5 Ways To Get Back On Track When You’ve Seriously Over-Committed Yourself

What do you do when you are so far in and feel like the crushing workload is impossible to get out of because of everything you already committed to do?

How can you get back on track while keeping your reputation solid, sanity in check and still deliver results?

Now, I’m usually pretty good at saying ‘no’ and keeping boundaries, and have learned over the years how to stay out of the trap of over-committing . . .

But, I completely, 100%, went down the rabbit hole this past month and bit off a lot more than I could chew, especially given everything going on in our personal life, such as a serious health scare with our son.

I made too many commitments, loosened my boundaries, allowed people to book in my ‘focus’ time and found myself slipping into that overwhelmed feeling and ‘how in the world am I going to deliver?’. The old bad habits started to surface again . . .

In the end, everything worked out – it always does – but it takes noticing when you are going down the rabbit hole to get back on track.

Here are 5 ways to get back on track when you find you’ve over-committed yourself:

1) Take a breather and figure out your next right move.

It can be really tempting to keep going, going, going, but slowing down is essential. It’s counterintuitive, but necessary.

This breather time helps you notice where your thoughts and actions are helping you or hindering you, and think more clearly to focus on the right things.

Take an afternoon off to re-set, or 15 minutes to start each day strategically (not doing) to help give you clarity on what to do next.

2) Break it down into smaller chunks and focus on one thing at a time.

When you look at the great big list or project, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. And, you can’t do anything if you’re trying to do everything.

Break down what you need to do into smaller chunks – for example, instead of focusing on the big, important report you need to write, focus on getting the outline done.

When you break it down and focus on one step at a time, you’ll move through your work more quickly and feel a greater sense of control.

3) Take something off your plate.

This is an obvious one, but often the last to happen because we keep trying to do it all or work longer (and longer) hours. When you take that breather, ask yourself, what needs to come off your plate?

Delegate, delay or just put on hold indefinitely. Sometimes you even need to put on hold what’s important, so you can give it the attention it deserves to do it well and take the pressure off you for a bit.

4) Choose to be calm (instead of overwhelmed). 

You are where your attention is – so the more you focus on feeling overwhelmed, the more you will feel overwhelmed. And this slows you down (not to mention it doesn’t feel very good).

When you are overwhelmed, you lose perspective, get stuck in paralysis and forget you’re in control of your day. And it makes things way harder than it needs to be.

Your thoughts drive your emotions, so when feeling flustered, pay attention to what you are telling yourself and reframe your thoughts – “There is no way I am going to get everything done” to “I am helping my team be successful”. Gratitude is the ultimate reframe.

Overwhelm, just like calm, is a state of mind. You get to choose which state of mind you want to be in.

5) Put some fun time onto the calendar. 

Reward yourself for your commitment and dedication to get things done. This can give you motivation – a light at the end of the tunnel. Book your winter vacation, plan an evening out with friends or schedule a massage. Whatever is fun for you.

And once you get back on track, focus on good habits to stay there – make the time for what’s important, get clear on your priorities, delegate more, say no more, give yourself downtime and choose to run your day (instead of it running you). You’ll be far more effective and enjoy your days a lot more.

What Next?

We’ve been taught all our lives that more (and more) effort, being busy and sacrifice is what’s necessary to be successful. This simply is NOT necessary.

I’ve transformed my thinking and habits over the past few years (even while I was in my corporate career), and I’m still amazed by the difference it’s made, not only in my work but importantly with my husband and kids.

And, I see many others struggling – people who are brilliant, yet feeling overwhelmed, worried or frustrated, so not showing up as their best.

So, I’ve taken what I’ve discovered through my training, the biggest challenges my clients face and my own experience, and created a Be At Your Best Roadmap to guide you in 12 essential steps to being at your best and thriving no matter what’s going on around you.

You can change your entire experience now . . . and not have to wait until you retire, the kids get older or wait for your company to change!

CLICK HERE to download the Be At Your Best Roadmap now!

All the best,

What Next?

You can sign up for Stacey's masterclass, The Confident "No" here.

Stacey L. Olson is a Leadership and Certified Positive Psychology Coach, has 15 years of corporate experience and has gone through her own transformational change from burning out to balanced in life while performing at a high level (both in her corporate career and own business). She works with professionals who want to work less, live more and be their best even with all the demands, high expectations and messiness of everyday life. Stacey is the founder of The Balanced Leader™ program and offers executive and leadership coaching, workshops, and speaking.