How Do I Keep My Plate Clear and Stay Frazzle–Free?

Q: Tony asks, “What is your best method of keeping your plate from getting so full, you feel frazzled?”

A: That is a great question. There are a lot of different ways to simplify your systems so you don’t feel frazzled, but let me give you a really quick method to manage everything that’s on your plate.

The thing is we are living in the information age. Which means, we are living in the age of opportunity, where if you are an opportunity kind of thinker, everywhere you look you get a new idea. You think of new opportunities, new things that could happen, and pretty soon your plate is either literally full or more importantly, sometimes your brain is just so full that it feels like your plate is full!

Here is the best way to keep your plate from getting too full, and to keep yourself from feeling frazzled:

1. Identify your top three values.
Maybe it’s independence, maybe it’s wealth, maybe it’s responsibility, maybe it’s relationships, creativity, spirituality, etc. While you may know what your top ten values are, take the time to get really clear and identify your top three.
2. Examine whether or not your opportunity aligns with your top three values.
As you go through your opportunities or ideas, take your top three values and ask yourself if this thing you are considering, or is on your plate already, is in alignment with your value number 1, value number 2 and value number 3.

Whether you know it or not, we live our lives and make decisions based on our values. When we make decisions that are not in alignment with our values, it creates a glitch in the system, if you will, that leads to irritation, frustration, overwhelm, uncertainty and conflict.

When we make decisions that are in alignment with our top three values, we are making decisions that are supportive and that lead to ease, enthusiasm and confidence.

If you use this simple system, and you look at it every three months or so, you will be able to easily take a look at what’s on your plate to see what you said yes to that needs to come off and make a plan to get it off your plate. I guarantee that you will be more focused, more productive and you will have so much less stress that you’ve ever had before.