Structuring Chaotic Minds

From Overwhelm to Order: Strategies for a Balanced Life

• Melissa Franklin • Season 2 • Episode 8

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Ever felt like you're juggling too many balls in the air and one tiny misstep could make everything come crashing down? This week on Structuring Chaotic Minds, Melissa Franklin shares her personal battle with an overwhelming week—where professional demands collided with unexpected personal challenges, creating a "perfect storm." Discover how she managed to maintain her composure, thanks to the invaluable support of her loved ones, and learn the strategies she employed to regain her sense of balance.

From pinpointing the sources of her stress to mastering time management with Trello and setting firm boundaries, Melissa breaks down the three essential steps that helped her navigate through the chaos. You'll also hear about her commitment to self-care, including her attempts at the 75 Hard challenge, and why taking short breaks is non-negotiable for maintaining productivity. Whether you're swamped with work or looking for practical advice to bring order to your life, this episode is packed with actionable insights that can make a real difference. Tune in and equip yourself with the tools to manage life's unpredictable curveballs.


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Speaker 1:

Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of Structuring Chaotic Minds, where we explore ways to bring order to our hectic lives. I'm your host, melissa Franklin, and today we're diving into a topic that hits close to home for many of us managing overwhelm in our professional lives. Before we get started, I want to thank all of you for your continued support and for tuning in each week. If you enjoy our content, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. It helps us reach more people who might benefit from these discussions. Today, we'll be covering practical strategies to manage overwhelm in our professional lives, and I'll also be sharing some personal experiences from this past week that really tested my own ability to stay balanced and structured.

Speaker 1:

First, let me give you a little bit of context about my week. It was definitely one of those weeks where it seemed like everything collided at the exact same time Between preparing for a new chapter launch, working on my business audit and managing my own personal responsibilities with Structure Innovations. I really felt stretched then. One of the biggest challenges was handling the unexpected in my personal life. Just when I thought I had everything under control, life decided I wanted to throw its own little curveball On top of all the professional duties I had, I had to deal with some personal issues that definitely demanded my immediate attention. I guess we can call it the perfect storm or collision of personal and professional demands and honestly, it was beyond overwhelming. Now I have to be honest with all of you. As someone who was bipolar, this week really pushed me past my limits. There were moments where I was completely lost my composure. Juggling my responsibilities at work or stepping in as a mom was incredibly challenging. It left me feeling yucky, snappy and, quite frankly, ugly. I felt like I was spiraling and it was really hard to keep it together. But then I reached out to my aunt and my mom and we all had a long talk and their support brought me some much needed clarity. It's amazing how talking to loved ones can help you see things more clearly and find the strength to keep going. So how did I actually manage to get through the week?

Speaker 1:

Let's break it down into three areas that we always talk about Identifying the sources of overwhelm, implementing effective time management and adopting self-care practices to maintain balance. So I'll start with number one identifying those sources of overwhelm. The first step was really necessary to take a step back and identify what was causing the most stress for me. For me, it was the sheer volume of different tasks and the pressure of meeting deadlines. Because of the side stress that was going on in my personal life, I realized I needed to prioritize and delegate. So I reached out to my team members and we were able to restructure some of our tasks. Recognizing that I really didn't have to handle everything alone was a huge relief. Number two effective time management.

Speaker 1:

Next, I did what I always preach and I implemented some key time management strategies. I started to start making my to-do lists, and they are. These are pretty big lists. I use a Trello board for all of my lists. Now it's evolved over time, so you'll see me brain dumping and I just write out anything and everything I can think of and then I categorize those into what am I doing today, what am I doing this week, what am I doing this month, what am I doing this year? And if anything, it's eventually going to get done, even if it just gets pushed down the list. But it will get done and with time I'll start seeing how much I haven't actually paid attention to that particular task and I'll have to ask myself is it even necessary or am I just procrastinating and putting it off. I also had to set clear boundaries and learn how to say no to certain tasks that weren't aligned to my immediate goals. So there was a lot of time blocking involved, which is definitely a lifesaver. I was able to allocate specific time slots to different activities and ensure that I dedicated adequate time to be able to get each task done without overcommitting to anything. And, yes, I made sure to take those short recharges and breaks.

Speaker 1:

Number three self-care practices. Finally, I cannot stress the importance of self-care. I go back and forth with my clients all the time, despite the busy week. I had to make time to start looking back into exercise. I started a 75 hard challenge recently and I totally failed. Completely failed with everything that was going on in my life and I found myself making excuses for it. But I also found myself so exhausted with everything else that definitely was not the priority. So as I started shifting and realizing, I was like no, I need to start building in the exercise, I had a good friend, who was amazing, to tell me like, pick up those dumbbells and start doing it again. So I will start my 75 challenge again on Sunday, but at the same time it's actually helped significantly reduce my stress levels and I'm super excited to see where that's going to take me.

Speaker 1:

I practiced mindfulness through meditation. It definitely helps, keeps me grounded amidst the chaos, but it's completely unnecessary at this point because there are times you will see me having actual panic attacks. So ensuring that I got enough sleep was also crucial. I usually aim for six to seven hours and I noticed that I definitely have a difference in my energy levels and overall mood. Eating well and staying hydrated also played a big part in maintaining that well-being. So, on a personal note, while I had to deal with these complex emotions, I found myself reflecting on recent events and how they impacted my mental state overall. So talking to my trusted friends and family members really helped me process these feelings and finding a way to move forward.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes, just sharing what you're going through can lighten that load. So thank you for those of you who've been in that space and been able to share that, and thank you to those of you who have offered that space to someone else. You have no idea how life-saving it can be just to give someone the space to talk. To wrap up, managing overwhelm in our professional life isn't about just handling tasks more efficiently. It's also about taking care of yourself and reaching out for support when it's needed. Remember it's important to take a holistic approach for your well-being.

Speaker 1:

I hope you found these tips and my personal insights helpful. If you have any questions or you want to share your experiences, feel free to reach out to me on social media or through our website. Thank you for tuning in and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode of Structuring Chaotic Minds. Until next time, take care of yourselves and stay balanced. Thank you so much for joining me for today's episode. To catch up on the rest of the season, visit structureandchaoticmindscom or take a quick browse on your current app to see which episodes resonate with you. If you struggle with your own mental wellness or even just balancing life, we have a team of individuals at our site who can help. You can visit structureinnovationscom and find a coach or mentor fit for you. Thank you for joining me once again, melissa Franklin, on this episode of Structuring Chaotic Minds. Stay structured and smiling.