5 Things to Stop Doing in 2024 to Reduce Overwhelm

Listen and subscribe on your favorite podcast app:

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Podcasts | Pod.link / Pick Another App

Disclaimer: Please note this post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a commission if clicked at no extra cost to you. Though the opinions remain my own

Table of Contents

Podcast Description

There’s a common pattern I’ve noticed that needs to be broken. There’s this notion that the more you do, the more you get done, means you’re more efficient, but that is far from the truth.

In this episode, I’m sharing 5 things every online entrepreneur should stop doing to become more efficient and less overwhelmed in 2024 and beyond.

Links Referenced in Episode:

▶ Get on the waitlist for Systems Savvy Society

▶ Book a VIP Day

Connect with me:

Website | Instagram

Watch on YouTube:

Episode Transcript

(Note: This is a formatted AI-generated transcript to make it easier for you to read through, but is not an optimized blog post. Please excuse any spelling or grammar errors and filler words – it’s just how I speak LOL)

Episode Intro

There is a common pattern I’ve noticed that needs to be broken. There’s this notion that the more you do, the more you get done, that that means that you’re more efficient, but this is so far from the truth. In this episode, I’m sharing five things every online entrepreneur should stop doing to become more efficient and less overwhelmed in 2024. Are you ready? Let’s dive in.

Hey, I’m Lucy Reyes, your host of the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast, where I’m on a mission to help online entrepreneurs that like you focus on all the right things and kiss overwhelmed goodbye. Here, you’re going to learn strategies that will boost your productivity so that you can scale your online biz and impact lives sooner. It’s your time to shine. So let’s get started.

Happy New Year!

Hey, Hey, welcome back to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast and Happy New Year! This is the official first episode of the year, and I’m recording this in real time. It’s going to get posted and published the next day because I was running a little bit behind on my plans.

I decided to take some extra time off, which I’m totally grateful for, even though it meant having to push back some of my original plans already. And becoming a little bit behind on the podcast, but it’s all good.

This is why I preach flexible planning because it helps you make decisions like this and then still feel good about it. This mini vacation was so needed. My husband is the one that has a little bit stricter schedule. And so whenever he gets the time off, then I do try to match that whenever possible, which is what happened these past few days.

And yesterday was when I was supposed to be back at work. But, I’m here now. I’m here now. I’m working through my to-do list and I have reshifted some of my plans for January to ensure that I don’t do some other things that we’re going to talk about in this episode.

5 Things to Stop Doing in 2024

Because as I have reflected on the past year and revisited some conversations I’ve had with members, I noticed that there is a similar pattern amongst many online entrepreneurs and it’s a pattern that needs to be broken.

And so in this episode, I’m going to share five things online business owners should stop doing in 2024. These are things that you should stop doing in order to feel less overwhelmed, to be more efficient and to be more intentional with the little time that you have. Okay.

I am not about this hustle culture. I’m not about this, let’s do more or let’s do as much as you can. Let’s overwork that you got to work from dawn to like, whatever, like no. We’re not about that here. Okay.

So these are some five, the five things that I really saw, not just last year, but it’s been a common pattern that I’ve seen and I think it needs to stop. All right.

Stop neglecting self-care

So the first thing that I really want to touch on is to stop neglecting self care. Now I know it’s hard. I know that this is the main pushback that I get when it’s like, oh, go do self care. It’s like, well, I don’t have the time.

And truthfully you have to make the time to practice some self-care because if you’re not good, nothing else you do is going to feel good for you because you’re tired. You’re stressed. You’re overwhelmed. You have to put yourself first.

This is the same situation in airplanes where they tell you, put your mask on first before you help others. And as hard as that might feel for me as a parent, You know, and the mere thought of like, no, like I would want to put their mask on first. Right.

But in the moment, if I were to think about it and really sit there and be like, okay, what’s happening. If I’m like, if I can’t breathe, how am I going to help my child put their mask on? I need to put my mask on first and then help them. And this is the same thing with self care.

You need to schedule in time for self care. And self care can look so different for everybody. It can be five minutes a day. It can be 10 minutes a day. It can be 15 minutes a day. It doesn’t have to look like bubbles in the bathtub. It doesn’t have to look like a trip to the spa or a mani and pedi. Yes, those also qualify as self care of course, but that doesn’t have to be the case and it doesn’t just have to be self care for you.

It can be for you and your partner. Something that me and my husband do and this is really our form of self-care and our way to bond and spend time together. Is we Netflix. We binge watch some Netflix shows, but we pick a show that we will both like that we both enjoy.

And that is what we do together at night in order to wind down before we go to bed. That is something that we do almost every single night, unless he has to work at like four in the morning or wake up at four in the morning, we are in bed after the kids go to bed and we’re watching some shows and we get through seasons pretty fast.

It was actually very productive because we are taking time to relax, retain time, to be with each other to connect. And that is one form of self care. Okay. So think about what are some different ways that you could practice self-care in your life, and schedule them in if you need to.

Eventually you will get to a point where you don’t have to put it on your planner or your calendar, because it would just be like second nature to you. But if you’re coming from a place where you are not practicing any self care at all to wanting to do a little bit a day, then add it to your planner. It is going to be so incredibly helpful and so beneficial for your health. All right.

Stop overscheduling yourself

Number two, stop over-scheduling yourself. So, yes, we just added self-care to your schedule, which might mean that you need to take something else off your plate.

One thing that I see too often is people wanting to cram in as much as possible to your list. And that is wishful thinking, right? Like we all like to think that we can do so much.

But realistically, you have to think about your energy. You have to think about all of the other things that are not on your to-do list that you still have to get done. Right? Like for example, I don’t add cook dinner to my schedule. I don’t add, pick up my son from the bus stop to my schedule. I don’t add things, little things like this, like cleaning up the kitchen. Like, these are little things that I don’t necessarily add into my schedule, but still take up time in my day. Right.

And so you have to think about all of those other things that are not on your to-do list, that are not on your schedule or your calendar, and really take a moment to think. Are the things that you are writing down, the things that you’re planning for yourself to get done, is it in a realistic timeline or not?

So you really want to make sure that that schedule that you’re creating for yourself that it’s realistic and that it allows you to have some time for focusing on the tasks that you actually need to prioritize and getting rid of the rest, if you need to.

Over-scheduling really comes with prioritization, which we cover in another episode. Episode four is all about prioritizing your weekly to-do list. So definitely take a look at that episode if you need support on this, but don’t over-schedule yourself.

There’s also another episode where I talk about the two questions to ask yourself to stop over-scheduling, so I’ll link to all of that in the show notes, because we do cover that a little bit more. All right.

Stop doing everything yourself

So the third thing that you want to stop doing is stop doing everything yourself. And I know this is something that has been harder to get through.

It can be harder for some people to get through because immediately you start to think, well, I don’t have money to outsource something. But when you think about it, even outsourcing just a little bit a month can be an incredible big help for you.

Even if you start out with a virtual assistant for just four hours a month, an hour a week, even that can be super, super beneficial in giving you some time back in your day and allowing you to get rid of some of those smaller tedious tasks or the tasks that you don’t enjoy, depending on what you’re looking for.

But it helps get something off your plate, even if it’s just a little bit at a time and any little bit counts. So you really want to delegate and automate.

And automation is something that I think many people forget. Automation also helps you not do things yourself, because you don’t even have to think about it.

This is why in my Trello boards, I have automation set up for so many things. Because it helps with the workflows. It adds a checklist. It adds and removes the labels, and I don’t even have to think about it. It’s already there. I don’t have to do it myself. Trello is taking care of it for me.

Same thing with Zapier. Zapier is another amazing tool. It has a little bit on the pricier side, but depending on how much you’re working on, depending on how much you’re doing yourself, it might be worth it for you.

For me in the moment that I’m in right now, it’s definitely worth it. It might not have been a couple of years ago, but that’s why you start a little bit at a time.

And that’s one thing that I think a lot of people forget is that you can make small changes. You can make small changes and they’ll eventually add up to big results. So don’t do everything yourself.

Think about how you can delegate or automate. You can delegate to a team member, even if you’re starting at just a few hours a month. Or look at the tools that you have and see if there’s a way for you to automate the tiny, tiny tasks, because even those tiny tasks take up mental space in your brain that are causing you to slow down in other tasks. So delegate and automate. That is number three.

Stop working in chaos

Number four is to stop working in chaos. I have been a victim of working with someone who I can tell is working in chaos. And my normal first reaction is like, oh, they’re still disorganized. Obviously, because that’s my pet peeve. Right. But I also started to think about my clients and my students and my members, and this is not the feeling I want them to feel.

And even though you might not realize it, your disorganization could be pushing back some other future clients or students from coming back and working with you time and time again. Especially if they’re not getting what they’re supposed to, when they were supposed to.

If they’re missing information, if they’re missing log-ins. If whatever it is that maybe you promised them and then they’re getting, they didn’t get it, a lot of times that’s because of disorganization. And so you don’t want to let your desktop folders, your notes app, your Trello, your Asana, like whatever you’re using, your Google Drive, you don’t want it to be a hot mess.

You want to get organized so that way you can find exactly what you need when you need it. You can get the tasks done when you need it. You know what to work on when you need to work on it.

And so it’s not just about helping you in reducing your overwhelm because yes, it absolutely does help eliminate that overwhelm. Because think about it.

Whenever you’re frantically looking for something and you need it right now, that increases your frustration because now you can’t find it. You don’t know where it is now. Maybe if you can’t find it and you need it that bad, and maybe now you have to start it from scratch. Right.

And now, because you’re starting it from scratch, it’s taken you longer to get the task done. And because it took you longer to get the task done, now you’re having to reschedule everything on your to-do list because now you’re behind.

And then there’s this constant cycle happening, which is why people feel so overwhelmed when they’re doing these things if they’re not organized.

On the other hand, if you’re working on this for a client, a student, a member, if they were supposed to receive something by a certain date and they didn’t and then two weeks later it’s like, oops, I’m sorry. I forgot. It’s like, it’s okay. I get it. Life happens, but if it happens again and again and again, it’s not a good feeling, right. It’s not a good feeling.

It’s not a good look, especially for anyone who is just starting out. If you’re not huge, if you’re not well-known, then those immediate impressions do matter.

It’s not horrible. I’m not saying that if you’re completely disorganized, you’re going to lose all your clients. Like that is absolutely not what I’m saying. But it will be even more helpful, not just for you, but for your clients, anyone that you’re working with as well.

The benefits are not just for you, it’s for them too. And that’s really the point that I want to get across, because I think that is something that really gets lost. We think that it’s all about ourselves and it’s like, okay, well, I am good. I’m good at working in my chaos, but we forget that our chaos could affect the people that we’re working with too. So that is number four.

Stop relying on just memory

Number five is to stop relying on just memory. So how many times have you thought to yourself, oh, I’ll remember to do that. I’ll get that done later. And then you don’t do it because you forgot. That happens all of the time.

Whether it’s an idea that you got at midnight when you’re trying to go to bed or when you just wake up in the morning, or if it’s something, when you’re in the car rider line that you’re like, oh, I forgot I needed to do this.

And you’re like, oh, I’ll do it when I get home. I’ll remember. I’ll do it when I get home or I’ll do it later. But you forget. You have so much in your head that you just forget to do it and that’s normal.

But that’s why you want to have systems and workflows in place to help catch all of those thoughts, those ideas, those little tasks that you forgot. And it really helps you keep track of all of those things.

A workflow can help you keep track of your progress. It helps you keep track of all of the tiny little tasks that you have to get done that you’re for sure you never forget. But you always forget. That can really help.

An example of my own is something that I used to always say is for my podcast episode, for example, is every time I’m done recording the podcast episode and I write the blog post. I know that I’m going to go and create a pretty link so that way, the episode just has like the ending number, but that is not the actual URL. And it, and then beginning, it’s like, oh, I’m never going to forget to do that. Like, that’s so easy.

It takes literally less than a minute to do, like it takes 30 seconds to get done. Right. I just copy the permalink, create a pretty link and then I’m done. I would forget to do that all of the time and then have to go back and like, Oh, snap. I forgot to create it. And then I have to go and do it.

And yes, it only took me 30 seconds to do it, but I probably was in a whole different head space. I was probably working on something else. And to refocus again, back on what I was trying to get done, it takes a bit longer to do so, right. And so those little tasks, you can add it into your already pre-made workflow.

And now the next time you’re recording this episode, you know, like to check things off the list and like, oh yeah, I need to create that pretty link. So even those little tasks that you’re first sure that you’re not going to forget to get done, there’s gonna come a moment where you’re going to forget to get it done. And so it would be so helpful for you to already have those systems and workflows built in place.

And so you really want to get that done to help you keep track of everything and ensure that you’re not just relying on your memory, but then now you have a standard operating procedure.

Episode Wrap-Up

So those are the five things that I would really recommend that you stop doing in 2024.

And I have an exciting announcement that may help you with this. Okay. So later this month, I’m going to be opening up the doors to my brand new membership, the Systems Savvy Society, which is all about helping you implement and maintain your brand new systems.

Whether you use Trello like me, or whether you use another project management tool, because the strategy is the strategy. And so that is what we’re going to be focusing on inside that membership. But I’m not going to launch it without having a free event first, of course.

So, if you want to be the first to know when you can get access to this free event and learn more about this new membership, then head to cheerstoproductivity.com/sss. And I’ll be back soon to talk about that a little bit more, but in the meantime, Stop doing these things. Okay.

All of these things are really going to work together to help you be more efficient in 2024. You’ll feel less overwhelmed and it’s going to help you be more intentional with the little time that you have to work on your online business.

Thank you so much for listening to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast with me, Lucy Reyes. To view the full transcript and all the links mentioned in today’s episode, visit cheerstoproductivity.com/54. And before you go and make sure you follow or subscribe wherever you’re listening so you know once the next productive chat is released. Talk soon and cheers to your productivity and success.