The Secret Solution to Overwhelm: How to Take Control of Your Busy Life

Have you ever ended your day feeling like you were busy every single second… but still achieved nothing that truly mattered?

I know that feeling all too well. As someone running consecutive days in the quest to cover 40,075km and raise £1,000,000 for children’s charities, overwhelm and I have become well acquainted. But after 1,720 straight days, I can confidently say: I’ve found a secret solution to overwhelm—and I’m ready to share it with you.

The Real Reason You’re Always Overwhelmed (It’s Not What You Think)

Let’s be honest—life is relentless. There’s never enough time for family, work, health, AND making a positive impact. There’s a simple reason for that, though, and it starts with a concept called Parkinson’s Law: work expands to fill the time available for its completion. Translation? If you have 2 hours or 2 days to do a task, you’ll fill all that time with busywork—leaving you caught in a storm of distractions.

Overwhelm isn’t just about having too much to do. It’s about losing sight of what’s truly important. Every time I let my priorities slip, I end up drowning in the non-essentials, feeling like I’m racing on a treadmill and going nowhere.

My Simple (But Game-Changing) Solution: The 1–3 Focus Rule

Here’s how I turned things around. I started a super-simple journaling habit—but not the flowery, time-consuming type you might imagine. Every morning, I write three bullet points max, sometimes only one. I ask myself:

What is the single most important thing I must accomplish today?

Then, every evening, I jot down up to four things for the next day. This links my days like stepping stones—always keeping my most important objectives front-and-centre.

I never let the list grow beyond three. Why? Because when everything is important, nothing is important. Ruthless prioritisation is the secret weapon. I’m honest: not every day do I tick off all three. Sometimes it’s one. But if that one thing moves me towards my mission goals—whether it’s running that day’s marathon barefoot or planning a new charity initiative—I count it as a massive win.

The Overwhelm Antidote: Set Realistic Expectations

Here’s the shift that made all the difference: understand that you will fill your time—so decide, consciously, what fills it. Focus on what matters most. If you ever catch yourself endlessly rearranging your to-do list, pushing tasks to tomorrow, you’re not alone. But don’t let busyness masquerade as progress.

Key Takeaway:

Identify your 1–3 top priorities in the morning. Align them with your mission and values (for me: raising £1M for children’s causes, and smashing the 40,075km challenge). Everything else? If it gets done, fantastic. If not, you know the BIG stuff has moved forward.

Join Me on This Journey—Let’s Beat Overwhelm Together

I’m sharing this because mental wellbeing is the unsung hero of any massive challenge—whether you’re running barefoot around the world, juggling a career and family, or fighting for a cause. Every single person in the Runpreneur community is in this together.

Will you commit to the 1–3 Focus Rule for a week?

Drop your daily priorities in the comments, and let’s lift each other up! If you’ve found your own hacks for beating overwhelm, share them—I respond to every message.