Quieting overwhelm & finding focus in a world full of possibilities

When I opened my Scrivener folder today, the overwhelm was paralysing. I had about 2 dozen folders. Some of them were notes jotted down months ago; one even with plans for a domain I bought, then forgot about.

Too many projects is a guarantee of overwhelm.

I know my best work comes from a calm state of mind. When I’m stressed, it shows in my work (and my capacity to do the work). Not just the output, but the energy levels needed to get things done, and properly.

I took several hours to quieten what my eyes saw daily (and improve the impact).

I started with my desktop background…

I began with the background because I've done that before. Fire the priority things into an image and set as the desktop background. Search canva for "Desktop Wallpaper". If you don't have the pro plan, screenshot it and upload it in Image Studio as the reference image. (I think that'll work).

I’m not one for the woo-woo vision boards and what not, but I like the idea. Instead of wishy-washy visuals, I grabbed a template from Canva with space for photos and text.

• Dropped in photos (stolen from Google - personal use, it’s fine) of a couple of gigs we’re booked into for this year (Jeff Dunham and Luke Combs if you’re interested or nosey),
• a picture of a static caravan resembling the one we’re booked into for later in the year,
• and one of my missus edited to show car keys being handed over (because I think the car’s due to die and I doubt it’ll pass another MOT - if it makes it that long).

On that desktop background are 3 visuals of folders with the text on them for just 3 things to do on the daily.

Those folders are named these:

Proof

This is using my niche site like a lab then put case studies together for a different service I’m pivoting into. A move from my norm, but making it work in tandem with my main website.

As an aside, this is a benefit of broad domain names. You can rebrand anytime. That is, unless you've a very big audience and locked into an already thriving business, in which case, you wouldn't need to.

Paid

This is the client work that needs my attention daily.

Positioning

This has the list of things I can do on my service site to move the needle.

The folder organisation

Though I use Scrivener for my work, even when I didn’t have it, my desktop had folders everywhere and hard to find.

In terms of the multiple side projects I was working, I picked the two most pivotal. The niche site I’m working on with the training here, and my work website. Everything else unrelated to those websites got dumped into a new folder titled “deferred”.

Now, I can start the days with a clean view, priority tasks upfront and an organised work space without overwhelm.

The cheat

Prompt your AI tool of choice to summarise the style of a life/business coach you like the approach they use. I used Claude to summarise a guy I like the style of, then had GPT switch to replicate mode, and give me advice based on the overwhelm I was experiencing and narrow to logical priorities.

I doubt AI will ever be the equivalent of a real coach, but for strategy based on the things coaches state they solve and their approach (usually it’s on their websites), it’s enough to get decent enough feedback from a summarised prompt, and in my case, dodge a $230 coaching price tag. I’ll keep those reserved for really challenging times rather than a bit of overwhelm.

On a side note about the money goals you can set here on your profile, I dropped mine to $200 and I’ll tell you why. That’s for the niche site - what the training here is for. $200 is plenty to invest in a sturdy tool-stack, including the ones here.

With an affiliate site generating that, overheads are covered. It’s wiggle room. Some may not have that option. I recommend you do. Sell services for faster income, build a backup income with niche sites to make sure the tools needed are available when you most need them. Eventually, it can grow into a comfortable income. Life's all about priorities. Especially with so many possibilities.