Ok, so I have to admit there are times that I have my meltdowns … moments of overwhelm.  Yesterday I had one of those moments.  A moment where the overwhelm of everything going on in my life … coaching calls, event preparation, collaboration work, product releases, sales calls, confirmations, emails, marketing, going home to see Mom for two weeks … all of it suddenly came crashing down on me.  I broke down into tears.
Has this ever happened to you?  For some of you, tears may not be the way you have your meltdown.  It could be eating a pint of ice cream or drinking the whole bottle of wine when you said you would only have a glass or two. Or maybe it was skipping out on a meeting, getting snippy with a co-worker, or just giving up on that project work or whatever it was that you were doing at the time.

Yes, you have had meltdowns.

What a meltdown means to me is that I have put myself into “overwhelm”.  The overwhelm of trying to do too much at one time.  I have a business to run so having many things on my plate is common.  Trying to tackle many projects at one time is non-productive and really impossible.
What do you do when you have them? Is there a way to prevent them in the first place?

Prevention is key …

  • Recognize that you can only do one thing at a time. Be present in the moment and devote all of your time & effort into that one thing.  Multi-tasking creates more effort and work … it is the basis for non-productivity.
  • Schedule your time with blocks devoted to that one project to work on; usually 45 minutes is a good length of time to work and no more than 1 hour at a time. At that point, you need a break to refresh your energy and creativity.  Make sure you take the break and step away from your environment that you were devoting the project work.
  • When you are working on that “one thing”, don’t do anything else as this then becomes a distraction and takes away from what you are doing. Switching between many different activities depletes the productive energy you need to accomplish a task. This means …
    • Not answering the phone while working in this time slotted schedule (honor this time)
    • Shutting down all other programs and open windows on your computer (emails, social media, Instant Messaging, etc.)
    • Unless it is an emergency, don’t allow any other interruptions to occur

Preventing the overwhelm that results in a meltdown is the best thing for you. Once you begin the discipline of this focused practice for your projects (work or home), it becomes second nature.  The meltdowns of life happen less frequently.
If you do fall into a meltdown mode (it will happen, trust me on that), have the meltdown.  Allow it to release some of the built up emotions going on within you.  Make sure you choose how much of a meltdown you are going to have.  That is crucial!  Otherwise you could live in meltdown mode!  Vacationing there is one thing.  Pitching a tent and living there … totally not worth it!

Denise Hansard is a former corporate pricing expert turned motivational speaker & life coach with a Masters in counseling who has coached hundreds of women to make 6 figures, find the love of their life and get super healthy.  Author of the book Suffering in Comfort, she is an expert in transformation.