10 Tips for Navigating a Busy, Stressful Time

Recently a reader shared that she is going through a super busy time and feeling a little overwhelmed.

Here are some strategies that can help:

1. Prioritize. Make a list of everything that needs to be done. Choose the three highest priority tasks and do those first. Then choose the next three highest priority tasks and do those.

2. Focus on one thing at a time. The more we bring our focus completely to the present task, the more efficient we will be.

3. Perfectionism is not our friend. Unless you are a brain surgeon, air traffic controller, or another occupation where an extremely high degree of precision is important, working to perfectionist standards just adds to our stress.

Heart centered women often struggle with perfectionism. We have high standards, we want to do a good job, we don’t like making mistakes. Look underneath the perfectionism to see if there are irrational fears at play, such as “If I don’t do everything perfectly it will be a huge problem.”

4. It’s okay to disappoint people sometimes. Heart centered women have high empathy and dislike making other people disappointed, frustrated, or angry. But putting other people’s feelings first can be a recipe for resentment and burnout.

5. Do your best and let that be enough. Sacrificing your own well-being is not good for anyone.

6. Take the long-term view. Imagine it is ten years from now. How would you view this situation from that perspective?

7. What advice would you give a beloved friend if they were experiencing this situation?

8. Practice self-care. Do whatever you can to take care of your physical, mental, and emotional health.

9. Ask for help. Heart centered women tend to not want to bother other people. Let people help you.

10. Be your own cheerleader. Our brains tend to have a negativity bias, which makes us focus on all that could go wrong. This can create self-talk that makes us more stressed. To counterbalance the negativity bias, make sure you notice everything that’s going right, and keep the conversation in your head positive, such as:

You’ve got this! You’re doing great! Look how well you are handling this busy time! You can do it!

I believe in you! Send an email to liz@happybrainlife and share something that helps you get through busy, stressful times so I can learn too.

Take good care of your precious, heart centered self! The world needs you.

Hugs,

Liz