When It’s All Just Too Much – Do This
By VICKY BROWN
Entrepreneurship isn’t just about vision and grit. Sometimes, it’s about survival – emotional, mental, and strategic.
There are seasons when everything feels heavy. The news is relentless. The economy is unpredictable. Your team is looking to you for direction. And inside your own head, it’s a swirl of to-dos, deadlines, shoulds, and doubts.
And yet, you still have to show up. You still have payroll to run. Clients to serve. A company to lead.
If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking, “Why does this feel so hard right now?” – let me say this clearly:
It’s not just you. And no, you’re not failing.
You’re navigating real, unrelenting pressure in a world that doesn’t seem interested in slowing down.
More and more business owners are telling me the same thing: I’m tired. I can’t catch my breath. Everything feels urgent. And they’re right. The pace is staggering. The weight is real.
We’re not just juggling marketing strategies and hiring plans. We’re operating in a time marked by political chaos, war, climate collapse, economic uncertainty, compliance whiplash, and technological disruption – all layered on top of personal obligations and the emotional toll of leading a team.
So no, a green smoothie and a 10-minute meditation app won’t fix this. This isn’t about “work-life balance.” It’s about endurance. It’s about building the kind of steadiness that doesn’t rely on everything going well.
That kind of leadership doesn’t come from pushing through or pretending you’re unfazed. It comes from creating real practices that support your nervous system, your decision-making, and your ability to see clearly when the fog sets in.
Protect What’s Coming In
Let’s start here: you do not have to be available to everything all the time. The internet is designed to make you feel like you’re missing something important if you don’t check the news every hour, respond to every Slack message in real time, or scroll through every social post that hits your feed.
But your capacity has limits. You are not a machine. You are not a newsroom. And your job as a leader is to protect your ability to lead. That starts with curating your inputs.
Set time boundaries for consuming news. Turn off alerts that aren’t urgent. Use tools that allow you to batch your email – even set folders for senders who constantly ping you without adding value. And yes, that includes personal drama too. You can create filters for everything from overzealous vendors to HOA officers who won’t stop emailing.
Remember: protecting your input stream isn’t avoidance – it’s stewardship. You’re not checking out of reality. You’re choosing what gets your attention, and when.
Focus on One Real Thing
The myth of multitasking has trained us to believe that being scattered is the price of being productive. It’s not. In fact, multitasking is just fast-switching between stressors – and every switch costs you energy.
Pick one thing. One task. One decision. And do it well.
And here’s the kicker: don’t keep it all in your head. I use Asana religiously because the moment I drop something into that system, my brain gets quieter. That running to-do list in your mind? That’s clutter. And clutter slows you down – mentally, emotionally, even physically.
Get it out. Get it somewhere safe. Reclaim that mental real estate for actual thinking.
Build Stillness Into the Chaos
I know – stillness feels like a luxury. But here’s the truth: if you never carve out intentional time to think, you’ll only ever be reacting.
That’s why I schedule what I call CEO Brain Time. It’s a sacred block on the calendar with no emails, no Slack, no texts, and definitely no “quick questions.” It’s time to think strategically, solve real problems, or just… sit.
You can’t lead if you never get above the noise. You have to step out of the chaos long enough to ask, What actually matters right now? Without that space, you’re just chasing tasks instead of making decisions.
So put it on the calendar. Guard it. Treat it like payroll – non-negotiable.
“… You can create filters for everything from overzealous vendors to HOA officers who won’t stop emailing.“
Recover Without Leaving the Office
We treat recovery like something we have to earn – a vacation, a weekend, a yoga retreat. But if you wait until you’ve escaped your business to rest, you’ll always be running on fumes.
Instead, take micro-recovery breaks – small, intentional pauses built right into your day.
It could be two minutes of real breath outside your office. A stretch. Turning your phone face down and sitting quietly for 90 seconds. These aren’t indulgences. They’re interventions. Your nervous system is carrying everything – stress, uncertainty, responsibility – and without recovery, that system burns out.
These tiny moments are how you stay in the game. They build stamina. They give you back your edge.
Name What’s Heavy
One of the biggest energy drains is unnamed weight. You know it’s there – that lingering anxiety, that unresolved conversation, that internal monologue you can’t quite shake.
But because we’re so focused on “pushing through,” we never stop to name it.
Try this: pause and ask yourself, What’s sitting on me right now?
You don’t have to fix it. You don’t have to turn it into a journaling session. Just name it. Say: “This week feels heavy.” Or “I’m holding a lot right now.” Or even just “That meeting is still bothering me.”
Naming it gives it shape. And once it has shape, you can hold it differently – or set it down.
Pretending you’re fine when you’re not? That’s not leadership. That’s slow collapse in disguise. Real resilience begins with honesty – even if it’s just with yourself.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur jumping into a leadership role, a seasoned business pro with new HR responsibilities, or just starting your HR career – we’ve got the right path to guide you through your HR hurdles.
Check out the Leaders Journey Experience. This online education platform holds the LJE Masterclass, HR SimpleStart Academy and HR FuturePro Academy.
Not sure where to start – take the quiz!
Make Decisions Faster
Here’s something that changed everything for me: shorten the decision cycle.
You know the ones – tiny choices that linger way too long. “Should I reply today?” “Should I follow up?” “Should I go with Option A or B?” Each one feels harmless. But together, they take up massive cognitive space.
Your brain is holding those decisions in the background – draining energy, even when you’re not thinking about them directly.
So make the call. Move on. Clear the clutter.
You’ll be amazed at how much clearer your thinking becomes when you’re not hoarding 27 small decisions.
Shift Your Physical Space
When your mind feels stuck, change your view. Literally.
Work from a coffee shop. Take a walking meeting. Write by hand instead of typing. Clear your desk. Move a chair. Open a window.
It doesn’t have to be drastic. Just different. Because sometimes your body needs to feel something new so your brain can think something new.
A change in view can create a change in mindset.
Look – you can’t stop the news cycle. You can’t predict the economy. You can’t eliminate every stressor from your team or your business. But you can lead differently.
You can build steadiness in the swirl. You can give yourself permission to breathe, to reset, to think clearly again.
Because leadership isn’t about pretending it’s all fine. It’s about learning how to lead when it’s most definitely not.
That’s what builds your power. That’s what creates real influence.
And most of all – that’s what makes you a leader worth following.