The Overwhelmed Entrepreneur: Reality Check Method for Women in Business | Productivity & Time Management Tips

218: How to Prioritize When Everything Feels Urgent (Stop the Doing-It-All Trap)

• Cindy Gordon - Productivity and Business Coach for Female Entrepreneurs • Season 4 • Episode 218

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How to Prioritize When Everything Feels Urgent (Stop the Doing-It-All Trap)

Drowning in a to-do list where everything feels urgent? You're not behind - you're caught in the doing-it-all trap. In this episode of The Overwhelmed Entrepreneur, business coach Cindy Gordon reveals how to prioritize when everything feels urgent and escape the cycle of reactive busyness that's sabotaging your business success.

Learn why your brain can't tell the difference between true urgency and manufactured urgency, the psychology behind why everything feels equally important, and a simple Priority Reality Check system to stop doing everything yourself and start focusing on what actually matters.

In this episode, you'll discover:

  • Why "everything feels urgent" is really a boundary problem, not a time management problem
  • The Three-List Reality Check to separate truly urgent from someone else's priorities
  • How to apply the One-Thing Rule when you're used to juggling everything
  • The "Stop, Drop, and Reality Check" method for handling "urgent" interruptions

Episode Highlights: "When everything feels urgent, you're not actually behind on urgent things. You're caught in the doing-it-all trap."

"Your brain treats unfinished tasks like open browser tabs running in the background, consuming mental energy even when you're not working on them."

"You're not paid to be busy - you're paid to create results. And results come from sustained focus on what matters most."

Resources mentioned:

  • The Reality Check Method
  • Priority Reality Check system
  • Weekly planning tips for overwhelmed entrepreneurs

Perfect for: Female entrepreneurs, solo business owners, small business owners with 1-4 contractors, and anyone who feels like everything in their business is equally urgent.

Stop doing everything yourself. Start prioritizing like the strategic business owner you are.

💡 Don't forget to subscribe for more quick productivity tips for overwhelmed business owners and female entrepreneurs!

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Connect with Cindy Gordon - Reality Check Method Coach for Overwhelmed Entrepreneurs:

it's 3:00 PM on a Tuesday, and you're staring at your to-do list, feeling like your head might explode. The client proposal is due tomorrow. You haven't posted on social media in three days, and your inbox has at least 47 unread emails. Oh, and wait, didn't you promise to call that potential partner back yesterday? Yes. Everything feels urgent. Everything feels important, and you are drowning right in the middle of all of it. Here's the truth that no one is talking about. When everything feels urgent, you are not actually behind on urgent things. You are caught in the trap of doing it all, and your brain has lost the ability to tell the difference between what's truly urgent and what just feels that way because it's on your list. Hi. I'm Cindy Gordon, the creator of the Reality Check Method, and a business coach for overwhelmed entrepreneurs. I built and sold several digital businesses. So when it comes to learning how to prioritize, when everything feels urgent, instead of getting trapped in that cycle of doing everything, I get it. I'm about to show you how to stop the doing it all trap and prioritize what actually matters. In Tips and tools like this is just what I talk about on my weekly email newsletter. I only send these tips to my email subscribers and they're not available anywhere else. To join my email list, visit the link in the show notes. The women I work with constantly struggle with this exact scenario. You've built the business because you wanted freedom and control, but instead you feel like you're spinning plates 24 7. You can't tell what deserves your attention first because your brain is telling you that literally. Everything is urgent. Maybe you're a solo business owner trying to wear every hat, marketing, sales, operations, customer service, or perhaps you have a small team, but you still feel like you need to personally handle every decision you've fallen into the trap of thinking that being a good entrepreneur means doing everything yourself and doing it perfectly. Here's what's actually happening. You're not lazy or unfocused or bad at business. You are just operating from a place where you're urgent and important. Tasks have gotten completely tangled up research shows what's going on here is that your brain treats unfinished tasks like open browser tabs running in the background. Each item on your to-do list is consuming mental energy, even when you're not actively working on it. So when everything feels equally important, your nervous system stays in a constant low stress mode. So here's what happens. You start your day intending to focus on the most important work, but then an email comes in that feels urgent, so you respond, then you remember you haven't posted on social media, so you do that. Then a client calls with a quick question. And before you know it, you have spent the entire day being reactive instead of proactive and truly important. Work doesn't get done. Your brain is wired to notice and respond to anything that feels urgent, but it's terrible at distinguishing between true urgency and manufacture urgency. Most of the things that feel urgent are just other people's priorities demanding your immediate attention. So here's how to escape the doing it all trap and start prioritizing like the strategic business owner you are. So first we're gonna start with a three list reality check. You are going to take everything on your overwhelming to-do list and sort it into three categories. We have truly urgent. Important but not urgent and someone else's priority. I want you to be ruthless about this. If it doesn't directly impact your business revenue or operations this week, it's probably not truly urgent. Then we are going to apply the one thing rule from your truly urgent list. Pick the single most important task that only you can do. Everything else gets scheduled for later. Delegated or deleted. I know that this can feel impossible when you're used to juggling everything, but here's the reality check. You can only do one meaningful thing at a time anyway. When something new comes up that feels urgent, stop what you're doing. Drop the assumption that you need to handle it immediately, and reality check whether it's actually urgent or just feels that way because someone else wants it done. Now, most of the time, urgent requests can wait until your priority work is finished. Now, here's how to put this into practice today. Choose one task from your truly urgent list and protect it with 90 minutes of work. So this is 90 minutes of work. Without interruption, everything else can wait. The biggest obstacle to prioritizing when everything feels urgent is that you feel like you're letting people down or missing opportunities. Your brain is trying to convince you that everything is really urgent and you're being irresponsible by focusing on just one thing. When that resistance shows up, remind yourself that being a successful entrepreneur means being strategic about your time and energy. You're not being paid to be busy. You are paid to create results, and results come from sustained. Focus on what matters most. Not frantically jumping between every task that feels urgent. Build this into your existing routine by doing the three list reality check every morning before you check your email or social media. When you start with clarity about your real priorities, you are less likely to get pulled into other people's urgent requests. The goal isn't to never help others or respond to their requests. It's to respond from a place of choice rather than panic. When you're clear about your priorities, you can decide whether someone else's urgent request deserves to interrupt your important work. So here's what I want you to remember from today. Feeling like everything is urgent is a sign that you need better boundaries around your time and attention. Not that you need to work faster or harder. You started your business to have control over your time and your life. So don't let this doing it all trap, steal that from you. When everything feels urgent, nothing really is. And that's your cue to step back and reality check what actually deserves your precious time and energy. Now go reality. Check your priorities and reclaim control of your day. And remember, you've got this, Thanks for spending these few minutes with me today. Remember, overwhelm isn't permanent. It's simply your brain's way of saying pause and take a little reality check. If this was helpful, you'll love my weekly email tips where I share the systems that keep me and hundreds of other entrepreneurs on Track Link in the show notes. If you got value in today's episode, please share it with another entrepreneur who needs that reminder. If you're loving the show, I'd be so grateful if you could leave me a quick review. It helps other overwhelmed entrepreneurs find us. Make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss your weekly dose of clarity. For more resources and to connect with me, visit exclusively cindy.com. Until next time, remember you've got this.