When it's overwhelming...

Lately, I've been feeling like my "to do" list has been piling on more tasks faster than I can cross them off. Then they occur like each item will take a lifetime to do so why bother? Next thing I know, I'm feel unproductive, negative and wanting to play hooky for the rest of the day, week and month! The feeling of anxiety, overwhelm and stress takes over and I don't know where to start! The light is not at the end of the tunnel and I slowly begin to question what I'm doing.

Sadly, I'm not the only one that feels this way, especially for small business owners! Being your own boss is great, you get the freedom and flexibility to do what you want when you want to but it's also overwhelming when you're the sole producer of your own results!

Here's what I've found to help.
1. Take a deep breath and really look at your list. List it in the order of importance and throw in some easy items in between.
2. Get that it's okay where you're at, and the fact that you're moving forward means that you're challenging yourself and you're growing.
3. Do the first item and only the first item. Once you're complete, you can move onto the next item.
4. Take small little breaks when you need to, and when you take your breaks, make sure it's away from the desk/office.
5. Reminder: when you're eating your lunch, don't do it at your desk.

Here's a couple things of what I've noticed when I take these steps. The daunting tasks seems to be accomplished quickly. I find out that I have created this idea that the workload is so big that it would take hours, when in actuality, it doesn't. It may take a half an hour at most to complete it. Having the little tasks randomly throughout the list breaks up the need to be in front of the computer. I find that taking 15 minutes to walk to the bank or post office gives me an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and relax. Lastly, I end up breezing through the list quicker than I imagined. It turned a week of feeling unproductive to a satisfying day! All in all, I've learned that sucking it up and doing the tasks when I don't "feel" like it will have me feeling better than not doing it at all.

What are some tips that you use to move yourself from feeling slow to productive?