When you are overwhelmed, it is easier to give in, give up or walk away. (Jason Womack)

Bring to mind one of your significant projects. Make it a big one, an important one, a meaningful one. Are you giving that project the attention and resources necessary to complete it on time and effectively? If not, why not?

I have heard people say they do not have the time it will take to do all that they have to do.

I hope this is not news. I remember when I learned an important lesson, years ago while attending a city college in California. The best teachers I learned from (I can count them on one hand) had 24 hours in a day to get everything done.

The worst teachers I had (too many to count over the years and years I have attended seminars, courses, and programs in North and South America, and Europe) ALSO had 24 hours in a day.

I hope you are not thinking about using not-enough-time as an excuse! In fact, one of the best things you might do for yourself is to go ahead and repeat this mantra a couple of times a day, "It is not more time I need. I need to direct my focus on the most important things."

One of our rules of engagement in our organization is that we address projects, problems and possibilities with an Opportunity Mindset. That is, for everything we could do, we make that an opportunity. For everything we don’t do, we make that an opportunity.

Sometimes it is not easy. Honestly, standing in front of 1,200 people to deliver a speech, keeping a 7-minute-per-mile pace through mile 9 of a half-marathon, or going out on date-night with my wife all present a similar challenge: I don’t have the luxury of having a spaced-out mind, or multi-tasking my way through productivity. (I have found that none of those three things, as well as a multitude of other activities I enjoy, are good times to be checking E-mail or taking phone calls!)

If you think about it, overwhelm is a good thing. I mean, really, we would be bored without it! The key to maneuvering through overwhelm successful is to hone your focus-management skills, identifying your next actions and making consistent, iterative progress on your most important goals