Do you ever get in a state of overwhelm where you don’t know what to do next?
You know that feeling when there’s just so much going on that you freeze and end up not accomplishing anything?
Not fun. I know. I’ve been there many times.
I’m going to share with you how I recently worked through an intense period of overwhelm with some tips you can try if you feel like you’re in the same boat.
I was on the treadmill listening to a podcast, which is how I usually get through my exercise routine. I had about 15 minutes left of my workout when my podcast ended. Usually I would find another podcast to help pass the time, but today was different. As the podcast ended, I was feeling off but I wasn’t sure why. I decided to continue my exercise program in silence to try to process what was going on with me. While in that quiet space, I asked myself how I was feeling. I knew I didn’t feel well, but I couldn’t put my finger on what was going. After a couple of minutes of thinking, the word overwhelm came up.
That was it. I was feeling completely overwhelmed!
I knew I had a lot on my mind, but I wasn’t clear on what was actually overwhelming me. And I wanted to get rid of this feeling.
When I was done exercising, I went to my office, grabbed a blank sheet of paper and started listing everything that overwhelmed me. I couldn’t believe how quickly I filled the entire page.
After looking at this page, I felt like a little bit of weight was lifted off my shoulders. I gave myself a break and said, no wonder you’re overwhelmed. That’s a lot for any human brain to carry around all day.
I decided to walk away from my list for a couple of days to think about how I might tackle it. Knowing that it was all down on paper and not constantly flowing through my mind gave me space to not stress about all the things I felt like I wasn’t doing.
After following some easy steps and actions, my feeling of overwhelm dissipated.
Here are the steps I took that helped me go from feeling overwhelmed to feeling more in control and I hope you can also benefit from them.
Do an overwhelm brain dump
Take out a blank sheet of paper and write down everything overwhelming you. If needed, walk away from the list for a day or two. If you want to tackle it right away, that works too. In my case, I needed a break from it.
Eliminate the things you can’t control
I bet if your list is like mine, there are things in there that you have zero control over. Perhaps they are things that you’re worrying about. Cross out all the things that you can’t control. You’ve listed them. You know they’ve been on your mind. Now try to focus your energy on the things you do have control over.
Audit your list versus your goals
Do a sanity check and assess how these things align with your personal and professional goals. Are these things contributing to your goals, or are they part of someone else’s goals or agenda? Do you absolutely need to be doing these things? Can you delegate or outsource anything on the list? Refine and eliminate where ever you can.
Create a timeline
While your list will constantly evolve, go through each item and ask yourself whether it absolutely needs to get done now or whether it can wait. I did a timeline for the next three months and realized that many of the things on my mind were not immediate priorities and could get pushed out to a later date. By going through these steps and assessing each item, my mind became clearer.
Break down your goals into small steps /daily tasks
Focus on only the things that are important for today, and that will move you one step closer to your goals. Ask yourself daily what your three most important priorities are. They should be the things that will have the biggest impact to help you achieve what you want to accomplish. Having clarity on what to tackle first is so important. When you reverse engineer your goals, you work on the right things at the right time.
Prioritize your own goals first
Plan each task by putting them in your calendar protecting those time blocks. It is recommended to do your most important work at the start of your day, before everyone else starts asking you for things that support their agendas. It feels good to start your day with your most important work completed because you never know what will come up during the day that could distract you from your goals.
I don’t know about you, but when I’m overwhelmed, I chase my tail. By taking a step back, grasping the situation and using the logical part of my brain, I could refocus and get back into action mode. I know that this is not a perfect science, but it’s a tool that I will use the next time I feel a sense of overwhelm and I hope it can work for you too.
Let’s be honest; overwhelm will always creep in on us, but when we have actionable tools that can help us navigate through these periods, life gets a little easier.
I hope you found value in this post that can help you when you feel overwhelmed.
Please share this with someone who you think might benefit from these tips.
You can also subscribe to my newsletter where I share tips and resources, and you will be notified when new blog posts are released. No spam, I promise!
photo by energepiccom
