Thank you for hitting play today & coming back for another episode of the Senior Studio Success Podcast. I cannot wait to dive into this topic with you.

I had something different planned for this episode, but when this came up for my Studio Secrets students last week and I saw how some of them are struggling with overwhelm, I knew it might be happening for you too.

The beginning of a new year can be so exciting and so refreshing, but it can also be very overwhelming. As photographers, we know what overwhelm feels like with sessions backed up that need to be edited, lab boxes that haven’t been opened for a week, deliveries to get out the door, emails & calls to return. All of us are familiar with that busy overwhelm.

But when January hits, it’s a quiet overwhelm that we sometimes face. There’s this blank slate sitting in front of us & we have all of these things we’ve put off during busy season & so many fresh ideas that we don’t know where to start first. Some of you will put your head in the sand & ignore it all. You sit on the couch & tell yourself that you earned this time of rest. And you have. I won’t deny that, but when it becomes an avoidance, rest time is over. It has served its purpose & now it’s doing more harm than good.

And then there are others who run around like a chicken with the head cut off. Sorry, I grew up in the country. You have so many things going on that you do a little bit here, a little there, you go non-stop all day long, but you make no progress because you aren’t focused. That is definitely overwhelming because you are trying to be it all & do it all but the list just keeps getting bigger.

So, let’s talk about that downward overwhelm spiral that gets the best of us. I put together some strategies that I know will help you if any of this sounds like you.

Recognize and acknowledge the overwhelm

First and probably most importantly, you have to recognize & acknowledge it. Call it out. What does overwhelm look like on you? Which one of those versions I mentioned earlier is you? Maybe it’s something else entirely or a combination of both? Either way, know what it looks like for you, recognize how you react to it so that you & everyone else around you understands what is going on. Have those conversations.

It’s kinda like pms. You gotta let them know that you’re going a little crazy right now. Ok?

Notice how you are feeling.

Next, notice how you are feeling. What is lacking? What do you need in those moments? Do you need some quiet time? To be left alone? Or do you need reassurance and support? What is going to help you most? Communicate that to your family and employees if you have them.

Write down your thoughts

Next I would take some time to write down your thoughts, everything that is in your head. Sometimes that is the biggest problem. We try to use our brain as a big storage unit. That’s not its purpose. Your brain is meant to process information, not store all of it. So, get it out of your head.

This is going to be a combination of your to-do list with all the business stuff and personal stuff and anything else you can think of that needs to get done. Put those on the left-hand side. Just get it all out on paper. And then on the right-hand side, write down all the thoughts that are coming up for you right now like “there’s not enough time” or “I’ll never get through all of this” or “who am I to think I could ever run a business.” I would make 2 columns so that those are separate.

Get rid of the lies.

Look at the right-hand side. There’s probably a lot of drama going on in that list, huh? What isn’t actually true? Now at first glance, you might say that it’s all true. That’s ok. That’s what your brain does. It tells you stories & then it looks for evidence to prove itself true. “I don’t have enough time” is not true, as much as it hurts to hear that. What is true is “there are 24 hours in a day.” That is a fact that none of us can deny.

So, you are going to look for things that really aren’t true on that list. Write down a feeling beside each one. How does that thought make you feel?

Depressed? Angry? Anxious? Overwhelmed? Happy? Excited?

Now, each feeling will drive an action or inaction. What do you do when you’re depressed, when you are anxious, when you are angry? Sit on the couch, pace the floor, scroll social media, compare yourself to others, go on a shopping spree, organize the kitchen pantry like a woman, yell at your kids? We react to our emotions, right?

Do you want to keep doing those things? Or do you want to try something else on for size? Did you notice where those emotions came from? Right from the thoughts you wrote down.

So, in order to change a behavior, we change the emotion, which means we have to change the thought.

Our thoughts drive our behavior, our actions, our inactions.

So keeping with that example of “I don’t have enough time,” what if we changed that thought to “there’s plenty of time to do the most important things on my list.”

How does that feel? For me, it makes me feel a little bit more in control, more confident about my day. And when I feel like that, I can get so much done!

So the first step in ditching overwhelm is changing your thoughts that are probably full of lack and scarcity. Give yourself something else to believe & act from that place.

Ok, now that you’ve changed your mindset, you should feel a little better. Let’s go back to the to-do list.

Analyze your to-do list

It’s time to prioritize your list. It’s up to you how you want to do this. You’ll have to come up with your own system that makes sense to you. But I would personally divide that list up again into projects & tasks.

A project is something that will take several hours or may even cross over a few days. These are the big things like revamping your website or finishing up that magazine you’ve been sitting on. Maybe it’s something personal like painting your bedroom.

Tasks are pretty self explanatory. They are the little to-do’s that add up on your plate. They probably only take 5 or 10 minutes in reality, but it just feels like a lot because that list can get pretty long.

Now go through each list & make some decisions. You have to figure out what you are going to do with each of these things. You have 4 choices here - delete it, delay it, delegate it or do it.

Some things don’t need to be done at all. Get rid of it.

Some things can be put off into the future. Do that. Give yourself permission to procrastinate on it. That will relieve some stress.

Some things can be done by someone else. Maybe it’s time for a new honey do list. Sorry to all my guys listening. Or maybe it’s time to find an assistant for your business or a teenager to come over after school to help walk the dogs, get the mail, take out the trash, do some laundry, vacuum the floors, grocery shop for you, get dinner started. There’s no shame in that. I had a helper for years when my kids were younger for a few days a week. It was so helpful.

And then you are left with the things that you just need to do.

What feels the heaviest to you? What would feel good to just get done? Highlight that.

What will move the needle the most in your business & life toward the goals you have set and the vision that you have? These are the things that are going to give you the most bang for your buck.

Is it getting the website done so that you look legit & have some place for inquiries to find you?

Is it getting your back end systems running smoothly so that your inquiries & clients have a great experience with you?

Is it slowing down long enough to hire & train an assistant?

Highlight those a different color.

Make an action plan

Alright, you know what’s the most important. It’s time to make a plan. Take those big projects & break them down. What is it going to take to get in the end zone for those? You might want to use a separate piece of paper for each project or a new google document or note in your phone. But jot those steps down so that you have a plan for completing each project.

Take a step back and refocus.

Sometimes you have to take a step back & refocus. When you’re doing this type of work, trying to come down from the overwhelm, it’s really important to remind yourself of your goals and the reasons behind them.

Why do you want to hit that revenue goal?

What about that number is important?

Do you want to bring your spouse home? Do you want to spoil your kids with a big vacation next summer? Do you need to pay off debt? Do you want to put a big chunk aside for retirement? Remind yourself of your goals & why you are doing this. That’s going to come in handy when it comes to this next part.

Figure out your capacity

Did you take too much on this year? Did you overbook yourself this fall? Are you underpriced? (I can help you with that, btw. Stick around until the end for an announcement for something insane I have coming for you guys.)

You know what your bring home number should be. You probably know the sales you need to bring that much home. Based on those numbers and how often you want to shoot, is where your pricing needs to start.

If you want to bring home $50,000 and only shoot 2 sessions a week, $600 digital collections aren’t going to get you there.

So, set your availability for the year. But before you do that, block off your personal time and priorities first. Don’t put that last or you will be in the same place this time next year.

Set your boundaries

Set up some boundaries around when you will take meetings, when you will shoot, your office hours, when you will return emails, all the things. If you have a hard time saying no, go back to the reason why you want to do this thing in the first place.

You have to value your time. If you don’t, neither will your clients.

Put it on your calendar

Plans are nice, but you have to do the work. You have to set aside time to implement. Block off time on your calendar for those projects. You need big chunks of time for those. And when that time comes, you only focus on that project. In fact, I would not start another project or have multiple projects going on at one time. You need to do it from start to finish, even if it takes you a week. Stay focused. Turn off the distractions & get it done. Move the needle.

Go to work

Ok, you have a plan. It’s on the calendar. You’re in control. There’s plenty of time for the most important things. Now it’s time to start tackling that list.

We are all different. So you might get motivated differently than I do or need some ways to calm you down. Here’s a few little things you can try.

Put on some music that will pump you up to do the work

Meditate, pray, sit in silence to calm you down

Celebrate the small wins along with the big ones

Recognize that you are only one person & that you aren’t in a race

Give yourself some grace when you trip up, when you snap at your kids, when you have a meltdown & sit in the pantry floor eating chocolate

Let yourself have a few minutes & then remind yourself of who you really are, who created you, gave you this gift & this passion & your big reason why to get you moving again.

I hope this was helpful for you. Hey I get overwhelmed too. So I get what you might be going through.

Are you tired of telling your little boy “just 5 more minutes?”... I get it.

Are you exhausted from being chained to your computer?

Have no family time?

Maybe you feel like you are working your rear end off & have nothing to show for it?

You’ve thought multiple times "this is not how owning a business should look".

Ever resent your clients because you are way overbooked & can’t keep up?

And even more than that . . . Does any of this sound familiar?

You get people inquiring but they ghost you.

You don't know whether you should follow up or not.

You aren't making any real money in your business.

You’re confused by pricing, tired of recreating the wheel every year.

You hate selling. It scares you to death.

You have no idea what to say to close the deal - either in the consult, on the phone or in the sales room.

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I’m going to drop the link in the podcast description or you can always DM me on Instagram.

That’s gonna be it for today. Send me your big aha moments. I wanna know what you thought about this episode. Tell me what you are going to do to ditch the overwhelm right now & throughout this year. I can’t wait to hear from you.

And a big thank you for leaving reviews & sharing the podcast in your instastories. It helps so much when you do that! Let’s continue building a more profitable, productive & purposeful business so you can spend more time doing what you love with the ones you love.