Here at Hawaii’s Local Buzz, we don’t think of ourselves as social marketing gurus, so we make it a habit to read newsletters and websites that offer advice on how to “get the word out” about our Moan-a-licious™ Hawaiian goodies. The latest advice we’ve been given (this time via Mark Cuban on Shark Tank) is to blog with “listicles”, which apparently are all of those blog posts about “5 best hotels”, “10 things that should be on your bucket list”, “9 great tips for internet marketing”, etc. So, never one to scoff at good advice from a billionaire, we thought we’d share 7 tips to help entrepreneurs manage that “overwhelmed” feeling we all get from time to time.

Every entrepreneur feels overwhelmed in the course of building a business. Sometimes that overwhelmed feeling arises because they have more tasks to do than there are hours in the day to do them. Sometimes it’s because they have that sudden feeling that they lack the necessary expertise to accomplish a task or achieve a goal. As entrepreneurs engaged in building our Hawaii’s Local Buzz business, we experience that “overwhelmed” feeling often, so we empathize with those of you who are out there at this very moment feeling overwhelmed.

Here are some tips to handle those feelings and not let them crush your spirit or impede your progress, based on our own experiences.

1. Don’t worry about feeling overwhelmed – there’s nothing wrong with it as long as you don’t wallow in it. Feel the feeling, and then put it aside as you put the rest of our tips to good use.
2. Break every task down into its smallest component parts. “Develop an advertising strategy” is a huge task that can feel totally overwhelming, but if you break it down into component parts (e.g., identify your target audience, make a list of media options you can choose among, identify the goals you’re trying to achieve with advertising, etc.) and then tackle one single piece, you’ll find that you can actually make progress and overcome that overwhelmed feeling. We call that the “little sticks” technique here – don’t tackle a pile of wood… break it down and tackle one little stick at a time.
3. Take an action… any action. The worst thing you can do is wait until you have ALL your ducks in a row before taking a tangible action. Make a list. Write a few sentences. Assemble a few pictures. Make one phone call. Each action brings you closer to completing that overwhelming task.
4. Recognize that there is never enough time. Ever. Don’t stop yourself by waiting until you have “enough time” to complete a project. Do what you can in the time you have today, and then do more tomorrow.
5. Similarly, recognize that there is never enough money. Do what you can with the money you have, and reinvest as you go. Exploring ways to find more money is a good thing and can be very appropriate – but don’t turn the search for money into paralysis. You can move forward while that search goes on.
6. Don’t focus on what you can’t do… focus on what you CAN do. Can’t afford to have someone design & print the perfect packaging (or advertising or website or…)? Do the best you can with what you have – as you grow, more and more will be possible.
7. Give up the idea that everything you do needs to be perfect. The steps you take should move you forward – you can always modify, edit, make it better as you go. Nothing will stop you faster than the need to be perfect.

And when you need a little extra energy boost to get you through a roadblock, we recommend a bite of our Dark Chocolate Coffee Bean Crunch or a sip of our 100% Hawaiian Ka’u Coffee. (See what we did there?)

Have other tips you can share? Please add a comment here or on our Facebook page. It’s a great way for us to all support each other’s quests for success.