The following is an adaptation from Tim Ferriss' book, "Tribe of Mentors."

He writes that lack of focus and feeling overwhelmed can destroy efficiency and productivity.

He reached out to 100 leaders, investors, authors, and thinkers to ask them about the questions they use to check in with themselves when they feel overwhelmed.

Some of the questions are: "What do you need now to feel happy?" "Is it in your power to make a difference right now," and, "Will worrying help you?"



I have a never-ending impulse to procrastinate, nap, and otherwise fritter away my days with trivialities.

If I have ten important things to do in a day, it's nearly guaranteed nothing important will get done that day. My focus it pulled in too many directions. The weight of having so much on my plate feels overwhelming.

Those two things—lack of focus and a feeling of being overwhelmed—are killers when it comes to being efficient and productive.

As a means to squaring my to-do list with my penchant for procrastination, I've begun asking myself two questions about each thing I need to do:

"If this were the only thing I accomplished today, would I be satisfied with my day?"

"Will moving this forward make all the other to-do’s unimportant or easier to knock off later?"

These questions are vital to how I prioritize my life, focus my energy, and ultimately accomplish important tasks.

But the reality, there are people out there who know much better than I do what questions to ask when you're feeling overwhelmed and unfocused—leaders, investors, authors and brilliant thinkers who have spent a career (and in some cases a lifetime) honing this skill.

Because I craved that knowledge, I reached out to over 100 of these people, folks I consider my 'Tribe of Mentors', to ask them what they ask themselves in moments when they're feeling unfocused and overwhelmed.