Overwhelmed? Here’s How to Stay Productive Between Now and Thanksgiving

by | Blog, Goals, Productivity, Stress Management, Time Management

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There’s something nervous toddlers and busy professionals can agree on:  

October’s scary.  

For you, it’s not the animatronic monsters and other spooky Halloween decorations that are the problem. 

It’s the fact that October feels like the last full month of the year.  

It’s definitely the last full month of productivity for a lot of us. Everyone starts planning time off in November and December for holidays, family time, and rest. Young kids will be on school breaks, and that upends family schedules. The end of the year starts feeling really close. And there’s still so much to do, both in terms of day-to-day stuff and year-end wrap-up. 

If you work with clients, you know they’re all feeling the same time crunch. Everyone’s trying to fit everything in before the holidays and the end of the year. If they need your help, they’re going to need it soon—before they take their own time off.  

The stakes feel high. You feel tired. Good time management feels both critically important, and really impossible to achieve.  

Combat the “oh no, I’m running out of time” feeling by taking strategic action. Acknowledge the reality that, yes, there are a limited number of productive work hours left in your year. Yes, you have a lot of responsibilities and a lot to get done.  

But you also still have time.  

Think of your limited time like you would look at having money. Let’s say you’re on a strict budget, and after you pay your bills, you only have $100 left to spend during the last week of the month. You’re going to have to be strategic about how you allocate that money. Still, you’re probably going to be able to get the most important stuff: basic groceries to keep yourself fed, gas for the car, a few little treats that make you happy, etc.

When you’re constantly busy with work and life, a month doesn’t feel like a lot of time. A full month is actually enough time for you to get a lot of important stuff done, and enjoy some things that bring you joy. You just can’t let yourself get stuck in the doom spiral of overwhelm.

Here’s one simple objective to focus on and keep you working productively between now and Thanksgiving.  

It’s just three simple words. 

Stay the course.  

You don’t need to...

  • get everything done in the next month
  • give yourself new goals right now
  • throw yourself into holiday planning just yet
  • take on that new volunteer activity if you don’t have the bandwidth

And you don’t need to get everything planned out for what next year is going to look like for your business, right now. Yes, big-picture planning is important, especially as you move into a new year or a new season for your business. But it’s okay to back-burner some of that planning for a bit when you’re overwhelmed with imminent stuff.  

Stay the course.  

Be clear about your most important goals. Even when you have a hundred things on your to-do list, you can always take a few minutes to pull back and do some strategic time management planning. Be clear about what things that absolutely must get handled today, or this week, this month, and this year. Anything that’s not on that “must do” list is optional. You’ll get to those tasks if you have time, but only after the higher priority stuff is handled.

You can trust yourself to make the right decisions about how to use your time productively so you end up feeling really good about where you are by Thanksgiving. It’s just a matter of figuring out what the next best step is and taking action. Don’t get caught in a time-wasting doom spiral.

Stay the course! 

3 Tips for Breaking Out of an Overwhelm Spiral   

  1. Focus on the short term— like what you’re going to do in the next 10 minutes, and in the next hour. Put tomorrow and two weeks from now out of your mind for a moment. What’s the next best step you could take right now to move yourself forward?
  2. Reflect on your strengths and successes. You’ve gotten through stressful periods in your life and business before, and you can do it again. Take stock of your strengths and all your internal resources (your grit, your work ethic, your creativity, etc.) when things get overwhelming and you’re pulled in all directions.
  3. Take something off your plate. Choose something that’s stressing you out, that you can either get done right now or drop from your to-do list entirely. It might be a chore or household task that you’re going to outsource to someone else. Make that arrangement right away. Or find something that’s on your schedule that you just don’t have time for and cancel it. Take decisive action to immediately close out one thing that’s causing you stress. Remember, a key part of good time management is getting comfortable saying no to things!

Consultants and coaches, join me for a free productivity training.   

You can’t afford to waste hours during this busy season. Maximize your time to best serve your clients and have space to enjoy your life on the personal side. 

Let me give you some clear direction and clear tips about productivity before you run into the chaos of the holiday season. Join me on Thursday, October 30th at noon ET for 3 Keys to Unlocking Productivity Secrets for Consultants & Coaches.

 Click here to sign up for this free training.

Stay the course,  

Sarah 

Sarah Reiff-Hekking
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