If you’re constantly stressed out by the amount of tasks you have…
If just looking at your to-do list feels like facing an oncoming avalanche…
If you can’t figure out what to prioritise…
If you’re overcommitted there’s never enough hours in the day…
If there’s always too much on your plate, no matter how hard you try…
Then read on. I’ve got you covered with a free mini-course that helps you create a manageable to-do list and get instant relief from the nagging feeling you get from never reaching the end of your tasks.
I know exactly what it feels like to be overwhelmed by options, tasks and expectations. When I started my adult life well over a decade ago, I had very little time to figure out how to juggle university with housework and freelancing so I could pay the rent.
Fast forward 13 years, and I’m now balancing running blogs in two languages and the online course business I run with my husband.
Things never got simpler. I just got better at it.
As the first, Hungarian incarnation of urban:eve started growing, I soon learned just how many people are out there struggling with the same type of overwhelm that I experienced.
Over the years I got e-mails from hundreds of people paralysed by the amount of things on their plate — especially when there was a deadline looming on the horizon. Many of them were wearing too many hats: they had a job, managed a family, had partners, friends, hobbies, and maybe even a side hustle or two.
So I started digging to the core of the problem and the tool that came out of the process was the Machete Sorting Technique.
The Machete Sorting Technique is a simple, 4-step method that will help you hack away at your task list and clear the shrubs from your path in just 15 minutes, so you can finally start to gain clarity and untangle yourself from the grasp of overwhelm.
After getting feedback from thousands of people who have applied the Machete Sorting Technique to their lives, I am confident that if you do this short exercise, your to-do list will become more manageable, and there’s a good chance you’ll also get a long-overdue breath of fresh air.
And you don’t have to take my word for it. Here’s what some of the people who’ve already used the technique told me when I asked for their honest opinion:
This is the first time I’d dumped my brain on a piece of paper. It was so weird to see all my tasks in front of me, but it felt great to see everything find its place as I went through the sorting questions. They don’t scare me anymore.
— Mónika Z.
First, my partner didn’t get why I insisted on doing this in the morning, after a night shift, with the kids running around. When I showed him my notes, he stopped criticising. I successfully reduced my plans for the next few days and they’re now actually achievable. Thank you!
— Eszter S.
I almost didn’t do it, I was so afraid that I’d have to admit to myself that the reason I don’t spend time on rest and working out is not that I don’t have time but because of mental blocks and my perfectionism. But then I got through it and realised that I do actually have time to spend on myself. I’m so relieved!
— Zsófia V.
I was behind with everything when I found the Machete Technique, and after I was done, I finally saw what was important and what I could put off until later. I still get swamped by tasks sometimes, but I can now get the Machete out and sort through everything in minutes. For me, this method is super effective.
— Anita K.
Sounds interesting? Sign up below (it’s free!) and I’ll walk you through the steps.
The most common way people try to beat overwhelm (that doesn’t work)
When you’re overwhelmed, there comes a point when you acknowledge that there’s chaos around you. You’ve gained no progress, and everything’s falling apart.
But that’s actually a good thing because once you’re conscious of this, you can work your way out of it. You cannot change what you don’t notice, which is why denial doesn’t work. Accepting the chaos is the first step in cleaning it up.
Don’t be like this dog.
However, this is the point where most people go wrong, by saying:
“Right. I’ll roll up my sleeves, take a big breath, and do EVERYTHING in one fell swoop!”
The bigger your initial momentum, the better you can convince yourself that you’ll be able to solve all aspects of your life at once. Which makes you set out to:
- lose weight
- clean the house
- find a new job
- learn to tango
- answer all your emails
- knit a scarf
- and make your entire life better RIGHT NOW
Unfortunately, the only thing this approach leads to is more chaos, and a quicker burn out, because:
- Whatever you do, you’ll never have more than 24 hours in a day.
- You simply won’t be able to dedicate all your time to improving your life
- Most crucially, you haven’t done anything to remove tasks from your workload to make room for new ones.
So you get stuck in a loop, won’t be able to do much, and land back in the middle of the chaos you started out with.
And then you’ll have to wait until the next time you feel like a superhero to try and tackle everything again. And back to square one you go, every single time.
Thankfully, this is not the only way to go about it.
“There’s gotta be a better way!”
You’ll get much further if you don’t try to focus on everything at once, but instead, pick one point of focus at a time while keeping distractions to the minimum.
But how do you know what to focus on when you know you have twenty things to do, all swirling around in your head, demanding attention? How do you decide what’s most important, or which tasks deserve your attention to begin with?
The Machete Sorting Technique helps with just that.
With it, you’ll be able to cut down on your to do list and separate the tasks that you actually need to do from the ones you don’t. Plus, you’ll learn how to prioritise your to-dos so it’s no longer a question where to start.
And since it only takes 15 minutes, you can give it a go no matter how swamped or overwhelmed you feel right now.
Ready to find out if the Machete Sorting Technique can help you save time and energy in the long run?
Pin for later
