Managing overwhelm
Sometimes it’s SO easy to get overwhelmed thinking about all the things you need to do. It could be your to-do list or the home projects you’ve put off from feeling tired. It could be trying to find time to rest without feeling guilty or anything really. It could be trying to fit in exercise or movement of some kind without having to remove something else from your calendar.
What happens when you get overwhelmed is that your mind spins out. It starts looking at every possible thing that could go wrong and starts stressing about things yet to be finished. It tries to use this worry to get you to move into action fast and DO things. But the result is far from this. In fact, worrying about things, you need to do doesn’t actually make you DO them faster or better.
Why?
Because worry acts as a stop sign or brake to the brain. When we worry, we can’t get into action quickly because the brain is fully occupied with worry that it doesn’t have space or energy to think effectively.
So how do you get through overwhelm to start moving forward into action?
By slowing down.
You read that right.
Beating overwhelm isn’t about ignoring it and moving at 1000 miles an hour. Maybe sometimes that might work but it isn’t a reliable strategy long term and often leads to burnout.
Whenever I get overwhelmed or feel frazzled I actively pause and take a slow deep breath. I put my hand on my heart and breath slowly and calmly. Then I tell myself “slow down and breath!”. Sometimes this is all I need to reset my brain and feel calm. Other times I need a proper step back from my desk and I’ll go for a quick walk.
I also take 10 minutes to think about what is working and what is going well. It’s like a mini celebration of good things. If I have my journal and pen on me, I will sit on a park bench and jot down things that made me happy that day. Sometimes I snap photos on my phone then stick them in my journal later. (There is a post coming out next month on journaling so stay tuned for that!) I find this helps shift my mind out of worry mode and into a peaceful mode of focusing on things one by one. Just the act of writing down something good that happened acts a circuit breaker for the worry loop in the brain. You can’t actively write and worry at the same time!
Next, I look at the thing that is making me feel overwhelmed. If it’s a big project, then I break it down into the tiniest steps and focus on one step then another. If it’s housework like bathroom cleaning, I will actively go and clean the sink. I count down five seconds and get up to go and clean. It takes 5 minutes and then the next day I will clean the bath and so on. Doing a tiny bit gets me moving and stops me stressing about how big the task ahead is. Then before I know it, I’ve cleaned the whole flat in a week and I can rest knowing it’s done with minimal stress and fuss. Sometimes I end up cleaning the whole bathroom in one go and then it’s done for the whole week. You don’t know what is possible until you get up and go do the thing!
Step by step action will always help beat overwhelm. The smaller the better. Our brains like to tell us that tiny steps are useless, but the smaller steps get us going and we end up getting the big things done without it being such a huge pressure.
Some small things you can try to reduce worry, anxiety and overwhelm:
Meditate for one minute
Listen to an old favourite song and not doing anything else while it plays except just listen along (and maybe boogie along)
Drink a glass of water at room temperature
Chat to a friend who cheers you up
Watch a comedy clip on YouTube (laughter works for beating the blues!)
Write down exactly what is overwhelming you then walk away, eat food and come back to the list with a fresh pair of eyes.
Visualise your task working out perfectly – no this isn’t to tempt fate but to help build self-confidence and make you feel calm when you do get to work!
Doodle – the idea being just to scribble on a page to use the creative side of the brain. Even just testing out pens on paper counts!
As a coach I help people to move from totally overwhelmed to feeling calm & peaceful and then to get into massive action. Want to move forward in your life authentically without burning out? Book a consult with me today!