Feeling Overworked? Reduce Overwhelm With This Executive Function Exercise for Entrepreneurs
- Eric Kaufmann
- Mar 14
- 8 min read
Updated: Mar 14
TL;DR: When everything feels urgent, and your to-do list keeps growing, burnout is on the horizon. When our executive functions are overloaded, it can feel like there's never enough time to do everything we desire.
In this article, you’ll learn a simple exercise that helps you track where your time and energy go and identify what you can automate, delegate, or eliminate. The result is less overwhelm, more focus, and finally having space to breathe again.
Table of Contents:
LINK A.D.E. WORKSHEET
Hi Friend,
It seems that there is always so much to do and never enough time. If you’re an entrepreneur, you know this feeling all too well. If you’re neurodivergent, I’m betting many weeks hit like this.
Prioritizing is difficult. Planning is difficult. Working ahead on big projects is difficult.
Adulting is a massive test of executive function.
Coaching sessions, content creation, email, booking keeping, taking care of my dog, running errands, keeping track of spending, exercise, oh, and my most important job of all: being a supportive husband.
Is there ever a moment to relax?
If we don’t recognize our capacity and adjust our strategies, we will burn out. Not long ago, I was pushing on the edge of this.
No matter how much sleep I got, up I’d awake feeling emotionally and physically exhausted.
Instead of excitement, energy, and motivation, I was full of dread.
I knew this couldn’t go on much longer. This wasn’t the life I wanted to live.
A pretty simple exercise helped me adjust.
It clarified exactly how I was spending my time, what I could delegate, eliminate, and automate, allowing me to create more time to breathe, go for walks with Chili, and surf.
This week feels different.
There’s an overarching sense of peace I'm carrying.
Today, I want to share this exercise with you so that you can begin to feel the same way.
If you’re an entrepreneur, building a side hustle, or an overworked person, this exercise is for you.
Let’s dive in.
Why Overwork Drains Your Executive Function
When we don’t determine what we can automate, delegate, or eliminate, several things begin to happen.
We cost ourselves our own well-being and physical health. We cost our business opportunities to make money. We steal from the clients we serve because we can’t show up as the best version of ourselves. Or we take on too much and spread ourselves too thin, unable to serve in the way we can when we are at our best.
Over time, this constant pressure drains our executive function. Decision-making becomes harder. Prioritization becomes unclear. Our mental energy gets scattered across too many responsibilities.
Eventually, this leads straight to burnout.
Then, the business you worked so hard to build comes crashing down as the people you sought to help never get the service you offer.
Why Delegating and Eliminating Feel So Difficult
If you’re anything like me, I know what you’re thinking…
“I don’t have anyone to delegate to.”
“I can’t delete tasks from my to-do list. They need to get done!”
I used to feel the same way. But what if the story you’re telling yourself isn’t fully accurate?
Many of us resist delegation. We believe other people won’t do the job as well as we would. We assume the business can’t afford an assistant. Sometimes we even believe we don’t have enough work to justify delegating anything.
Deleting tasks can feel just as difficult.
We started doing many of these things for a reason, so removing them feels uncomfortable. Some of the tasks we know we should eliminate can feel difficult because:
We are afraid we might let someone down
We worry about spoiling a future hypothetical opportunity
Our ego is attached to the task
The task has become part of our identity
But when we release ourselves from tasks that take us away from our Queen Bee Role, the sense of peace I described before settles in.
Our executive functions have fewer competing demands. We feel lighter. More focused. More curious. More playful.
Letting go of the things that were quietly draining our time allows us to step forward into a life with more balance, greater focus, deeper service, and far more joy.
A Simple Exercise to Reclaim Your Time and Reduce Overwhelm (Automate, Delegate, Eliminate)
One of the most powerful things I’ve ever done to rein in my busy schedule, reduce overwhelm, and protect my executive function is a simple strategy called Automate, Delegate, Eliminate.
It starts by identifying all of the tasks you do throughout a typical work week. Then you determine which tasks belong to your “Queen Bee” role (the work that only you can do).
Once that becomes clear, the next step is deciding which tasks can be automated, delegated, or removed entirely.
These are often the tasks that quietly drain our energy and overload our executive function without actually moving us closer to our bigger mission.
Here's how you can use it this week:
Download my Automate, Delegate, Eliminate spreadsheet and log all of the tasks you complete for five workdays.
If you are neurodivergent or have ADHD like me, it may help to set a few anchor alarms at 10, noon, 2, and 5 to remind yourself to update the spreadsheet. Do your best to track everything, but don’t worry about making it perfect.
At the end of each day, log:
What type of energy the task required
Whether the task aligns with your Queen Bee role
Whether it could be automated, delegated, or eliminated
By the end of the week, people discover several things they can eliminate immediately, creating more space in their schedule.
If you find tasks you can delegate, consider who might be able to support you. Maybe someone on your team could learn the task quickly. Maybe someone in your life would genuinely enjoy helping.
If something could be automated, carve out a few minutes next week to automate just one task.
This doesn’t have to happen all at once. I spent nearly a month slowly automating tasks that no longer needed my daily attention.
Bonus: How To Do This If You’re Not an Entrepreneur
If you’re not an entrepreneur or business owner, you might be wondering how this applies to your life.
The same concept works for everyday responsibilities.
Many of us feel overwhelmed by personal chores, parenting responsibilities, bills, grocery shopping, and work around the house. All of these tasks place demands on our executive function.
By tracking your time for a few days, you may discover ways to share responsibilities with family members or roommates. You may also realize that some tasks on your weekly list simply aren’t necessary.
You might even find ways to automate parts of your life by scheduling recurring tasks or using autopay for bills.
One small example from my life: grocery delivery.
While it costs money, having groceries delivered has been one of the best decisions I’ve made recently. A typical grocery run takes about 45 minutes. If delivery costs $5–$8, that feels like an easy trade.
That small decision buys back time on my weekend and reduces the stress I used to feel before going to the store. Instead, I spend that time walking Chili, hanging out with my wife, going for a surf, or reading on a Sunday afternoon.
I’ll gladly pay $5–$8 for 45 minutes of that any day.
Summary
Many of us feel overwhelmed because our executive function is stretched across too many responsibilities. This is especially true for entrepreneurs.
When we never pause to examine how we’re spending our time, everything feels urgent, and we slowly drift toward burnout. A few months ago, I was nearly there.
But a quick exercise allowed me to see a better path forward. It’s called Automate, Delegate, Eliminate.
This exercise allows you to track your time, energy levels, and tasks for one week. It paints a clear picture of what you are doing each week, what can be automated, delegated, or eliminated, and how you can shift into a position where you only do the things that create the greatest sense of meaning.
Here are the steps:
Download the worksheet
Track the tasks you complete for five workdays.
Set anchor alarms for 10, noon, 2, and 5 (especially helpful if you’re neurodivergent like me)
At the end of each day, note the energy required, whether the task aligns with your “Queen Bee” role, and whether it could be automated, delegated, or eliminated.
By the end of the week, you’ll likely discover a few things you can remove immediately, a few tasks someone else could handle, and a few processes that can run automatically.
I truly can’t express how much lighter and more free-flowing my weeks have become since doing this exercise.
I hope this helps you feel the same way.
In service,
Eric
FAQs:
What is the Automate, Delegate, Eliminate strategy for executive function?
The Automate, Delegate, Eliminate strategy is a simple way to reduce overwhelm and protect your executive function. It involves tracking the tasks you complete during the week and identifying which ones must be done by you (your “Queen Bee” role) and which tasks can be automated, delegated, or removed entirely. By reducing the number of decisions and responsibilities you carry, your executive function has more capacity for the work that truly matters.
What is mental contrasting, and how does it improve follow-through?
Many neurodivergent adults, including people with ADHD or autism, experience executive function challenges related to prioritizing, planning, and estimating capacity. When too many tasks compete for attention, everything can feel urgent and important. This leads to cognitive overload, decision fatigue, and burnout. Strategies like Automate, Delegate, Eliminate reduce the number of demands placed on executive function so energy can be focused on meaningful work.
How can tracking your time improve executive function and productivity?
Tracking your time helps externalize the demands on your executive function. When you log tasks and the energy required to complete them, patterns become visible. You can identify tasks that drain energy, tasks that could be delegated, and tasks that may not need to happen at all. This awareness allows you to simplify your workload and focus on the responsibilities that align with your goals and values.
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About the Author
Eric Kaufmann is an Educational Therapist, Certified Executive Function Coach, and speaker. He is the Co-founder of UpSkill Specialists, an executive function coaching company that helps adults and workplace teams overcome disorganization, procrastination, and productivity roadblocks.
Want to learn more about 1:1 coaching? Click here.
Interested in hosting a workshop for your team or company on how to improve executive function skills in the workplace? Click here.
Looking for guidance on how to become an adult executive function coach? Click here.
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