You know when you find yourself in that frenzied moment of feeling like you have too much to do? You walk from your desk to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and then back to your laptop. You sit for all of a minute before getting up to throw in a load of towels and then head back on over to start that email. Your mind seems to be zig-zagging all over the place; and you can’t help but move your attention to your phone, where you begin a 30-minute scroll through your Facebook news feed. You suddenly notice the time and think to yourself, Ugh! I have so much to do. Where does the time go? Maybe I’ll make a cup of coffee!

Sometimes thinking about all you have to do makes you wish the day would be over already and you can just deal with it all tomorrow.

The truth is, it’s likely not the tasks themselves that are causing the overwhelm. Instead, it’s the thoughts you’re thinking about the tasks.

In other words…

• writing a blog,

• setting up an event you want to host,

• starting a FB page, or

• asking for the sale.

None of these things in and of themselves are hard to do; rather, it’s the story you are telling yourself about them that causes resistance. Your story is the thoughts that you keep thinking over and over again in your mind and the one you keep telling people.

Have you ever caught yourself telling the same story to different people and for a second thinking to yourself, why am I saying this again? You don’t want to keep telling it this way, but for some reason you blurt it out of your mouth before you even notice. That’s because the story is a habit.

So if you’re looking to feel motivated to get things done, start thinking different thoughts and telling a new story that inspires you to take action.

Here are 4 steps to help you get things done with more ease:

Step 1: Become mindful of the thoughts you think

Remember, everything you tell yourself is simply a story. Let’s use the example of writing a blog. You could tell yourself:

• I don’t know where to start,

• I’m not sure if my content is good enough, or

• Maybe I should put this off until I know a little more and am more credible.

But these thoughts likely lead to uncertainty and perhaps worry that people will judge, and before you know it you’re procrastinating on getting your blog done. So tell a different story, one that gets you excited to take action.

Step 2: Set intentions instead of “to-do’s”

Saying that you “have to” or “need to” do something never sparks excitement to just get started. Instead, these words carry weight and usually cause you to come up with excuses to get to it later. You find yourself “busy,” and before you know it another week has gone by and you’re disappointed in yourself for not making much progress.

The word “intention” has a lighter feel to it. When you intend to do something, you aim or plan to do it. There is nothing forceful about that. Again it has to do with how something causes you to feel. When you feel a sense of ease about something, you will be more inclined to take action to get it done.

Also, be sure to only place 2-3 “intentions” on your calendar. Writing down a bunch of items to complete in one day sets you up to fall short and beat yourself up about it. You’re more likely to accomplish 2-3 things and you can always get to something extra if you like, and even feel good about yourself in the end.

Step 3: Commit to get started for just 2 minutes

Anticipating how long something could take or how undesirable it may be is enough to stop you from getting started. One thing you can do to just get started is to commit to doing the task for just 2 minutes. Seems easy enough, right? You can commit to 5, 10 or even 15 minutes. The amount of time is not important. What is important is that you get started.

You’ll find that if you have it in your mind that you’re going to sit with a task – such as designing a landing page or gathering all your tax information to be filed – for just 2-5 minutes that you’ll feel much less overwhelmed. Having an agreement with yourself that you can stop after a few minutes is a little mind hack, and the good thing is that usually once you get started you’ll want to keep going!

Step 4: Celebrate any and all progress

Most people will only celebrate or acknowledge big wins or milestones.

The problem with doing this is that in the meantime you risk focusing on all that you haven’t got done, which keeps you in a lack mindset; and since we create with our thoughts and emotions, we end up creating scarcity.

Continuing to dismiss your progress also caps your success and keeps you functioning in overwhelm, confusion, and doubt. In a sense, not celebrating your wins daily can force you to see yourself as a person who is still working hard and not yet where you want to be.

It’s amazing what opens up for you when you take time each day to look at the things you have accomplished and to recognize that you’re further along today than you were yesterday.

So feel appreciation for your wins and successes, and you will receive more. Make it a daily practice, a habit, to look back on your day and acknowledge all you did accomplish. The more you do this, the better you will feel and the more you will actually get done!