How many days have you had where more items seem to go on your to-do list than you actually tick off? Probably quite a few. Recently I was getting ready to leave the country for a month and I certainly felt like I had a few days like this leading up to my trip.

But many people find this situation happens way more regularly than they would like and it can often lead to a state of overwhelm. Unfortunately, the time we feel overwhelmed is the time when your brain works less efficiently and of course it’s really the time you need to be working more efficiently.

One of the tricks I use to help keep my brain out of overwhelm is to take a few moments to celebrate my “done” list along the way. Instead of completing each task and focusing on how many things I still have to do, I spend just a few moments to celebrate what I’ve already accomplished and how it will help me to reach my bigger goals at that time.

I find it also helps clients to be super ruthless with their to-do list in busy times like these (actually at all times). If it doesn’t absolutely have to be done at that time or in a certain way then in the words of Frozen….”Let it go”. There were certain things I just wasn’t going to get to before I jumped on my 24 hour flight, but I was certainly happy with what I did get through. So instead of worrying about things that really didn’t need to be worried about, I got on the plane feeling excited about what I had already accomplished and I was very ready to enjoy my time away.

At NEP often we find people get a little too caught up with what hasn’t been done as opposed to celebrating all the great tasks they have already crushed through to get them an extra few steps closer to reaching their goals. Once people start spending a few moments throughout their days to celebrate their “done” list, we see a great mindset shift towards success and accomplishment and away from feeling overwhelmed.

Try it and see how you go – you’ll probably find a great mindset result for very little effort. We’d love to hear your examples of this.

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If you’d like to find out more, join the conversation in our next open workshop.

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