From Overwhelm to Order: Strategies for a Balanced Life

Send us a text

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.

Join the "Structuring Chaotic Minds" Family
Connect with Us:

• Facebook: Follow us on Facebook for updates, inspirational quotes.
• Instagram: Follow Melissa on Instagram for life stories, behind-the-scenes, episode highlights.
• Pinterest: Follow us on Pinterest for motivational content, episode pins.

Subscribe to Our Community:

• Don’t miss out on the conversation! Subscribe to our community to stay updated, share your thoughts, and connect with like-minded individuals.

Be a Part of the Conversation:

• Your voice matters! Join the conversation on our social media channels, share your journey, and find support in our community.

Start Your Journey Today:

• Your path to better mental health and life balance begins with "Structuring Chaotic Minds." Follow us, subscribe to our community, and take the first step towards a more balanced life today.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of
Structuring Chaotic Minds, wherewe 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 homefor many of us managing
overwhelm in our professionallives.
Before we get started, I wantto thank all of you for your
continued support and for tuningin each week.

(00:22):
If you enjoy our content, don'tforget to subscribe and leave a
review.
It helps us reach more peoplewho might benefit from these
discussions.
Today, we'll be coveringpractical strategies to manage
overwhelm in our professionallives, and I'll also be sharing
some personal experiences fromthis past week that really
tested my own ability to staybalanced and structured.
First, let me give you a littlebit of context about my week.

(00:42):
It was definitely one of thoseweeks where it seemed like
everything collided at the exactsame time Between preparing for
a new chapter launch, workingon my business audit and
managing my own personalresponsibilities with Structure
Innovations.
I really felt stretched then.
One of the biggest challengeswas handling the unexpected in

(01:03):
my personal life.
Just when I thought I hadeverything under control, life
decided I wanted to throw itsown little curveball On top of
all the professional duties Ihad, I had to deal with some
personal issues that definitelydemanded my immediate attention.
I guess we can call it theperfect storm or collision of
personal and professionaldemands and honestly, it was
beyond overwhelming.
Now I have to be honest withall of you.

(01:25):
As someone who was bipolar,this week really pushed me past
my limits.
There were moments where I wascompletely lost my composure.
Juggling my responsibilities atwork 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 andit was really hard to keep it

(01:47):
together.
But then I reached out to myaunt and my mom and we all had a
long talk and their supportbrought me some much needed
clarity.
It's amazing how talking toloved ones can help you see
things more clearly and find thestrength to keep going.
So how did I actually manage toget through the week?
Let's break it down into threeareas that we always talk about

(02:07):
Identifying the sources ofoverwhelm, implementing
effective time management andadopting self-care practices to
maintain balance.
So I'll start with number oneidentifying those sources of
overwhelm.
The first step was reallynecessary to take a step back
and identify what was causingthe most stress for me.
For me, it was the sheer volumeof different tasks and the

(02:29):
pressure of meeting deadlines.
Because of the side stress thatwas going on in my personal
life, I realized I needed toprioritize and delegate.
So I reached out to my teammembers and we were able to
restructure some of our tasks.
Recognizing that I reallydidn't have to handle everything
alone was a huge relief.
Number two effective timemanagement.

(02:50):
Next, I did what I always preachand I implemented some key time
management strategies.
I started to start making myto-do lists, and they are.
These are pretty big lists.
I use a Trello board for all ofmy lists.
Now it's evolved over time, soyou'll see me brain dumping and
I just write out anything andeverything I can think of and

(03:11):
then I categorize those intowhat am I doing today, what am I
doing this week, what am Idoing this month, what am I
doing this year?
And if anything, it'seventually going to get done,
even if it just gets pushed downthe list.
But it will get done and withtime I'll start seeing how much
I haven't actually paidattention to that particular
task and I'll have to ask myselfis it even necessary or am I
just procrastinating and puttingit off.

(03:32):
I also had to set clearboundaries and learn how to say
no to certain tasks that weren'taligned to my immediate goals.
So there was a lot of timeblocking involved, which is
definitely a lifesaver.
I was able to allocate specifictime slots to different
activities and ensure that Idedicated adequate time to be

(03:52):
able to get each task donewithout overcommitting to
anything.
And, yes, I made sure to takethose short recharges and breaks
.
Number three self-care practices.
Finally, I cannot stress theimportance of self-care.
I go back and forth with myclients all the time, despite
the busy week.
I had to make time to startlooking back into exercise.

(04:15):
I started a 75 hard challengerecently and I totally failed.
Completely failed witheverything that was going on in
my life and I found myselfmaking excuses for it.
But I also found myself soexhausted with everything else
that definitely was not thepriority.
So as I started shifting andrealizing, I was like no, I need
to start building in theexercise, I had a good friend,

(04:36):
who was amazing, to tell me like, pick up those dumbbells and
start doing it again.
So I will start my 75 challengeagain on Sunday, but at the
same time it's actually helpedsignificantly reduce my stress
levels and I'm super excited tosee where that's going to take
me.
I practiced mindfulness throughmeditation.
It definitely helps, keeps megrounded amidst the chaos, but

(04:59):
it's completely unnecessary atthis point because there are
times you will see me havingactual panic attacks.
So ensuring that I got enoughsleep was also crucial.
I usually aim for six to sevenhours and I noticed that I
definitely have a difference inmy energy levels and overall
mood.
Eating well and stayinghydrated also played a big part
in maintaining that well-being.

(05:20):
So, on a personal note, while Ihad to deal with these complex
emotions, I found myselfreflecting on recent events and
how they impacted my mentalstate overall.
So talking to my trustedfriends and family members
really helped me process thesefeelings and finding a way to
move forward.
Sometimes, just sharing whatyou're going through can lighten
that load.
So thank you for those of youwho've been in that space and

(05:43):
been able to share that, andthank you to those of you who
have offered that space tosomeone else.
You have no idea howlife-saving it can be just to
give someone the space to talk.
To wrap up, managing overwhelmin our professional life isn't
about just handling tasks moreefficiently.
It's also about taking care ofyourself and reaching out for
support when it's needed.
Remember it's important to takea holistic approach for your

(06:06):
well-being.
I hope you found these tips andmy personal insights helpful.
If you have any questions oryou want to share your
experiences, feel free to reachout to me on social media or
through our website.
Thank you for tuning in anddon't forget to subscribe so you
never miss an episode ofStructuring Chaotic Minds.
Until next time, take care ofyourselves and stay balanced.
Thank you so much for joiningme for today's episode.

(06:27):
To catch up on the rest of theseason, visit
structureandchaoticmindscom ortake a quick browse on your
current app to see whichepisodes resonate with you.
If you struggle with your ownmental wellness or even just
balancing life, we have a teamof individuals at our site who
can help.
You can visitstructureinnovationscom and find
a coach or mentor fit for you.

(06:47):
Thank you for joining me onceagain, melissa Franklin, on this
episode of Structuring ChaoticMinds.
Stay structured and smiling.