Learning how to get it all done without burning out has been a game-changer for me and has 10xed the results I’ve been able to produce in my life.
I’ve always been an overachiever. I’m a Gemini for starters and every personality assessment I’ve taken has affirmed my innate ability (more like an obsession) to get things done.
But I used to get things done at the expense of everything else in my life.
In my 20s I was working a full-time job, raising a 5-year-old, and going to college full time and it never crossed my mind that maybe someday I’d ‘burnout’.
But I did!
So I had to find a way to continue to get everything done without getting burnt out.
Because being a mom, significant other, sister, daughter, entrepreneur, and businesswoman doesn’t stop just because I’m burnt out and don’t want to be those people anymore.
If this sounds like you, you’ve come to the right place. In today’s article, I’m sharing the #1 strategy to simplify your life, get it all done, and never burnout again.
Constraint. Constraint. Constraint
On average we think about 60,000 thoughts a day. That’s a lot of thoughts swirling around in our head at any given moment.
Managing all those thoughts is a full-time job if we are not consciously thinking.
And most of us are not consciously thinking or thinking on purpose and that is our #1 problem.
The great news is, there is one simple and easy strategy you can incorporate into your daily routine that is a game-changer and will have you easily achieving any and all of the goals you set for your life.
It’s called constraint!
At first, I thought constraining would be too restrictive and I would lose the spontaneity and excitement in life. But it actually has the opposite effect.
When we place constraints on our life, we give our brain the one thing it needs most to function at a high level, supervision.
Because an unsupervised brain is like a toddler running around the house with a sharp pair of scissors.
“Look a squirrel!”
That’s what your brain does every time you notice something, you have a new idea or your phone buzzes.
That’s when those 60,000 thoughts start popping in making you feel overwhelmed, anxious, and frustrated because you’re spinning your wheels day after day working on the same task list that never seems to get shorter.
And where does that lead you? To procrastinate, quit, change direction, and doubt yourself.
Think about how you feel when you walk into a space that is cluttered, stuff piled everywhere, and only a small walkway to get to your destination because there is so much stuff.
You start to feel overwhelmed because your brain is instantly taking inventory of all the stuff around you.
You start thinking;
What if I need to find something?
Where would I find it?
What is all this stuff?
How am I ever going to get done what I came in here to do with all this stuff in the way?
We call this “mind complexity” and it is the #1 thing stopping you from getting the results you want in life.
Here’s an example.
My closet was filled with clothes of all sizes, some bigger some smaller, that I couldn’t fit into anymore and clothes that I hadn’t worn in years.
Every time I got ready for work in the morning I was instantly frustrated because I had nothing to wear.
‘What do you mean you have nothing to wear’, my brain says. ‘You have a closet full of clothes’.
‘Yes, I do have a closet full of clothes but this doesn’t fit me and I haven’t worn that blouse in years because I don’t like the pattern and that color doesn’t look good on me’ I say back.
By the time I have this conversation with my brain and finally get myself dressed for work I’m frustrated, overwhelmed, and exhausted.
All before I even start my day!
The solution to the Problem
One day I decided I was only going to wear black, white, navy blue and all primary colors. And the only patterns I will wear are animal prints, stripes, and polka-dots in black, white, navy, or primary colors. That’s it!
And I decided I would organize my closet by clothing type and color so that all my jackets, pants, skirts, and blouses were hanging together by color. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink, purple, white, navy, black.
Yes, it took a Saturday afternoon to accomplish but organizing my closet this way has had several profound effects on my daily life.
- I no longer bring home clothes I don’t like and will never wear. I know when I go shopping either in the store or online that I only buy those colors in that style, that’s it!
- Everything in my closest matches. EVERYTHING! All my pants and skirts match a shirt and jacket somewhere. There are no exceptions.
- I cut my time putting my laundry away in half because I know exactly where everything goes and there is a space for everything. Everything fits!
- I’m no longer confused and frustrated in the morning because I don’t know what I am going to wear.
When I learned to focus my mind on just one thing I learned how powerful constraining and simplifying my life is in achieving the results I want.
I learned that I actually like constraining and simplifying my life because it makes me more efficient in the long run.
Why does this feel so good?
Because our brain wants to be efficient. It would be way too distracting for our brain to take in all the input in the world.
So, what do you want your brain to focus on so it can be most efficient for you?
Your brain only has so much mind juice for the day and you get to decide if you are going to waste it or use it wisely to get the ultimate results you want in life.
The choice is up to you!
Want more great tips, tricks and life hacks? Of course, you do!
So come on over and join me at The Happiness Connection my LinkedIn community I started specifically for successful, driven businesswomen who want more joy and happiness in their life.