If we’re honest, most of us have some sort of overwhelm with our websites.
Either there’s too much we’re told we have to do to have a successful website. Or the technology hurdles become so high that we’re paralyzed by them.
The fact is website overwhelm is a real thing. Often we can feel like we’re alone, swimming in the vast ocean, surrounded by sharks with no sight of land in any direction. And this can be quite daunting.
Yet, even worse than daunting our website overwhelm can get us stuck and keep us there. It can make us feel incompetent or incapable. And our website overwhelm can flat out make us give up trying all together.
But it really doesn’t have to be this way. Website (and business) skills are simply things we can learn. If you remember that everything in our lives we’ve learned since birth – language, walking, reading, writing, etc. Combine that with riding a bike, driving a car, using email, and a million other things and it should be obvious that we’ve learned how to do a lot of things.
But before we can learn we have to deal with our website overwhelm and how it affects us. So here’s 5 signs that we’re overwhelmed by our websites and what we can do about it.
1. Procrastination
Procrastination is SO easy when you’re overwhelmed. You look at your task list or marketing plan – if you even have one – and can immediately find all the things you’d rather not do.
And you can justify why not to do them too, right?
It’s very easy to let procrastination with your website become your way of life. You can delay everything, right? That is until we feel cornered to actually have to get something done.
The thing is, the more we delay and resist taking action the more we become overwhelmed and unmotivated to act. And even though we’re not actually doing anything, we still walk around with the stress of thinking about the things we should be doing.
The Turnaround
One way out of this is to walk away from your task list. I mean really put it down. Then reconnect to why you’re in business.What’s your purpose? What difference are you trying to make in people’s lives? What about your work makes your heart sing? Let yourself really feel and connect with your purpose. And after you feel rock solid in the meaning of your work again, go do one thing – just one thing – on your task list.
Get tailored 1-on-1 help easing your website overwhelm
2. Avoidance
When we’re overwhelmed by our website it’s very easy to get lost in busy work. You know what I mean – doing easy tasks that feel like you’re getting something done while you avoid the actual, sometimes more difficult, work that’s actually going to bring results.
Yep, it takes real effort to write that blog post or send an email to your list weekly. You can’t fake that. You have to dig in and do the work even when you want to look at Facebook or watch your email.
It’s easy to be stuck in the painful cycle of overwhelm. And avoidance only adds to the overwhelm with guilt.
The Turnaround
First, be honest with yourself that you’re avoiding doing work. Don’t judge yourself. Just observe and be okay with it. Then sit down and do only one of the tasks you’re avoiding. Write that blog post, send that email, make that phone call, write the outline for your ebook, etc. See the task all the way through to completion. Then stop for a few moments and celebrate. Rinse and repeat.
3. Dread
I get this one, you dread every time you sit down at the computer. The technology gets in your way. You feel anxious and overwhelmed before you even get started.
Think of dread as anxiety wrapped up in resistance. With dread we often feel torn between the the we have to do and the fear we won’t be able to do it. So we resist, which creates more dread, more anxiety and more overwhelm.
It’s easy to let dread take us over and become a habit that stops our business. What we do isn’t exciting or fun anymore. It’s like everything is a chore – and we don’t like chores.
The Turnaround
Depending on your level of resistance, dread can be tricky. Sometimes we can pull out of it ourselves by starting with something we know how to do. This builds confidence in ourselves while beginning to get things done. Yet there are times when the resistance can be so strong that we actually need to reach out for help. When you’re that stuck – get help! Better to have someone nudge you forward than to let the resistance become so overwhelming that it drowns your business.
Get tailored 1-on-1 help easing your website overwhelm
4. Unfocused
We all know what it’s like to be unfocused. We’re rushing around, procrastinating and confused about what we need to be doing. This causes us to jump from one thing to another without any clear purpose and no tangible results.
This is where everything becomes appealing and interesting. It’s time to send our email newsletter but first we need to find those photos to use. Oh, but first we need to get that template done. But before that I need my new headshot which means finding a photographer. This can go on and on forever – to the point that none of it ever gets done.
The Turnaround
When you’re unfocused the easiest solution is to get focused, right? But how? All these things are important – headshots, email templates, etc. What I suggest is write it all down. Make a list of all those things that you feel need to done. Then, for now, set that list aside and do the one thing that will make a real, tangible impact on your business today. For instance, forget that template and the headshot and just send that newsletter out to your email list. Once that’s done, then return to your list of ideas and start in on it. AND: scratch them off as you complete them
5. Indecision
Feeling overwhelmed with our website clouds our judgement. The overwhelm begins to strip away our clarity of what’s best for our website. Sometimes it feels like we’re sinking or drowning so we start grasping for anything.
Soon doubt creeps in and we fear that whatever we do will be wrong.
In this case, our resistance causes us to jump from one thing to another because we’re unsure if our decisions are right or not. So we don’t stick to anyone of our decisions long enough to see real results. This leads to greater stress, confusion and more overwhelm.
The Turnaround
Indecision can be tricky. Any decision we try to make will often be eroded by our doubts and fears. Yet the only way through indecision is to be willing to make a decision. With your website, publishing more content is almost always the safe bet. Among many other things it will increase your visibility, display your expertise, and build the interest in your work. Now there’s a pitfall here – the indecision about what to write. Honestly, this is where you just need to push through enough to publish almost anything. Think of the last really good client conversation you’ve had and write about it. Or what’s one question you get asked all the time that you could answer in your blog post? Making small decisions and acting on them will move you out of indecision on larger issues.
Get tailored 1-on-1 help easing your website overwhelm
Two ways to deal with website overwhelm
As you can see overwhelm with our websites as many effects on us and our businesses. These are the major five that I see, but there’s more.
And there’s really two ways to deal with the overwhelm. First, we can avoid it, push it away, ignore it – if we can, and don’t deal with it at all. This may keep us safe and help us stay uncomfortably where we are. We can then go on believing that we’re just not cut out for this internet thing while we struggle with doing the work we love.
The second way of dealing with website overwhelm is we’re honest with ourselves. We take a few minutes and own – even name – the overwhelm we feel. We accept it as part of our work and do our best to embrace it rather than fight against it. And when we do this a magical thing happens – it changes. If we’re really honest with ourselves the overwhelm and its affects will change – at least enough to move forward.
Feeling overwhelmed by your website is a conscious choice
No matter how we’re feeling about our websites, we always have a choice. Sometimes that choice is to stay stuck, as I mentioned above. And sometimes that choice can be to let the love and passion for our work motivate us past through the overwhelm.
The bottom line is we can deliberately choose to become more aware of the emotions and beliefs that shape the quality of our business and our lives.
When we’re unconscious about our overwhelm it controls us and stops us from sharing the passion of our work with others.
Yet, each time we consciously stop and notice our overwhelming feelings and name them we begin to chip away at our resistance and overwhelm. In essence, we change the hold that overwhelm has on us. And, in turn, we begin to actually get things done.
How has overwhelm stopped you in the past? And what are you going to do differently in the future? Love to hear your comments.
=====================================
Ease Your Website Overwhelm
You know that I’ve been helping coaches and healers with their website and marketing for more than 20 years.
What you may not know is that I have extensive training in working with and healing the emotions and beliefs that get in our way. I use these techniques constantly in my work to help my clients ease and overcome the overwhelm they face with having a business, owning a website and all the technie pieces of being online.
I’ve specifically tailored this short, 2 session coaching package so that we can breakthrough your frustrations, fears and overwhelm and be able to reframe how your website can work for you.
Got questions about your specific needs or whether this program will help you? Please contact me and I’d be happy to help.
Leave a Reply