LEADING YOU
Overcome Overwhelm: 10
Principles To Get Things
Done!
By Caroline Nyamwaya Mwazi
W
amaitha wakes up at 5 a.m.
daily. She gets ready, leaves the
house by 6.15 and, depending
on the traffic, gets to work between 6.45
and 7 where she scans the paper for
about 30 minutes before starting her day
– meetings, calls, e-mails, presentations,
reports, proposals, and more meetings.
After work she goes to class or the gym
or meets up with friends, usually getting
home by 8.30 for supper and family time
with her husband and 2 children after
which she tries to exercise (if she hasn’t
already) and retires by 11pm.
In the midst of all this she finds time for
her ailing mother, siblings, church, charity
work and chama meetings (she belongs to
3). She also usually makes it for weddings
and family meetings. She hardly gets time
for herself and often feels overwhelmed,
sometimes wishing that the world would
stop so that she could step off.
Modern life seems to be picking up pace
rather than slowing down. As demands on
us increase, we often feel overwhelmed,
exhausted and depleted, unable to function
and certainly not effective. How do you
manage all the demands and still get
things done? Let’s look at 10 principles to
achieve this.
Identify and Connect with
your Purpose
We all come to this earth alone. Even if
you are a twin, you have a unique purpose
to fulfill on earth completely separate from
One of the biggest contributors to a brooding
sense of overwhelm is clutter. As we go through
life, we accumulate things - furniture, applianc-
es, clothes, shoes, books, magazines and paper.
Our virtual world is no different – our phones,
tablets and computers are usually teeming with
messages, files, folders, videos, games and apps
that we no longer use. Aggressively and deci-
sively organize your living, work and virtual
space – and keep it that way. Sell or give away
your stuff.
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your twin. This is your God-given reason
for existing that is non-transferable. It
gives you the highest fulfillment beyond
money, power and status. Not knowing it
can make you wander through life with no
anchor to keep you grounded and open to
following other people’s agendas.
Check your Mindset
We all have stretch seasons in our lives –
times when it seems there is more to do
than the time available. How long you
remain in this season depends on your
view of your situation and the actions you
choose to take to move you to normalcy.
Those who successfully navigate their way
out of the overwhelmed state are those
who assess the situation as a season and
create and implement a plan to get back
in control.
Those who are not so successful get
paralyzed and due to their non-action
become
increasingly
overwhelmed,
spiralling downward into an ever-
darkening black hole of despair,
disillusionment and stuckness. Develop a
healthier can-do mindset and actively look
for ways out of your situation, starting
with those in this article.
Few Things are Necessary
As our time on earth is limited, we should
focus our time and energies to fulfilling
our purpose. Steve Covey, talks about the
big rocks in your life – the key areas of