FBC – 108 – Feeling Overwhelmed? Here is the solution

Feeling Overwhelmed? Here is the solution.

Today we are going to talk about one of the best ways to get rid of the feeling of being overwhelmed. There are easy steps you can take to alleviate your stress and get rid of that weight on your shoulders.

Today I wanted to just record a quick podcast about the feeling of being overwhelmed. OK. This is something that regardless of how many times people tell you “man you need to do this and do that”; very quickly you can be overwhelmed.

So I was chatting with my girlfriend and I told you she just started her brand and we spent a lot of time researching the jewellery brand. So we had to find a carving guy and then the wax, then the mould and the beads. I mean it was a lot of work right.

So now that this everything came together, so she has the bracelets and stuff and she's now designing the collection and she was like completely overwhelmed because she was like “Oh man I need to do this I need to do that where I'm going to sell this and do I need to name all the products now?”

And I was like “OK you need to slow down and you need to take one thing at a time to make some baby steps”. That's the most important thing. Baby steps, because it's always good to have the big picture in mind. So that gives you a goal, but don't have that in your face like well I need to do 50 things at the same time.

Feeling Overwhelmed? Here is the solution

I was like OK. So here is what you have. You can't start selling these items before you've actually created the collection. So you need to come up with the collection and stop looking for ideas. Because at some point, additional data is not helping you anymore. It’s just confusing you.

She already has thousands of photos of inspiration. So I said “look first thing you need to stop the research. You need to come up with a collection. And then you can't sell these bracelets until you've taken a picture. So you need bracelets obviously and then you need a picture of the Bracelets. Right.

So that's what you need to do next. Once you have the pictures then you can start working on the Web site and stuff you know try to figure out which platform you want to sell that to and then afterwards we send traffic.

This is how it's going to work. So just look at the dependencies you know don't start with something that requires other things that have to be done before.

And it actually gave her a lot of clarity. So when you have some guidance, it helps. She’s in Eastern Europe at the moment. When she was here we could talk about stuff and I was constantly there to remind her to take it easy, take her time and move step by step. But once you're back by yourself it's very quick and easy to get overwhelmed.

So once you feel overwhelmed with a project and a big task, just try to understand which task depends on which. All right. So that will give you an order and then you just tackle them one by one. It’s easier to tackle them one by one. And this is like baby steps.

I think it's very important because one thing is, when you take baby steps and you manage to tackle for example step one then you have this sense of achievement. Right. And it will boost your confidence and that's the thing. The spirit is a big part of your success.

So if you manage small wins and small victories, it will carry you all the way to the goal that you actually want to achieve. It worked wonders for my girlfriend because she actually told me that she sold her first bracelet. So yesterday I said “you know what? Don't worry about the store and stuff for now, just focus on doing the bracelets”.

You know you do the bracelets and then you start selling. Don’t do 300 bracelets. You can do one of each collection and take some really nice pictures and then we'll try to sell those and we'll see which ones people like. And then afterwards we can produce more of that one.

Because I mean one of the goals for her was to determine how much time it takes her to create a bracelet. Then she can work out how much time it will take to produce X, Y and Z. And yeah. So she listened. She created some bracelets and she made her first sale today. So that's pretty cool. And that's one of those wins you know when you make your first sale, you realize that this thing is actually possible!!!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to stop feeling overwhelmed as an entrepreneur?

The best way to stop feeling overwhelmed is to break your workload into a prioritized list of no more than 3 critical tasks per day. Research shows that entrepreneurs who limit daily priorities report 40% less stress. Identifying what truly needs attention today, versus what can wait, immediately reduces that paralyzed feeling.

How do you deal with overwhelm when your to-do list keeps growing?

When your to-do list grows out of control, the solution is not to work harder but to do a “brain dump.” Write everything down, then sort items by urgency and importance. Studies suggest that externalizing your task list reduces cognitive load by up to 30%, helping you focus clearly instead of spinning in anxiety.

Can being overwhelmed affect your business performance?

Yes, chronic overwhelm directly impacts business performance. Entrepreneurs experiencing overwhelm make worse decisions, procrastinate more, and often quit tasks halfway. A 2022 study found that business owners who actively manage their stress through simple daily routines generate 25% more revenue compared to those who ignore their overwhelm.

How long does it take to recover from feeling overwhelmed and get back to being productive?

With the right strategy, most entrepreneurs can shift from overwhelmed to productive within 20 to 30 minutes. The key is a quick reset: stop multitasking, pick one single action, and complete it. Small wins trigger dopamine, which rebuilds momentum rapidly. Consistently applying this approach reduces the frequency of overwhelm episodes over time.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

Related Reading

• FBC – 4 Part 1 – This is the story of my life: Success, Failure and The Hurdles.
• FBC – 3 – Escape your life of sacrifice! Don’t settle for less than your dream lifestyle.
• FBC – 8 – The Weirdest Challenge To Boost Your Confidence
• Other really cool tips that will give you an unfair advantage

Further reading

• LinkedIn Newsletter (Diary of a Virtual CEO): operational tactics covered weekly in the LinkedIn Newsletter (Diary of a Virtual CEO).
• Martin's story page: the full origin story on Martin's story page.
• Harvard Business Review: research on solo and founder-led operations from Harvard Business Review.
• HubSpot Blog: sales and marketing benchmarks on the HubSpot Blog.