How to Stop Being Overwhelmed (Simple Exercise)

Summary

In this video, the creator shares a personal story of overcoming project overwhelm through a simple yet effective strategy called 'brain dump.' By defining the end goal, breaking it down into smaller goals, and listing every task, the creator gained clarity and managed to complete their website design. The method involves organizing tasks under specific goals, prioritizing the most critical ones, and maintaining the plan with regular updates. This approach not only simplifies complex projects but also turns the daunting process into an exciting and manageable journey.

Takeaways

• 😖 Feeling overwhelmed by a complex project can lead to procrastination and confusion about where to start.
• 📋 The 'brain dump' technique is suggested as a simple strategy to overcome the feeling of being overwhelmed and to regain clarity.
• 🌐 The speaker shares their personal experience of using the brain dump to successfully complete their website design project.
• 📝 To begin a brain dump, define the finished project's look and break it down into smaller, manageable goals.
• 🔍 Identify why you're feeling overwhelmed, often it's due to a 'full brain' with disorganized thoughts.
• 🧾 Create a list of every task on your mind to externalize your thoughts and make them more manageable.
• 🎯 After listing, prioritize tasks by aligning them with specific project goals to filter out what's truly important.
• 📉 Use hypothetical questions like 'What if the project were easy?' and 'What if the project was due in a week?' to simplify and focus your task list.
• 📝 Break down complex tasks into 'one-day tasks' to make the project more approachable and less daunting.
• 🛑 Regularly update your plan and task list to keep the brain dump process effective and maintain clarity.
• 🔄 The process involves creating a plan, updating the list, and choosing a manageable number of tasks to focus on at any given time.

Q & A

What was the main issue the speaker faced with their complex project?

The speaker felt overwhelmed with the complex project, having too much to do and too little time to get things done.

What is the term used to describe the technique the speaker used to overcome their overwhelm?

The technique is called a 'brain dump'.

What are the three outcomes the speaker gained from the brain dump exercise?

The speaker gained clarity with three powerful tools: a list of every task they wanted to do, a plan showing when to do each task, and knowing the exact task to do at that moment.

How did the speaker define the finished project before starting the brain dump?

The speaker defined the finished project by describing what images it should have, the colors and fonts they wanted, how many sections it needed, what each page should be about, and how the pop-up should work.

What was the speaker's approach to breaking down the project into smaller, manageable goals?

The speaker broke down the project into three smaller goals: creating pages, choosing the design style, and organizing the media.

What question did the speaker ask themselves to simplify their approach to the project?

The speaker asked themselves, 'How would I work if the project were easy?' to understand the simplest way to get to the finish line.

How did the speaker prioritize tasks in their brain dump list?

The speaker prioritized tasks by reviewing the list and comparing it with their project goals, then organizing tasks under each goal.

What strategy did the speaker use to make the project tasks actionable?

The speaker made tasks actionable by breaking down complex or long tasks into one-day tasks and ensuring they contributed to the project goals.

Why did the speaker choose to highlight three critical tasks for their most important goal?

The speaker chose three critical tasks for efficiency, allowing them to focus on a few tasks at a time instead of worrying about a long list of 100 tasks.

How does the speaker suggest maintaining the effectiveness of the brain dump technique?

The speaker suggests maintaining the effectiveness by regularly updating the plan and the task list, adding new ideas and adjusting the plan as needed.

What was the speaker's final step in the brain dump process to eliminate overwhelm?

The final step was to convert all tasks to one-day tasks, pick the most important goal, and highlight the three critical tasks for that goal.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Overcoming Overwhelm with Brain Dumping

The speaker shares their experience of feeling overwhelmed by a complex project and how a simple strategy called 'brain dumping' helped them to regain clarity and complete their website design. The process involves defining the finished project's look, breaking it down into smaller goals, and listing every task in one's head. This technique allows for a clear understanding of the next steps and helps in combating the feeling of being overwhelmed by providing a manageable list of tasks.

05:01

📝 Streamlining Tasks with Prioritization and Planning

In this paragraph, the speaker elaborates on the steps taken to streamline the project by prioritizing tasks and creating a plan. They suggest asking oneself how they would work if the project were easy or due in a week to filter out non-essential tasks. The speaker then advises organizing tasks under specific goals and ensuring that each task contributes to the project's objectives. By breaking down larger tasks into smaller, manageable 'one-day tasks,' the project becomes clearer and more actionable, ultimately reducing the feeling of overwhelm.

10:01

🎯 Focusing on Key Tasks for Efficiency

The final paragraph discusses the importance of focusing on key tasks to maintain efficiency and reduce overwhelm. The speaker shares their method of converting tasks into 'one-day tasks' and selecting the most important goal, then highlighting the top three critical tasks for that goal. This approach simplifies the project into manageable chunks and prevents the feeling of being overwhelmed by a long to-do list. The speaker emphasizes the need to regularly update the plan and tasks to keep the process effective and to maintain clarity and excitement about the project.

Keywords

💡Overwhelm

Overwhelm refers to a state of being excessively burdened or unable to cope due to the magnitude of a task or situation. In the video, it is the central issue the speaker addresses, describing how feeling overwhelmed can lead to procrastination and inaction. The speaker uses their personal experience with a complex project to illustrate the concept, explaining how they felt overwhelmed by the seemingly endless tasks and too little time.

💡Brain Dump

A brain dump is a technique where one writes down all the thoughts and tasks that are occupying their mind to clear it and gain clarity. In the video, the speaker introduces this method as a solution to the feeling of overwhelm. By 'dumping out every thought,' one can organize and prioritize tasks, which helps in managing complex projects effectively.

💡Procrastination

Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing tasks or actions. In the context of the video, it is presented as a common response to feeling overwhelmed. The speaker mentions that when they felt unclear about what to do next, their default response was to procrastinate, which only exacerbated their feelings of being overwhelmed.

💡Clarity

Clarity, in this video, refers to having a clear understanding or vision of what needs to be done. The speaker emphasizes that after performing a brain dump, they were able to think more clearly about the tasks at hand. Clarity is achieved by organizing thoughts and breaking down a large project into smaller, manageable goals.

💡Productivity

Productivity is the ability to produce results or the efficiency of producing those results. The video's theme revolves around increasing productivity by overcoming the feeling of being overwhelmed. The speaker shares strategies and tools to work smarter, which include techniques like brain dumping to enhance productivity.

💡Project Goals

Project goals are the specific objectives or desired outcomes of a project. In the script, the speaker defines the finished look of their website as the project goal, which then helps in breaking down the project into smaller, actionable goals. These goals serve as a guide for creating a to-do list and prioritizing tasks.

💡To-Do List

A to-do list is a record of tasks that need to be completed. In the video, the speaker uses a to-do list as part of the brain dump process to write down every possible task related to the project. This list is then refined to focus on tasks that contribute to the project goals, helping to alleviate the feeling of overwhelm.

💡Task Prioritization

Task prioritization is the process of arranging tasks in order of importance or urgency. The speaker describes how they prioritized tasks by determining which ones were most critical to achieving their project goals. This step is crucial in managing large projects and avoiding the feeling of being overwhelmed by an endless list of tasks.

💡Actionable

An actionable task is one that can be directly acted upon to achieve a goal. In the video, the speaker makes their to-do list actionable by connecting each task to a specific project goal. By ensuring that tasks are actionable, the speaker is able to translate their goals into concrete steps.

💡Efficiency

Efficiency refers to the ability to do or achieve something without wasting materials, time, or energy. The speaker chose to focus on three critical tasks at a time for efficiency, allowing them to manage their workload effectively and avoid feeling overwhelmed. This approach helps in making progress without being bogged down by too many tasks.

💡Maintenance

In the context of the video, maintenance refers to the ongoing process of reviewing and updating the plan and to-do list. The speaker emphasizes the importance of maintaining the brain dump system to ensure it remains effective. By regularly updating the plan, one can adapt to new ideas and changes, keeping the project manageable.

Highlights

Overcoming project overwhelm with a simple strategy.

The importance of clarity in managing complex projects.

Introduction of the 'brain dump' technique for clarity and organization.

Understanding the root of feeling overwhelmed: a full brain.

The process of defining the finished project's look to combat confusion.

Breaking down the project into smaller, manageable goals.

Creating a comprehensive list of tasks to empty the mind.

The significance of reviewing and refining the task list for project relevance.

Using hypothetical scenarios to simplify the project planning process.

Filtering out non-essential tasks to focus on what truly matters.

Linking tasks to specific goals for a more actionable plan.

Ensuring each task contributes to the overall project objectives.

Transforming long-term tasks into daily achievable tasks.

Selecting the most critical tasks to start with to eliminate overwhelm.

The efficiency of focusing on three key tasks at a time.

Maintaining the plan with regular updates and brain dumps.

The transformation of complex projects into simple, manageable tasks.

The impact of brain dumps on making big projects enjoyable and less daunting.

Encouraging viewers to apply the brain dump technique to their own projects.

Transcripts

there was a time where i felt very

overwhelmed with the complex project

pretty much every day it felt like there

was too much stuff to do and too little

time to get things done and

if it weren't because of one simple

strategy i don't know where i would be

today

my website design wouldn't be live if it

wasn't because of this

one little thing maybe you have a

critical project too but it's so

daunting that you feel paralyzed you

don't know where to start

but the good news is you can apply this

simple technique to any project you're

feeling overwhelmed about

i'm gonna show you a method you can use

right away to fight overwhelm and regain

your clarity hey friend and welcome to

the channel

if you're new here i'm then and in this

channel we explore the strategies and

tools to become more effective and

productive

so if you're anything like me and you're

always eager to learn how to work

smarter please consider

subscribing to the channel and now let's

continue with this video when it comes

to big projects you may already have a

vague idea of what you need

i know this happened to me i kinda knew

what to do mentally but my list just

felt endless

or i didn't know what to do first so i

tried to do it all at once

and sometimes i was so confused about it

that i didn't want to do it

procrastination was a common escape for

that overwhelm and that's just a

horrible feeling

nothing is more frustrating than

worrying about a project you can't start

and to solve that problem you first need

to understand

why you're feeling overwhelmed

being overwhelmed simply means you have

a full brain i found that

when all my thoughts are disorganized i

feel unclear on what to do next

and the default response to that is to

either procrastinate or do nothing

and that's when i stumbled with the

obvious solution if i wanted more

clarity i had to dump out every thought

that was bothering my brain

and only after emptying those thoughts i

could think clearly about the ones i

actually needed and as soon as i did

that i felt crystal clear again

and this technique is called a brain

dump all you need is a piece of paper

and a few minutes a day

the process looks like this first you

define how the finished project will

look like

you then break it down into smaller

goals and then you make a list of

every task that's in your head if you

follow this video you'll solve your

overwhelm just like i did to finish my

website and

by the end of the exercise i gained

clarity with three powerful tools

one i had a list of every task i wanted

to do

two i created a plan that showed me when

to do each thing

and finally i knew the exact task i had

to do at that moment

after that all i needed to think about

was that little task

the overwhelm that was gone i knew

exactly what i needed to do

and how to do it there were still lots

of work to do don't get me wrong but i

felt 10 times lighter and whenever i

wanted to start another big project

things just went as smooth if you're

wondering about that first step it all

starts with knowing what you want

and once you know the what it's easy to

find the how

when i decided to redesign my website it

started with a bunch of ideas of things

i

had to do and that felt a little bit

overwhelming so i asked myself

what would this project look like once i

finish it and that question

instantly made everything clear suddenly

i didn't have to do

everything i was thinking about i only

had to do the things that led to that

result

and the more specific i was on the

result the easier it was to know what to

do

and what not to do so i grabbed the

piece of paper and described how the

complete website would look like

what images it should have what colors

and fonts i wanted how many sections you

needed to have what each page should be

about

how the pop-up should work all of that

stuff and that's when i changed the way

i

looked at the project it wasn't just to

redesign the website but to create the

pages

choosing the design style and organizing

the media so i didn't have one

gigantic goal anymore instead i had

turned it into three smaller goals so it

became easier to manage

so what i did so far was the following

first i asked

what the project would look like when

it's finished and two

i broke it down into three smaller goals

that made it easier to understand what i

was trying to do but i hadn't done

anything yet because i didn't know how

to achieve those goals so that became

the next step

of this exercise making a list of

everything that i needed to do

i didn't know what to do so i took

another paper and wrote down

every possible thing i could do i wrote

and wrote until every thought i had

appeared on that piece of paper and when

i was finished all my worries

were on that list it wasn't an abstract

thought anymore everything was exposed

in a visual format but creating the list

wasn't easy i really struggled with this

exercise because i wasn't sure

of what to add and among the confusion i

came up with one simple question

i asked myself how i would work if the

project were

easy i was trying to understand the

simplest way to get to the finish line

and it turned out to be the smart move

because you see i'm a very ambitious

person

i have high standards when i work and

although it sounds like a good thing it

can also be a weakness

when i was designing the website it

started simple but according to my

expectations a big project had to come

from big

efforts the simple plan felt too easy so

i over complicated things but once i

realized my mistake

i made that question and it helped me

get out of this trap so i kept writing

on the list until it became too long the

time frame i gave myself

for the project was months long but

definitely not long enough to fit

everything from that list

now that i knew what to do i needed

speed so then i used another question

how would i work if i had to finish the

website in one week

i had to figure out how to pack three

months of work into seven days without

working crazy hours

and naturally that made me think twice

about what tasks were

actually important so everything that

didn't move the needle didn't make it to

the list

and that's how i filtered out what was

important and what was not

up until this point what i did was

asking the right questions and

listing all the tasks that could help me

to complete the project

so to think how you work if the project

were easy and

how you'd organize if the project were

due in a week and

with that in mind create a list with all

the tasks you can think of

creating this list certainly was better

than nothing but there wasn't enough to

regain my clarity i divided my big goal

into

three parts and i created a long to do

list

i needed to find a way to connect both

and make them actionable that's why i

reviewed the list and compared it

with my project goals

i didn't have the time nor the mental

energy to take boxes off an endless list

it was so long that i was very close to

giving up the good news is

i didn't have to do everything from that

list like i said in the beginning of the

video all that matters are the tasks

that get the project done

so i review my list with the three goals

in mind for each of them i ask myself

if finishing that task would make

progress towards some of these goals so

for example if task number 15 helped me

with goal number two

i would write that task below the goal

some tasks didn't contribute to

any of my goals so i didn't add them to

my plan bid i kept them on the list

in case i needed them lighter once i

went through all the items my plan had

taken shape

now each of the three goals are the list

of tasks below them

so i add one column for creating pages

another one for design style

and another one for organizing media i

did take care of the list but that

doesn't necessarily mean that those

tasks will achieve my goals

just to make sure i looked at each

column and wonder whether it's enough to

meet the objective

if it's a no i'd research and try to

find what else i should do

so the overall process looked like this

first create one column for each of your

goals

two review your to-do list if it helps

you to achieve one goal copy that task

under that column three for each column

ask yourself if the tasks you listed

are enough to achieve the goal if

something's missing you need to find out

what else you can do

and this changed the way i looked at my

project it's no longer an endless to-do

list

i just need to choose one of the three

goals and do the tasks listed below

by this point i felt really close to

understanding my project

but i forgot a tiny detail when planning

from the final result

those steps need to connect with the

present or it doesn't work

it should be something small enough to

get done in the deck

i had the plan but i didn't have the how

yet so i reviewed the tasks i added to

each column

if a task was too long abstract or

complex

i'd break it down into one day tasks and

after i did that with every item the

project became clearer than ever

and that was it i had everything figured

out everything except for one question

where should i start so i read my three

goals again and chose the most important

column

from here i highlighted the three most

critical tasks for that goal and with

that last step

my overwhelm disappeared that's where

the brain dumped magic

happened so it was convert all your

tasks to one day tasks

pick the most important goal and

highlight the three critical tasks for

that goal

as for why i chose 3 it was for

efficiency if i can do task 1 for some

reason today at least i can work on task

2 or 3 in the meantime

the point is this i only have a few

things to worry about and not 100. and

to keep it this way it's vital to keep

updating the plan brain dumps work

because the brain relies on the notes i

take

but if i stop reviewing this data it

will stop working and i'll feel confused

again

because the brain cannot trust an

outdated source the good news is

the maintenance is far simpler than the

setup after finishing those tasks

it's very common to find other ideas

that i missed on the first braindump so

on the next one i do i add that task to

the list and see if it makes sense into

my plan

so after i finish my three tasks i can

come back to the plan and pick another

three

and then all i do is repeat the process

until the first goal is complete

and then i move on to the next goal it

all comes down to

creating the plan updating the list and

choosing three tasks

and before i knew it i had redesigned

most of my website

it's really crazy how simple things can

become with such a simple strategy it

took some time to set up but not nearly

as much as the time i'd have wasted

if i were still overwhelmed that's how

brain dumps have helped me finish the

website and how they've made big

projects fun again instead of feeling

overwhelmed i feel excited because i

know what to do

and how to do it and now you know how to

use brain dumps to do it for your

projects

it's the magic of making complex

projects simple or at least

saves you a lot of headaches if you like

this video you'll also like this other

video where i talk about smart decisions

doing too much can be overwhelming

especially when you get poor results but

if you improve the quality of your

decisions you improve the quality of

your life

so go watch it right now and i'll see

you on the next video bye