that could be done as well on a piece of plain paper. When I saw the first question (What are you grateful today?) I hit the save button. It’s an extremely helpful document. Thanks again.
Duane
This is cool.
The gift of giving is such a wonderful gift to have, thank you for sharing. I’m starting up a new business and reading a lot of spiritial books, ways to have a clear mind and remove all unwanted energy/emotions, to ensure this new business is successful and it will be, thanks to you and a lot of your colleagues for sharing your gifts for success with the world.
Great reminders of the truth. However, when one’s energy field is scattered, it’s difficult to focus. I have a son who is so highly stressed (trying to sell two condos in a collapsed market and having to pay 3 mortgages with borrowed money)that he is full of distrust and threatening self-destruction. How can I help him when I don’t have the finances? How can I heal my own emotions when they are tied up with his welfare? I feel for Christine!
Thanks John,
As usual your reminders are right on target. Love the sheet, talk about a time saver. Kudos!
Very good to include projects and priorities in the same document, for they are separated in my day timer and one tends to forget projects while putting out the “fires” of priorities.
Just joined recently, love your site.
Thanks for doing this.
Gilles
Hi John, I want you to know that sheet will be very helpfull to me! Lately my concerns are my dieing sister, my alcohlic son and a demented mother ….my plate has overwhemed me!!
Hi John, WE REALLY ENJOYED LOOKING AT YOUR BEAUTIFULL PICTURES OF GREECE! YOU HAVE A LOT OF COURAGE TO SEND PICTURES TO PEOPLE YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW!
So great! I love that to-do sheet. It’s helped me to remember the important things on several occassions!
One thing I do for the HAVE-TO items in the day that I definitely want to limit my time to, is use a common kitchen timer. If I want to make sure a task gets no more than 10 minutes, that little ticker keeps me in line!
It’s interesting how we can get overwhelmed with things that don’t really matter….a tool I use that is very simple is using a daytimer. I am amazed when I train people in my business, how many people have never used a daytimer. It is another way to prioritize the important things in every area of your life. I find having a daytimer with 15 min increments, between 8 am-10pm works very well. There is a great one that I use made by “Mead” – Weekly/Monthly Planner. When you time slot your priorities, it really helps you see what available time you actually have to fulfill all your commitments and helps you realistically put things in your day that you will have time to accomplish.
Debbie Ruston
http://WWW.ABUNDANT-LIFESTYLE.COM
1-800-576-2917
1-519-342-4050
Thanks John, just what the doctor ordered to help me out of my overwhelm. Dave