Yep, I’m thinking about snowballs — but it’s not what you think. I mean, it’s 70 degrees here in Houston, so I don’t think we’ll be breaking out the snow boots any time soon.

The snowballs I’m thinking of are a bit different. But let me back up a bit and tell you about the state of panic I found myself in a few weeks ago.

I’d been dealing with a lot of tricky and time consuming issues in my business — a million tiny details that needed my attention, in addition to the normal workload of working with the Free Mamas in my 12-week program, my group coaching students, my one-on-one students, and one of my own freelancing clients.

There was laundry and carpool and feeding of my children, as there always is.

My husband had just made the decision to quit his job.

I felt like my to-do list had grown exponentially, while the hours available for work remained stubbornly fixed.

I sat down at my desk and felt so incredibly overwhelmed that I couldn’t figure out where to put my focus. There were so many things that felt like I needed to do them FIRST that I really couldn’t take action on a single thing.

For a solid five minutes, I just stared at my calendar, unable to do anything.

Has that ever happened to you, Mama?

Well, after five minutes, I pulled myself together, grabbed a paper and pen, and started listing out alllllll the things that were in my head.

Now, you know how much I love my online systems. But every once in a while, you just need the solid feel of pen on paper, you know? I got that whole list written down, and then I figured out:

• Which tasks could be outsourced to someone else
• Which tasks weren’t a priority for right now
• Which high priority tasks that only I could handle would have the most impact on my business right away

Right away, I got rid of the stuff in the first two categories, which left me with a smaller list to deal with.

And that’s where the snowball comes into play. I took a close look at the high priority tasks I needed to do and ranked them in the order that made the most sense to me based on the impact they would have on my business and the amount of space they were taking up in my head.

By working through each of those tasks one at a time, I’d be able to pick up momentum and keep myself motivated — like a snowball rolling down a hill.

When you’re overwhelmed, it’s really easy to slip into inaction — that place where I found myself, staring at the screen, unable to get started.

If that happens to you, mama, here’s what I want you to remember:

1. Breathe. This isn’t life or death. Your business is important, but lives are not hanging in the balance here.

2. Take ten minutes to determine the things that will have the biggest impact on your business and your sanity, and rank them in some way. You might start with something you can cross off your list in under 10 minutes, or focus on the thing that has the most potential to bring in revenue, or the thing that feels the heaviest for you right now.

3. Start moving. Set a timer for 25 minutes and dive into the work. You can accomplish a lot in 25 minutes of focused work, and you’ll feel more in control as you make progress.

Overwhelm happens. The trick is to make sure that you don’t let it derail your progress. When you start to feel like you can’t do anything, it’s time to take a step back and reset.

I’m curious — when was the last time you felt paralyzed by everything on your plate? And what did you do to move past that feeling? Share your #takeaction tip in the Facebook group!

P.S. Be sure to check back here next week, because I have some exciting news to share for any mamas who want to make even more money as a freelancer!