The antidote to business overwhelm

Overwhelm doesn’t have to look dramatic, and ideally we want to catch it before it gets dramatic.

We’ve found in our work with clients, overwhelm is often more insidious than burnout. You’re still delivering, clients are happy. Technically, everything is “fine”. You’re “fine”.

You know when you have too many tabs open and your laptop just…starts…going…very…slowly? Perhaps you can relate.

You’re thinking about an invoice whilst on Zoom. You’re replying to Slacks when you’re supposed to be invoicing. You’re haunted by the thought of something you’ve forgotten to do, but can’t remember what it was. All fairly inconsequential on their own, but the cumulative effect takes its toll. And because you’re capable, you’re coping…just about.

If this is the phase that you’re in, it’s time to make a change; it’s probably already gone on for longer than you realise – especially in scaling businesses where being busy is a badge of honour. Perhaps your “busy patch” is actually becoming an operational shortcoming.

Business overwhelm isn’t always dramatic

Working less probably isn’t an option in a lot of cases, but carrying less of a mental load might be.

Thank you so much for all your work over the past months together.

You were my lifeline and I don’t know how I will survive without you.

– Sandrine

Laura, Sandrine’s fabulous Assistant on paper was pure diary management. (Sandrine’s diary is so crazy that it is literally an 80hr/month job!) But it’s clear that what Laura provided wasn’t just diary support.

It was relief.

It was a bit more mental space. Someone who can hold context and notice problems before they become problems. Someone who makes life a little easier.

The best Assistant relationships, for us, are never “just” about task execution, they are about taking away life’s friction. Because friction costs.

Not just financially, but friction costs momentum. And energy. And the great ideas that were forming until you got interrupted and they flew away. 

What needs to happen is still happening, but what could or maybe should happen might not be, because you haven’t had the space to catch your breath and do the deep focus work you need to.

Recognise these? How overwhelm might be manifesting

You might not even realise you’re feeling overwhelmed because that’s become your normal. But, in our experience, there are usually a few dead giveaways.

Everything is inside your head

And it should be in a system. You’re storing actions for invoicing, content, onboarding, somebody needing to restock the coffee supplies, like a human operating system.

You’re doing low value tasks (in the middle of the night)

Find yourself reformatting a proposal at 11:47pm? Rearranging calendar invites at the cinema? You’re expending valuable energy on things that really shouldn’t be your job in the first place.

You never switch off

There’s always something you’ve probably forgotten. Something else you need to do. A reminder you need to send to someone. Nebulous “bits and pieces” that are clouding your brain when you should be present with your loved ones. Or just staring into the middle distance on the sofa, recharging.

Even when things are technically “going well” that mental load is exhausting.

Why you’re struggling to delegate

Because it’s quicker to do it yourself. Because you’re a high functioner and you’ve got it. Delegating properly takes time you just don’t have at the moment. You hold onto things because they feel too important or too nuanced to hand over, and you don’t want someone to see inside your system mess.

Which means you’re spending valuable time and energy reorganising meetings, chasing approvals and trying to remember whether you replied to that proposal.

We often see clients underusing their VA without even realising it, especially when the relationship is new. Not because the Assistant isn’t capable, but because they haven’t moved beyond “task support” and taken it next level to operational support.

“Can you help me with this?” v “Can you own this process?”

Spot the difference.

Once your Assistant gets to grips with how you work, what matters to you, where bottlenecks tend to appear and how your business operates, they can get proactive. They can protect your time, create a better structure and systemise the way you work to build continuity around you.

When it’s time to increase your VA support

It might be that you just need more support, or more specialised support.

Maybe deeper operational input, maybe content support, maybe you just need someone to take the boring bookkeeping off your desk. 

Key here is not waiting until the overwhelm teeters on the brink of burnout to expand your support. If you’re overwhelmed it probably means the business has outgrown your ways of operating.

The businesses that scale best are rarely relying on one key person to keep momentum. They build strong support around their leadership early enough that those leaders can stay focused on the work only they can do.

If you want some more support, or advice on how you can work with your Virtual Assistant better, speak to Caroline, she’ll be happy to help.