To be honest, things have been a little stressful lately.
Your girl is getting booked for a lot of podcasts, webinars, and speaking gigs. I've got work travel coming up. I hired a Marketing Coach!
It’s been really amazing, and entrepreneurial life is exciting, but I’m wondering, does it have to be this full-on?
And because I’ve been feeling the pressure, I’ve had to shrink my field of vision just to get through the day.
Now, I’m naturally a multi-step planner. If I’m traveling, I’ve got Notes app checklists for:
What to pack (carry on ONLY)
What snacks to buy ahead of time so I’m not spending $30 on two things at the airport
What time I need to be out the door for a comfortable 2 hour early arrival at the airport
What I’m eating for dinner when I land, based on friend recommendations and 30 “Best Gluten Free in the City” lists
It’s helpful 80% of the time.
The other 20%? It’s paralysis disguised as productivity.
So I’ve been trying something new.
I find the biggest block or milestone in a sequence of tasks - and I let that be the end of my focus.
So, What’s the Supply Chain Angle?
In logistics, we call this constraint-based planning.
Instead of planning your whole supply chain as if everything will go smoothly, you identify the bottleneck (the step with the longest lead time or most friction) and build the plan around it.
Because if that one piece doesn’t move, nothing else matters.
By narrowing your focus to the first true constraint, you:
Reduce overwhelm
Use energy more efficiently
Prevent wasted motion on things you’re not ready for
Turns out, this works just as well in your personal life as it does in your projects.
A few real-life examples:
Travel prep: I’ve got a big conference coming up in a few months. Normally, I’d be updating the aforementioned notes app and getting even more food recommendations. But right now? My only focus is getting my flight booked. Until that’s locked in, the rest can wait.
Home projects: I want to reorganize my pantry. In the past, I’d be deep in watching HGTV shows, measuring shelves, making multiple visits to Winners🍁. This time, I’m stopping at clearing out anything expired, or donating food I won’t use. That’s the block. That’s all I need to do right now.
Client work: I have a proposal I need to send. It requires scoping, pricing, and a follow-up call. Instead of spinning on all of it, I’m just focusing on getting clarity on the project deliverables. Everything else flows from that.
It can be easy to go from A to Z in one big step. We want to feel like we are creating a complete, comprehensive solution.
But sometimes?
They’re tomorrow’s problems.
And they can use tomorrow’s energy.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed too, I highly recommend this one shift:
Only plan up to the block.
Then stop. Breathe.
And save the rest for future Monica.
(Except put your name instead of Monica. You get it.)
See you next week,
really Monica
