It's far too easy as an introvert to find your online world bringing overwhelm rather than results. Here I share my top tips that I've been using every day to alleviate the feelings of being buried alive under a pile of noise and stuff that tries to divert us from our bigger mission.

Follow these 4 secret steps to reduce overwhelm and make you feel energised in your business again.

As leaves are falling around me, I’m reminded that this season is a great one for the Autumn Sweep in my business. Autumn is a great season to clean up your communications and connections and do the Autumn Sweep in your business to gain clarity and focus. Its purpose is to eliminate the overwhelm that builds up over time as we go about daily online business life. 🍁 🍁 🍁 Twice a year, I do a purposeful sweep of all

• my connections,
• email subscriptions
• groups I’m a member of
• software subscriptions
• Course subscriptions

So today, I thought I'd share with you how to reduce overwhelm, in the hope it inspires you to do a sweep too!

Step 1: Know your limits

I decide on a number and keep my limits to this maximum across the various elements mentioned above. When it comes to email newsletters from business coaches, you want to keep these to under 5 as you don’t want more voices in your head than necessary! There is enough going on in there without being confused by multiple perspectives. Decide what you want to focus on in the 6 months and make a list of the people who can support you to do that as a priority.

Step 2: Use Email Filters

Then set up email filters in your inbox that sends these emails to folders labelled with the topic or importance. If you have subscriptions to your favourite store that send through coupons, create a folder called "stores" or similar, you can have more of these so long as they don't clutter your inbox! Removing the clutter automatically will help you stay focused and take away that overwhelmed feeling. This will then allow you to give undivided attention to the emails that matter. Little helpers doing the Autumn Sweep... or not!

Step 3: Moving Forwards

Ideally every email that comes into your inbox should instantly have one of the following happen:

1. Read and Reply
2. Read and Delete
3. Save for Inspiration (in a special folder)
4. Delete / Unsubscribe

Step 4: Social Sweep

Repeat this process in your social media accounts too. Go and see how many Facebook groups you are part of.... eeek! Scary amount, am I right? I’ve just realised my groups have crept up again to an unhealthy number. So that’s on my task list today. Ask yourself this question:

• Which of these groups actually build you up and support you personally or in business?
• Which add to your everyday in a positive way?

Top Tip: Look to having no more than 10 groups ideally. As the way the algorithm works is you will never see the posts unless you aren’t active, like posts, comment and engage. Will you join the Autumn Sweep?

If the above numbers sound a little scary, start by reducing your connections / emails / groups by a third. The clear space this gives will bring back the clarity to your work.

TAKE ACTION:  Decide your focus in the next 6 months, and reduce your subscriptions to those that can support your goals. If a goal is to grow your business through online courses that sell, then make sure I am one of those 5 people and sign up today and download free resources to get you started! 

It’s time to commit to your business growth, tackle overwhelm and focus on the actions that move the needle.