Ep 113 – How to reduce overwhelm for solopreneurs?

“I have so many ideas but don’t know how to prioritise, what to pursue, or figure out how to get the money rolling in the business”. These are words I hear often from overwhelmed solopreneurs and founders who exhaust themselves trying to do it all only to realise it’s unsustainable to keep running at that pace. If you are an entrepreneur going solo or trying to build something impactful with a wonderful team but find yourself stuck and unable to move forward then this episode is for you.

In this episode from the Own Your Everyday Series on the Being Meraklis podcast, we explore the overwhelm solopreneurs face, and how to proactively avoid/manage the overwhelm and find the balance.

Too much to do and too little time? Too many choices and lack of clarity on how to navigate decision-making? Do you find yourself stuck at crossroads unable to take important calls and move forward? Are you busy day in and day out but months pass and you realise you’ve made no progress on the big dreams for your business? I’ve been a solopreneur for many years now and I was overwhelmed all throughout my first few months of business. I was continually putting out fires everywhere, and biting more than I could chew and always carried this feeling that I was not doing enough to scale and grow the business to the potential I knew it held.

One of the fundamental reasons this happened I realised was because I was not clear on what I wanted to build and why. When we are busy with the little day-to-day things, we often forget the big picture and get lost in the details. If that’s you too, here’s your reminder to step back, reassess, and get clear on what you want to build. As the vision for the business gets clear answer critical questions on how you want to build it – what are your values and which among them resonate to be held as your values for your business. Who do you want to be as a solopreneur – what will make the journey worthwhile for you regardless of the outcome of the business?

Once you are clear on what you’re building and who you want to be as you run the business – Here are some tips to avoid being overwhelmed.

These are some lessons I learned the hard way in managing overwhelm and I hope these learnings help you accelerate your learning journey and help you get closer to accomplishing your goals.

1. Reconcile to the fact that you have only 24 hours and cannot do it all no matter how hard you try. We sometimes use the word superwoman or man as praise and try to do it all when it’s actually detrimental to our well-being. Also, it gives us a leeway from answering a difficult question – what really is my priority? As long as I’m busy doing many things I can push myself from answering this question. So the first step we need to do is accept we cannot do it all and ask ourselves the tough question If I really cannot do it all, what is the most important thing that I must give my energy and attention to so it gets done. Get clear on the priorities first and figure out what you need to make it happen.

2. Ditch the perfectionism. You don’t need to get it 100% right on your first attempt. For the longest time, I kept sitting on things saying – oh it’s not perfect, I don’t know it all yet, there might be something better than what I’m offering etc. The truth is we live in an iterative world- allow yourself the freedom to experiment, learn, iterate continually, and aim for progress instead of perfection.

3. Stop chasing efficiency chase experience. We try to do more, fit in more, and complete everything on our endless checklists but what about the experience. Are you experiencing the journey as you move towards those dream goals? You started for a reason – if you don’t experience the journey and enjoy the progress what is it all for?

4. Practice pausing to check in with yourself and to prioritise your needs. What is your body telling you? What is your mind experiencing? How is your mental and emotional well-being, check in frequently and master your emotions as they determine how available you are for your business.

5. Stop comparing your journey with highlight reels of others’ lives on social media. You’re doing yourself and your journey grave injustice when you do that. Instead, celebrate your progress and every little win. Reflect frequently to measure your progress and validate your own growth.

6. Ask for help. Don’t wait for shit to hit the roof before you ask for help. Proactively understand yourself and your shortcomings and seek help to fill the gaps. Hire people who complement your skill sets.

7. Habits routines and rituals – are there for a reason. Rely on them and make them your guardrails so you’re not freewheeling all day long. When we are solopreneurs and work without any boundaries, we lose our peace of mind and jeopardise other aspects of our life.

8. Balance that wheel of life. One thing we often do is keep pursuing one aspect of our life in this case our profession or business at the cost of others. I used to jokingly say I moved from 9 to 5 to 24*7. This pace wasn’t sustainable then and isn’t now. So make sure you’re balancing your energies across all important domains in your life and are not putting everything in just building your career.

9. Delegate Effectively. As a solopreneur, you’re often trying to do it all to save money or avoid the hassle of back and forth, but this is detrimental to your growth journey. Someone early on in my career told me something powerful that still remains with me – He said if it’s something someone else but you can do, then you must delegate it. To measure if its worth it – set an hourly rate you think you should be earning – a monetary value of what 60 mins of your time is worth it. If you can get something done through others at a cost lower than that then you’re wasting your time doing that. Delegate like a boss and free up the time for creative thinking that only you can do to scale your business.

10. Focus on what’s in your control – the inputs, process, and routines rather than daydreaming about outcomes beyond your control or influence. As solopreneurs we don’t have anyone to snap us out of our heads and into reality, so we need to do that for ourselves frequently. Have weekly routines to reflect on what went right and could have gone better, consciously bring your attention to things within your control and keep acting on them. Over time they will add up.

11. Leverage your peak energies. We all have times in the day where we are more fully present, have greater levels of concentration and alertness, it is very important to use these time slots for your most important projects. Observe your energy levels over a week or 10 days and make sure you’re doing your high value high priority tasks in those periods.

So here’s your own your everyday tip for this week, it is natural to feel overwhelmed as a solopreneur. Recognise the signs early and course correct because feeling overwhelmed defeats the entire purpose of starting up and doing something you love. Use these steps to balance your life and have a better relationship with your venture, don’t let it overwhelm you.