Priority, Priorities … not very big words, but so important in the day-to-day challenge of busy business owners trying to stay out of overwhelm.

As many of you know, I’ve been hosting a 10 Days to a Better Blog Challenge. We’re on day 3 now, and to be perfectly honest, it’s taking a LOT more time and focus than I thought it would. Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving it and knew it would require time and effort on my part, but I truly did not realize just how much would required. And then there is the Facebook component. I’m running the challenge in a private Facebook group, so there’s that added … Facebook “squirrel!” thing going on at the same time. I get on Facebook with the express intent of interacting with those in the group, and end up being sucked right into the rest of Facebook. But that’s another subject altogether.

The first day of the challenge I was so overwhelmed I wasn’t sure how to handle it. I wasn’t very intelligent when scheduling calls and appointments during the two weeks of the challenge, but that’s what I did, and that’s that.

To backtrack a bit, I’ve been using an online To-Do list called Todoist. It’s an awesome app I highly recommend. When I looked at my To-Do list about 3pm my time and saw the humongous list of things queued up for that day, I became even more overwhelmed. But then I realized not everything on the list for that day were top priorities that absolutely HAD to get done that day. So I took another look at the list and decided to get my priorities straight – and do only those things that had to be done that day.

I went through the list, task by task. I either kept it for “today” because it really needed to be done “today,” or I clicked on the little “tomorrow” icon to move it to the next day, or clicked on the “next week” icon that moved it to the following Monday for things that could wait until then. Once I had my priorities straight for the tasks I needed to accomplish, and took another look at my list for “today,” a huge wave of relief swept over me and I felt so much less overwhelmed.

Of course my prioritization process only tackled the business tasks and NOT the personal or self-care tasks I need to do every day. I barely made it to my 10K steps, which took far more effort than I would have liked because in my effort to be “johnny on the spot” in the Facebook group, I found myself sitting on my fanny most of the day. Not a good way to get steps in. This was a good indication that a little more work would be required to get my priorities straight in a more balanced effort between life and business. So I did that.

Now on day 3, I feel much less overwhelmed. I know what I need to do when I get up in the morning to get my self-care in throughout the day. And I know what I need to do to get my day started with the challenge and all of the other things that need to be accomplished on a particular day.

At first I was thinking all I needed were about 6 or 7 more hours in my day and I’d be good to go. Then after digging a little deeper, realized I didn’t need more time. I simply needed to prioritize the things I want to accomplish. Do the important stuff and let the things that can wait, wait. I also learned to get into Facebook and do what I need to do and then out so I don’t get sucked into the Facebook hole

Setting priorities may be something many of you have already mastered, but I’m sure there are some of you like me who still have a lot of work to do.

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed and think “Oh my goodness, how am I going to get everything on my list done today????” Prioritize. If you don’t have an awesome tool like Todoist that will allow you to move things around on your list with a click of an icon, write everything down on a piece of paper and pick only those things that absolutely must get done that day. And do them. Do the things first that feed your spirit or your soul or are necessary for you physically, then do the other “must do” things on your list. Just prioritize your day and it truly will seem less overwhelming.

How do you prioritize your day to keep from being overwhelmed?