VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #634 – Uh Oh, I’m Overwhelmed Again
Voice coaches, radio, everything voiceover. Hey, hey, welcome back. We've got a brand new episode of Voice Coaches Radio that is gonna be starting right now. Uh, my name is Marissa, and not that my nana is gonna hear this, but she deserves a, a big old happy birthday. Shout out to today is her official birthday, and of course we get to celebrate Mother's Day this weekend as well.
But my Nana's 92 today and, uh. I mean, she's older than sliced bread. She's older than the Ford Mustang. Uh, she's pretty much older than most things, uh, and just got to experience her very first solar eclipse in totality, which was kind of cool. Uh, though she was just not impressed. Um, so whatever, she would just rather sit there and hang out with a Hallmark movie.
Uh, maybe watch American Idol and, uh. And just eat cookies all day. You know, that's what she would love to do. And, um, hopefully that's what she's doing right now. Uh, just not too many 'cause we don't want her to become diabetic. But, uh, at 92, I mean, you know, two weeks their own. Uh, but, uh, I hope you're doing well here as, uh, we dive on into May.
And, you know, I had Jenny P on a couple weeks ago and before I let her go. I let her pick my brain a little bit, you know, because she's somebody who is just starting to dive into a lot of this stuff with voiceover and you know, I wanted her to be able to ask me whatever she felt like she needed to in the moment.
And the big thing for her. Was, how do I not get overwhelmed? And I know it can be very easy to get overwhelmed, especially at first, you know, but a big part of it is, I think understanding who you are, how you work, and what's gonna be best for you. Now, I told her what I do, uh, because I will admit there are times I do get overwhelmed as well, even though I'm, I'm this many years in and, you know, I do this stuff every single day, day in and day out.
But the trick of it all is, is I think, you know, your mind kind of plays some tricks on you. Even though I will have accomplished way more work than more people do in an entire week, in one day, if there's something on a list that I haven't gotten to, sometimes I'm over here like, man, what a failure of a day.
I suck. Uh, you know, and I'm just so hard on myself. 'cause we all are, uh, you know, but it, it is a matter of understanding. Hey, maybe I just like overbook myself for the day. That is definitely possible. Or maybe something happened, like there was a little wrench thrown in my day that I wasn't expecting and, and I lost a couple hours.
It happened a couple weeks ago for me, actually, a couple months ago now. Um, I had a lunch meeting. I. And, you know, I was meeting, uh, the general manager of this one station locally, and, and, and I planned, okay, I'm going to lunch. It's gonna be like an hour, you know, I'll be home by like two. I'll, I'll do X, Y, and Z when I get back.
That lunch lasted three and a half hours 'cause we hit it off, you know, and I wasn't gonna end that meeting early, earlier than it needed to be. You know, anybody else would be like, uh, Marissa, that was almost four hours. Like, that's not ending it early, but in my mind, I'm over here like, no, listen, that's, that's a good relationship building moment that was necessary.
Uh, and, and I just, I was like, nah, let's, let's let it happen, you know? And so I just ended up having to push whatever I didn't get done in, in that day to the next day and, yeah. Okay. So the next day was a little bit more work than I wanted to have to do, but whatever. So. What I had said to Jenny P is this, you know, I gave her kind of my, my routine, if you will.
And this, I, I can't say that this is gonna necessarily work for everybody, but it might be a good start for you and it might be a good way for you to start to build some structure for yourself that can allow you to. Not only know what you need to have done for the day, but for the week and what you wanna accomplish and how and when you can do it.
It it, it does take a little bit of a, a challenge of like switching maybe how you're doing some things a little shift. Um, it does require time management and not everybody's good at that, but this might be a good way to help you start to get better with it. But. What I do is this. Okay. 'cause I'm well aware, like, you know, you can look at all the work that I do as, as we'll say like my quote, full-time job, right?
I know that there's certain things every single day that I have to get done. So, and I, and I also know that like for the week, I know there's a certain work amount of work that has to get done. So I start with that week schedule. And I, I kind of like build out my own little calendar and, you know, the dates are on the top, the work itself is on the side, and I can check it off as I go day by day.
So that's one thing because that, that schedule itself allows me to be able to look at it at any point and go, alright, what, what's still to come? Like, what stuff do I still have to do that is on the way that. Maybe I do have some downtime today. Maybe I can get a little ahead so it makes the rest of the week a little easier.
You know? That's why that that week schedule is really helpful. But I also create one every single day, and that is the work that needs to get done that day. But also that's in the mix is some stuff that I would also like to accomplish where I have time, if I have time now. There are plenty of days that I overbook myself, and that's where I can get in my own head and in my own way.
And things can get a little overwhelming, you know, because, uh, again, I definitely, I will say I, I know that I do more work than most people on any given day, and that's not tooting my own whore, and that's just knowing who I am as a human and I can't help it. Like I am just a busy person all the time. Um, and that's just kind of how I like it.
So, so, yeah, I, I know that sometimes I do. Push myself a little bit. Too far, too far, um, you know, and, and that can feel frustrating. However, you know, that daily schedule, it's like, all right, well, what didn't I get to? Okay, well, usually that's something that didn't have to be done today anyway, so let's push it to the next day.
Cool. By the end of the day, after I've accomplished everything else that I needed to get done, I am writing out the list that I want to accomplish for the next day, and then it's just checking things off as I go Now. I'll be honest with you with this too, it's not just a written out list. I also put it on my laptop notes and that way as I'm checking things off.
I'm not just doing it in one spot, I'm confirming it in another, so that way I am keeping myself on track. Do you see how organized this is? It sounds so OCD, but when you are a self-employed, like kind of self-made like entrepreneur, like you, you have to be organized. You have to be. Able to handle time.
You have to be able to stay on track. 'cause if you don't, oh boy, can things just fall through those cracks? Um, you know, and, and that can feel just like awful. But you know, here, here I am. You know, I am continuing with the business that I have, but how do I get more, like what do I do to keep building? Well, I think, you know, what I suggested to Jenny P is like, okay, well listen, you've gotta understand that you already have maybe a lot on your plate with what you're currently doing.
And I know you wanna grow this on the side and everybody's journey's gonna be different and you wanna put a lot of hard work and hustle in, and I applaud you for that. But sometimes it has to start kind of slow. You know, maybe you look at your schedule for the week and you go, you know what? I think maybe Monday, I am gonna spend 10 to 15 minutes doing this.
So by Friday I can spend another 10 to 15 minutes doing this. You know the beautiful thing about social media. If you're doing anything to kind of try to promote yourself or get your name out there or just like showcase some of the stuff you've been doing, you have these abilities to schedule ahead things on Instagram and Facebook.
So maybe you don't actually do anything on Wednesday, but that post that you made it, it goes up live on Wednesday. And it almost is like, oh, well look at that now. I've done something Monday, I've done something Wednesday, and I've done something Friday. You know? So it's like how can you structure things a little bit for yourself?
That can, can help you throughout the week start to try to get a little bit closer to goals that you have. And I mean, let it start small. You know, just work with the time you have because if you start trying to work with time, you don't really have, that is where it gets overwhelming. Um, so it's little by little and then you get to build on top of it, and, and slowly but surely, you know, that balance, it really does work.
And you know, when you look back at how I had to structure things, I mean, I had the full-time job trying to build all of this on the side at some point, you know, I was working from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed. And sometimes that is what you need to do to, to be able to break free a bit, you know, and get to do everything that you've been wanting to do.
But. I also was doing the same thing this entire time where it had that structure, it had that schedule, it had that routine, you know, it had those checklists to keep me in order and make sure that I wasn't letting anything slip through the cracks. So. This could also help you. Um, but maybe you just have to tweak it a little bit to fit you in, in what you do and how you stay on track.
Uh, but you know, if you wanna see pictures of this or something, you can always hit me up. Uh, you know [email protected], [email protected]. That is where you can also throw some feedback or some questions my way. Uh, maybe you're somebody that's been. Doing some work in the voiceover field and you wanna, you know, talk about some accomplishments or whatever.
I'd love to have you on, you know, just hit me up, [email protected]. Brand new episode is coming your way next week. Stay safe everybody.
Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
But my Nana's 92 today and, uh. I mean, she's older than sliced bread. She's older than the Ford Mustang. Uh, she's pretty much older than most things, uh, and just got to experience her very first solar eclipse in totality, which was kind of cool. Uh, though she was just not impressed. Um, so whatever, she would just rather sit there and hang out with a Hallmark movie.
Uh, maybe watch American Idol and, uh. And just eat cookies all day. You know, that's what she would love to do. And, um, hopefully that's what she's doing right now. Uh, just not too many 'cause we don't want her to become diabetic. But, uh, at 92, I mean, you know, two weeks their own. Uh, but, uh, I hope you're doing well here as, uh, we dive on into May.
And, you know, I had Jenny P on a couple weeks ago and before I let her go. I let her pick my brain a little bit, you know, because she's somebody who is just starting to dive into a lot of this stuff with voiceover and you know, I wanted her to be able to ask me whatever she felt like she needed to in the moment.
And the big thing for her. Was, how do I not get overwhelmed? And I know it can be very easy to get overwhelmed, especially at first, you know, but a big part of it is, I think understanding who you are, how you work, and what's gonna be best for you. Now, I told her what I do, uh, because I will admit there are times I do get overwhelmed as well, even though I'm, I'm this many years in and, you know, I do this stuff every single day, day in and day out.
But the trick of it all is, is I think, you know, your mind kind of plays some tricks on you. Even though I will have accomplished way more work than more people do in an entire week, in one day, if there's something on a list that I haven't gotten to, sometimes I'm over here like, man, what a failure of a day.
I suck. Uh, you know, and I'm just so hard on myself. 'cause we all are, uh, you know, but it, it is a matter of understanding. Hey, maybe I just like overbook myself for the day. That is definitely possible. Or maybe something happened, like there was a little wrench thrown in my day that I wasn't expecting and, and I lost a couple hours.
It happened a couple weeks ago for me, actually, a couple months ago now. Um, I had a lunch meeting. I. And, you know, I was meeting, uh, the general manager of this one station locally, and, and, and I planned, okay, I'm going to lunch. It's gonna be like an hour, you know, I'll be home by like two. I'll, I'll do X, Y, and Z when I get back.
That lunch lasted three and a half hours 'cause we hit it off, you know, and I wasn't gonna end that meeting early, earlier than it needed to be. You know, anybody else would be like, uh, Marissa, that was almost four hours. Like, that's not ending it early, but in my mind, I'm over here like, no, listen, that's, that's a good relationship building moment that was necessary.
Uh, and, and I just, I was like, nah, let's, let's let it happen, you know? And so I just ended up having to push whatever I didn't get done in, in that day to the next day and, yeah. Okay. So the next day was a little bit more work than I wanted to have to do, but whatever. So. What I had said to Jenny P is this, you know, I gave her kind of my, my routine, if you will.
And this, I, I can't say that this is gonna necessarily work for everybody, but it might be a good start for you and it might be a good way for you to start to build some structure for yourself that can allow you to. Not only know what you need to have done for the day, but for the week and what you wanna accomplish and how and when you can do it.
It it, it does take a little bit of a, a challenge of like switching maybe how you're doing some things a little shift. Um, it does require time management and not everybody's good at that, but this might be a good way to help you start to get better with it. But. What I do is this. Okay. 'cause I'm well aware, like, you know, you can look at all the work that I do as, as we'll say like my quote, full-time job, right?
I know that there's certain things every single day that I have to get done. So, and I, and I also know that like for the week, I know there's a certain work amount of work that has to get done. So I start with that week schedule. And I, I kind of like build out my own little calendar and, you know, the dates are on the top, the work itself is on the side, and I can check it off as I go day by day.
So that's one thing because that, that schedule itself allows me to be able to look at it at any point and go, alright, what, what's still to come? Like, what stuff do I still have to do that is on the way that. Maybe I do have some downtime today. Maybe I can get a little ahead so it makes the rest of the week a little easier.
You know? That's why that that week schedule is really helpful. But I also create one every single day, and that is the work that needs to get done that day. But also that's in the mix is some stuff that I would also like to accomplish where I have time, if I have time now. There are plenty of days that I overbook myself, and that's where I can get in my own head and in my own way.
And things can get a little overwhelming, you know, because, uh, again, I definitely, I will say I, I know that I do more work than most people on any given day, and that's not tooting my own whore, and that's just knowing who I am as a human and I can't help it. Like I am just a busy person all the time. Um, and that's just kind of how I like it.
So, so, yeah, I, I know that sometimes I do. Push myself a little bit. Too far, too far, um, you know, and, and that can feel frustrating. However, you know, that daily schedule, it's like, all right, well, what didn't I get to? Okay, well, usually that's something that didn't have to be done today anyway, so let's push it to the next day.
Cool. By the end of the day, after I've accomplished everything else that I needed to get done, I am writing out the list that I want to accomplish for the next day, and then it's just checking things off as I go Now. I'll be honest with you with this too, it's not just a written out list. I also put it on my laptop notes and that way as I'm checking things off.
I'm not just doing it in one spot, I'm confirming it in another, so that way I am keeping myself on track. Do you see how organized this is? It sounds so OCD, but when you are a self-employed, like kind of self-made like entrepreneur, like you, you have to be organized. You have to be. Able to handle time.
You have to be able to stay on track. 'cause if you don't, oh boy, can things just fall through those cracks? Um, you know, and, and that can feel just like awful. But you know, here, here I am. You know, I am continuing with the business that I have, but how do I get more, like what do I do to keep building? Well, I think, you know, what I suggested to Jenny P is like, okay, well listen, you've gotta understand that you already have maybe a lot on your plate with what you're currently doing.
And I know you wanna grow this on the side and everybody's journey's gonna be different and you wanna put a lot of hard work and hustle in, and I applaud you for that. But sometimes it has to start kind of slow. You know, maybe you look at your schedule for the week and you go, you know what? I think maybe Monday, I am gonna spend 10 to 15 minutes doing this.
So by Friday I can spend another 10 to 15 minutes doing this. You know the beautiful thing about social media. If you're doing anything to kind of try to promote yourself or get your name out there or just like showcase some of the stuff you've been doing, you have these abilities to schedule ahead things on Instagram and Facebook.
So maybe you don't actually do anything on Wednesday, but that post that you made it, it goes up live on Wednesday. And it almost is like, oh, well look at that now. I've done something Monday, I've done something Wednesday, and I've done something Friday. You know? So it's like how can you structure things a little bit for yourself?
That can, can help you throughout the week start to try to get a little bit closer to goals that you have. And I mean, let it start small. You know, just work with the time you have because if you start trying to work with time, you don't really have, that is where it gets overwhelming. Um, so it's little by little and then you get to build on top of it, and, and slowly but surely, you know, that balance, it really does work.
And you know, when you look back at how I had to structure things, I mean, I had the full-time job trying to build all of this on the side at some point, you know, I was working from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed. And sometimes that is what you need to do to, to be able to break free a bit, you know, and get to do everything that you've been wanting to do.
But. I also was doing the same thing this entire time where it had that structure, it had that schedule, it had that routine, you know, it had those checklists to keep me in order and make sure that I wasn't letting anything slip through the cracks. So. This could also help you. Um, but maybe you just have to tweak it a little bit to fit you in, in what you do and how you stay on track.
Uh, but you know, if you wanna see pictures of this or something, you can always hit me up. Uh, you know [email protected], [email protected]. That is where you can also throw some feedback or some questions my way. Uh, maybe you're somebody that's been. Doing some work in the voiceover field and you wanna, you know, talk about some accomplishments or whatever.
I'd love to have you on, you know, just hit me up, [email protected]. Brand new episode is coming your way next week. Stay safe everybody.
Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
This week on Voice Coaches Radio, Marissa talks about something we’re all bound to feel at some point: overwhelmed. Lets face it, as you’re starting out in vo, chances are you’ve got another full time job that needs to come first. So, how can you grow in voice over, if your time is limited and how do you plan it for yourself to not run yourself dry? Marissa talks about how she’s handled it; from full-time and building, to working 15 hours a day, to branching out and having to restructure as she’s grown her
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