00:01 - Angela Buckley (Host)
Are you an aspiring leader who knows you have more to offer but you can't seem to get ahead? Do you frequently feel overwhelmed and under-supported? Listen to the Overcome to Become podcast as we talk about actionable tasks and mindsets that you can apply to begin leading yourself. Hi, I'm Dr Angela Buckley, your host and author of the Strength in Nature Leadership Series and Likeable Leadership Reflection Journals. I'm a mother, consultant, triathlete and coach In Overcome to Become. I share with you the science-backed and experienced proven lessons I've learned in my own leadership journey to beat burnout. Hello, and welcome back to Overcome to Become, where we explore the power of mindset and transforming challenges into stepping stones. I'm your host, Dr Angela Buckley, and this is our fourth season where we're diving into mental strategies needed to overcome overwhelm.
00:54
Today's episode is all about getting things done using the four Ds do, delegate, delay and delete. We'll touch on those concepts of do the day. If you've been feeling overwhelmed, this episode is just what you need to take control and focus on your day. Overwhelm can so often feel like a mountain looming before us, with tasks piling up faster than we can manage. It's easy to find ourselves stuck, unable to move forward, but today I'm going to share with you a powerful framework to help you reclaim your time and energy the four D's of prioritization. So let's dive in. The first D is do, and this is all about identifying absolutely what needs your attention today and tackling it head on. Often the hardest part of completing a task is simply getting started. It can be helpful to break larger tasks into smaller tasks and completing more manageable steps. For instance, if you're working on a presentation, you start by outlining your main points. Take that one step at a time and the momentum builds and you'll find that it is easier to keep going. Research tells us that when we make the first move, our motivation grows and what seems like a daunting task quickly becomes manageable. In the second D we have delegate.
02:15
Delegation isn't just for the workplace. It's equally valuable at home and in personal projects. Consider what tasks can be entrusted to others. Maybe a colleague can handle parts of the report, or perhaps family members can pitch in with household chores. Delegating not only frees up your time, but also empowers others to contribute and grow. We talk quite a bit about the power of giving and the power of sharing in other parts of our program. Take some time to understand the value of delegate. We spend quite a bit of time on this and you'll hear more about the delegation techniques as we move through this season.
02:59
When we are done with delegation, we also need to understand how we can prioritize our tasks into delay, and let's talk about that. Sometimes the best action is inaction. Strategically, this doesn't mean procrastinating. Rather, it's about recognizing that not everything needs to be done immediately. For non-urgent tasks, set a later date to revisit them. This allows you to prioritize what really matters today without feeling guilty about deferring to less critical tasks.
03:31
Listen, my least favorite thing in the household to do is dusting. I do not need to dust my windowsills every week. I want to, but I don't necessarily need to. It is my favorite thing to talk about when I delay. However, I do make sure that those things get done in a timely manner. I do not keep a dirty, dusty house, but I am not the person that has someone coming in every week working on these things. I'm delaying it because I simply have other priorities and my household works and moves forward without that on a regular basis. Understand the importance of delay. When do I need to get it done? Today, and can I get it done? Potentially next month, and then, finally, we have delete, and this might be the most liberating step of all Look at your to-do list and identify tasks that don't align with your goals and values.
04:29
Let's revisit that. These are the tasks that are not aligned to your goals and values, not the goals and values that perhaps your mother, your mother-in-law, the neighbor down the street have assigned to you At a certain point, understanding that prioritization is very much about what is important to you and your immediate family, what you can control. So look at your to-do list, identify those tasks that don't align with your goals and values. Perhaps these are obligations that you took on out of habit, because it's hard to say no. It's time to let them go.
05:09
Removing unnecessary tasks open up space for what truly matters, reducing the overwhelm and increasing your sense of control. Overwhelm and increasing your sense of control. So, once we have all of our tasks kind of broken down into daily, weekly, monthly, and we understand that some of that doesn't need to be getting done the way we thought it needed to be doing, now we talk about do the day, so let's talk about that for a second. The idea here is to conquer overwhelm by focusing on today, and today only, creating a daily action plan that focuses solely on the tasks at hand. By narrowing your focus to what you can accomplish now rather than getting lost in the big picture, you reduce stress and you improve in productivity. Every day becomes a fresh start to tackle those achievable goals.
06:03
What I like to do when I create my list. I have my daily list here and off to the side on my page spread, I have my weekly to-dos. These are the things that aren't critical by a given date, but I want to get them done and if I can squeeze them in throughout the week, if I can ask somebody else to get them done, and if I can squeeze them in throughout the week, if I can ask somebody else to get them done throughout the week. They're simply a placeholder in my analog digital bullet journal, my favorite tool that reminds me that they do eventually need to get done. Ideally, they need to get done this week, but by breaking them up from a daily task that has a set date to a weekly task that can just kind of roll in, it gives me an opportunity to breathe throughout the week. It gives me some space and allows me to have some grace in those days that things pop up unexpectedly, and this is really important in understanding overwhelm as well. We need to have a little bit of grace and space for ourselves in order to make sure that when we talk about our four D's getting those things done, getting those things started we also have an opportunity to give ourselves grace and space and include rest on our list of things to do. So let's take a look at this Before we wrap up.
07:23
Take a moment to reflect on what the four D's mean to you. How can you implement them in your life today? Can you start by deleting one non-essential task from your list? Or perhaps there's something that you've been putting off that you can get done today? That project initiation is super critical. Once you get through the momentum of getting started, everything else tends to fall in place. But understanding what your goals, what your vision is, and aligning those tasks to your day and to your life will greatly improve your sense of overwhelm, bringing that down and putting you in control of what's happening around you. Thank you for joining me on Overcome to Become. I hope the four Ds of prioritization and the concept of do the day help you take control and find more clarity in your life.
08:18
Tune in next time, as we continue to explore actionable strategies for overcoming overwhelm, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. Share this episode with anyone you may think could benefit. Remember, small steps lead to big changes and you have the power to turn moments of overwhelm into opportunities of growth. Until next time, take care and keep moving forward. Listen, are you a parent, professional or entrepreneur, feeling buried under an avalanche of responsibilities? Do you wake up exhausted, wondering how you're going to make it through just another day? Well, you're not alone and I'd like to introduce you to our signature course Overcome the Overwhelm. It's a transformational course designed to help you beat burnout and reclaim your life.
09:04
Imagine trading constant anxiety for calm confidence. Imagine replacing guilt over unfinished tasks with pride in your accomplishments, and imagine what it would feel like to swap those feelings of inadequacy for a strong sense of purpose. Join us and learn the mental mindset and the practical strategies to overcome overwhelm. Don't let burnout rob you of your potential. It's time to overcome and become the person you were meant to be. Enroll and overcome the overwhelm. Today. You can visit us at www.strengthinnature.com or text me directly at area code 614-285-7551. Your transformation journey starts today. You've just listened to another episode of Overcome to Become, thank you, and in the community. If you'd like to learn more, join us in the Strength in Nature Learning Academy. We are currently featuring the Overcome the Overwhelm course with a 20% off coupon code OTB2024. That's valid until the end of 2024. You can join me in my community at www.strengthinnature/com, and on Instagram at creativelyefficient. Thanks for listening. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
