Running a small business is a dream, right?
Freedom, creativity, coffee breaks whenever you want... Until suddenly you’re crying at 10:43 a.m. on a Tuesday because your to-do list is attacking you, your inbox is plotting something sinister, and your inner monologue sounds like a slightly panicked project manager on Red Bull.
Welcome to the chaos. You’re not alone. And you’re not doing it wrong.
You’re just overwhelmed – and that’s totally normal when you’re trying to do all the things and be all the people at once.
So let’s slow it down. Let’s breathe. Let’s find a way to run your business without your nervous system filing for early retirement.
What’s causing the overwhelm?
Chances are, you’re:
The CEO
The marketing team
The designer
The bookkeeper
The customer service squad
The tech department…and probably the person who still needs to unload the dishwasher
You’re not broken. You’re just doing the job of 5–10 people — without a lunch break.
But here’s the good news: you can still do amazing things without sacrificing your peace.
5 Happy Hue Tips to Calm the Business Chaos
1. Pick your 1–3 "Must-Do Today" tasksNot 15. Not “everything you forgot yesterday.” Just 1 to 3 things. The rest? You are officially allowed to do them later or never.
2. Work in waves, not marathons
Use your energy like a playlist — fast song, slow song, dance break. Try the 50/10 method: 50 minutes of focused work, 10 minutes of breathing/stretching/being a human again.
3. Automate the boring stuff
There’s no shame in using tools like:
Notion for organizing your brain
Canva for design
Trello or ClickUp for simple task management
Later or Buffer for scheduling your Pinterest or socials (if you use them)
4. Give yourself office hours — and actually log off
Just because your business lives on your laptop doesn’t mean you have to. Set a time where work ends. Light a candle. Change your shirt. Walk away. Reclaim your humanhood.
5. Celebrate the tiny wins
You answered that one scary email? Gold star. You didn’t cry over your website today? That’s a party. You remembered lunch? Champion behavior.
The bottom line? You don’t have to do it all. You don’t have to “scale” if it’s scaling your stress. You can run a business that feels like you — steady, creative, sustainable, and sprinkled with small wins. And when it all feels too much, step back and remember: You’re allowed to rest. That’s part of the job, too.
With color, calm, and an extra snack break,
Christine
American Psychological Association – Multitasking: Switching costs
https://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask
Stanford Research via CNBC – Productivity plummets after 50 hours/week
Harvard Business Review – Your Brain Can Only Take So Much Focus
https://hbr.org/2016/06/your-brain-can-only-take-so-much-focus
Psychology Today – How Solo Entrepreneurs Can Prevent Burnout