We’ve all been there. No matter how well intentioned we are, and no matter how hard we try, sometimes we just get overwhelmed. This is especially the case with entrepreneurs and small business owners, who wear many hats and are responsible for multiple duties in order to keep their business afloat. When this happens, it’s time to take a step back and make the difficult decision to reduce some of your commitments so you don’t end up getting burned out. If you’re teetering on this point right now, here are some tell-tale signs to let you know it’s time to scale back a little.

You can never complete your to-do list. There are always going to be times when you have to push a few things from today off until tomorrow, but if you’re finding that you are unable to ever finish your list of tasks, or that it just seems to keep growing, it’s probably time to either cut back on some of your responsibilities or delegate some stuff to another team member that you trust. 

You can’t stay focused. When your list of things to do becomes so overwhelming that it’s hard to concentrate on one thing at a time, it’s a pretty good sign that you’ve got too much on your plate. As much as you’d love to keep up with everything, if you can’t devote the adequate time and attention to each thing, what good can come of it? 

You never say “no”. One of the biggest challenges that small business owners face is saying no. You don’t want to ever turn away business, or let someone down by not taking on that additional project. The problem is, the more you take on, the less time and energy you’ll be able to devote to each and the more likely things will start falling through the cracks. Sometimes you just have to know when to say when.

Your service levels have slipped. Regardless of the industry you’re in, customer service should always be your top priority. The problem is, when you take on too many commitments and spread yourself too thin, the level of service you can provide to your customers will inevitably start to decline. If there’s any reason to take a step back and get some of those items off your to-do list, this should be it. After all, you’re nothing without satisfied customers.

You didn’t have time to read this. Ok, well, obviously this one is a bit tongue in cheek, but you get the point. Nobody knows better than you when you’ve hit that point of being overwhelmed. And when it starts to affect other areas of your life and business, it’s time to scale back some of those commitments. That’s the only way you will be able to do your job effectively, efficiently and in a way that doesn’t drive you and your business into the ground.