Overwhelmed by Your To-Do List? Proven Strategies Every Entrepreneur Needs11 min read
If you’re an entrepreneur juggling a business with an overwhelming to-do list that’s running at just the right level of chaos, you’re not alone.
Your inbox is bursting at the seams, your calendar’s as packed as a clown car, and you’re caught in a non-stop loop of serving clients, managing team stuff, and squeezing in some half-hearted attempts at bookkeeping.
All the time I see business owners who’ve built something good, but are feeling drained because they know it could be great if only they could get out of the overwhelm of their business for a second.
So let’s be real—how do you even think about stepping away when you have an overwhelming to-do list?
What are the practical steps you can take to change your relationship with your to-do list, reduce the overwhelm and anxiety you feel on a weekly basis, and create the work-life balance that seems like a fairy tale?
In this blog, I’ll be sharing
- The most common challenges my coaching clients struggle with around their to-do list
- The mindset shifts that need to happen to avoid burnout as you scale, and
- The practical steps you can take to be the CEO of your business without letting your life go up in smoke
If you’re an entrepreneur that never feels like they’ve gotten enough done in the business, this article is for you.
Mindset Shifts
A completed to-do list is NOT the goal.
Let’s shatter the illusion that a to-do list will ever end. We’ve been lied to.
A great CEO doesn’t have an empty to-do list—they have a list that’s always growing because they’re constantly evolving, expanding, and improving their business.
Bill Gates isn’t sitting around hitting inbox zero. Marie Forleo doesn’t have her feet up because she checked off the last task.
The work is never done, and that’s actually okay.
As an entrepreneur, there will always be more you can do – another product/service you can launch, another thing you can add to your overwhelming to-do list, another way you can add value, another email you could respond to, another piece of content you could create… it doesn’t end.
So the goal isn’t to get everything done. The goal is to move your most important priorities forward each week—that’s the real win.
It’s time to stop asking yourself, “Did I get everything done?” and start asking, “Did I make intentional progress on the things that matter most?”
Done isn’t the definition of success. Progress on the important things is.
Redefining productivity.
If you’ve been in the habit of late-night marathons to hit deadlines, chasing that adrenaline high that makes everything feel urgent—ask yourself if that’s really what you want more of.
Because a grounded, intentional business might feel a little less “intense,” but it’s also a lot less exhausting.
The real question is: Are you wearing the number of hours worked as a badge of honor, or are you prioritizing results over time spent?
Related Post: Redefining Success as an Entrepreneur
If you’re like most high achievers, you’ve probably tied productivity to your self-worth.
Maybe it’s that old story from school—getting praised for straight A’s, or being that kid with a jam-packed schedule.
If at your core you believe you have to do more to be enough, then you’ll find it almost impossible to let go of the idea that a finished to-do list is the goal.
- Can you love yourself even if you haven’t achieved all your biggest goals in record timing?
- Can you give yourself grace in the process of scaling your business?
- Are you your biggest supporter or your own harshest critic?
At the end of the day, productivity isn’t about squeezing in more hours of work; it’s about moving the right things forward, in as few hours as possible.
What’s your definition of productivity? Is it time to shift what you’re aiming for?
Practical Strategies
Define your top priorities and time block them into your calendar
Without a clear plan, it’s way too easy to lose hours responding to emails or putting out fires—and before you know it, the day’s gone, and your real priorities are untouched.
One of the ways you can make sure the right things are getting done is to define your top priorities.
When you aren’t clear on what’s most important, you tend to overwork—trying to make up for all the hours spent not really moving the needle. When you’re confident about your focus, you can let go of that urge to always do more.
It’s time to set quarterly goals, monthly projects, and weekly priorities, and make sure those things get prime real estate in your calendar, not your overwhelming to-do list.
Not clear on where you should focus? Take our free (and highly accurate!) quiz to find out!
Once your priorities are defined, and you’ve blocked them into your calendar, you can be confident that you’re doing the right things in your business.
Create a checklist of a productive week
If you’ve always operated from overwhelm and reaction mode, no matter how much you accomplish you will feel like it STILL isn’t enough.
In this case it’s helpful to have an actual checklist of what ‘enough’ looks like, not another overwhelming to-do list.
“A productive week in my business is when _______________”.
Fill in the blanks. For me, a productive week is when I’ve served my clients, written some content for marketing, gotten back to my team on the things they needed to keep moving forward, and started conversations with potential new clients.
Do you know the things that move your business forward? Write them out, and come back to this definition of a productive week instead of letting the minutiae take over.
Celebrate what you HAVE accomplished
Your brain is wired to look for all the things that aren’t finished, but I’m willing to bet you’re doing a lot more than you give yourself credit for.
Write down all the actions you took that moved your business forward and you’ll continue to surprise yourself with how productive you’ve actually seen, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
I use the Intentional CEO’s Goals Planner to plan my week, and at the end of the week I use the reflection section to celebrate my wins and define my focus for next week.
If you’re looking to be more intentional with your time as an entrepreneur (and to finally get your life and business organized) check out the planner here.
Delegate the urgent but not important stuff on your overwhelming to-do list
Being a good CEO means staying out of the weeds. If there’s something urgent but not important—pass it off.
And I totally get that it’s easier to do the thing that needs to be done tomorrow, than to slowly make progress on the project you have planned for the next quarter… We get more of a dopamine hit, and there’s an adrenaline rush if it’s last minute.
But operating your business from a reactive place of constant fire fighting is very likely contributing to your sense of overwhelm, and probably not the way you want to feel running your business.
Make sure you’re leveraging your team to support you in tackling all of the urgent but not important stuff.
- A graphic needs to be designed for a promotion going out tomorrow? Ask your team to do it.
- An email needs drafted to go out to some clients in a few days? Ask your team to do it.
- An application needs filled out before the deadline? Ask your team to do it.
Even if they can’t do 100% of it perfectly, having them get through 80% of it is going to release so much pressure and create more mental energy for you.
Focus on the tasks that only you can do, and let someone else tackle the rest.
Scaling your business but haven’t built a team yet? Check out these articles & resources:
- How To Manage A Team | 8 Management Tips For Small Business Owners
- How to Delegate Tasks Like a Pro: A CEO’s Guide to Working Smarter, Not Harder
- A Simple Guide to Finding (& Hiring!) Your First Virtual Assistant
Create non negotiable boundaries around work hours
At some point, you’ve just got to stop. There’s always going to be more to do, but the choice is yours on how you end your day—frazzled and sprinting to the next thing, or calm and knowing you did enough.
I used to stop working 30 seconds before the school bus showed up at the bus stop with my kiddos.
You would see me running down the driveway in sock feet in the middle of winter because I worked until the last possible second and then had to choose between freezing my toes off or driving to the school after I didn’t make it to the bus stop in time.
Was my to do list finished because I chose to work until the last possible second? No.
If I had stopped 15 minutes earlier, taken the time to put boots on my feet, and calmly walked to the bus stop, would I feel different? Completely. Would my to do list look much different? No.
We create our own limits and boundaries. The overwhelming to-do list isn’t going anywhere, but your peace of mind can.
Related Post: Too Many Goals: When To Stop Chasing Goals, How To Do it, And Why You Need To
You can choose to stop working after you’ve completely exhausted yourself each day. Or you can choose to stop working at an intentional time each day, when you’ve still got a bit of gas in the tank.
Start setting boundaries that support you in showing up fully for your business and your life.
How Business Coaching Can Help You Scale & Free Up Your Time
Here’s the thing—getting out of the overwhelm is about more than just trying a new system or approach. It’s about breaking deeply ingrained patterns, shifting your mindset, and making changes that stick. And sometimes, that’s hard to do alone. That’s exactly why having a coach matters.
A coach can help you see where you’re holding yourself back, challenge the stories that keep you in overwork, and guide you to focus on the right things in your business. The work I do with my clients? It’s not just about achieving financial success, but about establishing the balance and fulfillment you crave in the process.
So, if you’re ready to get out of the overwhelm and into a new way of working that finally lets you feel like the CEO you know you can be—let’s talk.
Book a discovery call, and let’s grow your business AND your free time.
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