Are everyday life pressures getting in the way of reaching your goals?

Do you feel there is always something or someone who requires your attention and distracts you from your priorities?

Life can feel like a circus act as it may be filled with drama, elephants in the room you need to address or juggling too many balls at once. So how does one manage? Many think they can multitask to manage it all but guess what? The brain doesn’t function properly when we do that.

Multitasking reduces your efficiency and performance because your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. When you try to do two things at once, your brain lacks the capacity to perform both tasks successfully. Research also shows that, in addition to slowing you down, multitasking lowers your IQ. Not only does it lower your IQ it leads to poor performance on each individual task. Multitask is considered a vital component through life and to get ahead, but is it really?  Many are proud that they can multitask and work under pressure, but it does take toll on you in the long run. I know when I feel the stress and pressure that it’s time to stop the juggling and get focused.

Here are 10 Steps on how to overcome juggling too much at once:

1. Make a plan
   When overwhelm hits the mind, thoughts bounce around and you don’t know where to start, grab a piece of paper and write it all down. Do a brain dump! Think of the end results and what steps are needed to achieve your goals.

2. Prioritize
   When everything is written down it’s time to prioritize. Prioritization happens on different levels. You have things that need to be done today that are of top priority, then you have things that fall into this week, month or year. Sometimes the list doesn’t add up to what you need in order to achieve your long term goals.  Some items are task oriented and can become distractors, separate the urgent from important. Urgent tasks are things you feel you need to react to right away, like emails, phone calls, texts or news, while important tasks are ones that contribute to your long-term mission, values and goals. Those important items are the first to focus on.

3. Delegate
   You can’t do it all and sometimes you need to ask for help when the workload piles up. When you look at your list determine what can be delegated. Then select the right person to help get it done. It’s important to clearly communicate what is needed and set clear goals and expectations. Provide support, guidance and instructions. Take personal interest in the progress and follow up.

4. Trust
   When you delegate it’s important to trust the other person to do the job. Understand they may do it differently, but they may end up with the same result.

5. Focus on one thing at a time 
   Staying on task is not always easy especially when you have so many things you want to focus on. When you make your plan and set your priorities, stick to them. Set yourself up in a place that welcomes you to get the job done, such as a workspace with all of your supplies and comfort. Allot an amount of time to focus on the task. Ensure your timetable is cleared.

6. Distraction control                                                                      
   Distractions can be internal or external.  Start by figuring out what your distractions are.  Internal can be mental chaos, anxiety or fatigue. Figure out the cause and a plan to assist with that. External distractions can be noisy work space, people, technology and/or social media. So as mentioned above find suitable space to work where it encourages focus and then go offline and avoid social media, mute your phone and avoid checking emails until you have completed the task.

7. Set Boundaries
   People and social media can be big distractions. If you know what distractors exist in your world it’s time to set boundaries either for others or yourself. Block off time to work, and let people know your focus and when you can make time for them. Avoid doing tasks for others that they can do on their own.

8. Healthy habits
   Review your routines and set healthy habits to support you in being calm, relaxed and focus. Meditate, breath, write in a journal, eat healthy, hydrate and exercise and have some fun as these all support you in being the best you can be.

9. Take action
   All the steps above set you up for success and in order for that to happen it’s time to take action to get the task done. Remember to focus on one task at a time.

10. Get it done
    If you followed these steps by having a plan, prioritize, delegate, focus and avoid distractions then take action it’s should be a recipe to complete what you set out to do. When you accomplish one task then it’s time to move on to the next one. It’s important to finish what you start so that you avoid the juggling act.

All of this impacts the outcome and I hope that you put steps in place to achieve your big goals. I spend every morning visualizing my day and how it will play out. This is done either by meditation, writing in my journal or when walking my dog. I rehearse in my mind what needs to be done, prioritize and picture the successful outcome. Then I take action!