I have yet to meet anyone who hasn’t, at some point, experienced the feeling of being pulled in a million different directions with no hope of getting it all done, no matter how fast they moved. And since feeling like you are going to be crushed by your to-do list is not a fun place to be, I thought you might find it helpful to have some fast and easy tips to get out of the overwhelm vortex and back into feeling energized and productive.
The easiest place to start when you’re looking for a way out of an emotional tangle is to become familiar with its source.
The easiest place to start when you’re looking for a way out of an emotional tangle is to become familiar with its source.
Overwhelm has two primary triggers:
#1
Focusing on everything at once and feeling like it has to be done now.
#2
Focusing on what you haven’t completed rather than what you have.
#1
Focusing on everything at once and feeling like it has to be done now.
#2
Focusing on what you haven’t completed rather than what you have.
Simply put, what we pay attention to is what creates our experience. This is awesome news because it means that we are fully in control of shifting ourselves out of an unwanted experience simply by shifting our focus.
When you’re ready to stop feeling pulled in a million directions, try this sequence of steps:
When you’re ready to stop feeling pulled in a million directions, try this sequence of steps:
| Step back from it.
Take the ‘overwhelm’ out of your head and put it on paper, where you can distance yourself from it a bit. Write down every task you can think of that you are worrying about. I like to call this a brain dump because you literally want to dump out every bit of information that’s floating around in your head
Take the ‘overwhelm’ out of your head and put it on paper, where you can distance yourself from it a bit. Write down every task you can think of that you are worrying about. I like to call this a brain dump because you literally want to dump out every bit of information that’s floating around in your head
|Chunk it.
Once you’ve done this, organize your tasks and to-dos into larger chunks. You’ll probably come up with your own, but to help you get started, try: family, kids, career, self-care, relationships, health. Organizing your to-dos into chunks will help you see your world more clearly.
|Prioritize it.
Feelings of overwhelm come less from having too much to do and more from feeling like you have to do it all at once. Look at your chunks and prioritize your to-dos based on a combination of what must get done first and what makes you feel strong, empowered, and satisfied. And when you’ve completed an activity find a small way to celebrate your accomplishment (10 min on youtube, a cup of tea, stepping outside into the sun, etc…). Acknowledging your successes will give you strength and resilience to get through everything else.
|Take action.
Action is the antidote to feeling overwhelmed. Very often it is not the activities themselves that stress us out but our worrying about the activities. Just begin. Very often the simple action of beginning will alleviate the anxiety and stress that has accumulated.
|Consciously choose where you focus.
Worry comes from focusing on what is not getting done which has the side-effect of zapping motivation. And I know it’s tempting to focus on multiple things at once but… I’m here to tell you multi-tasking is a myth. Studies have shown that our brains can only focus on one thing at a time which means your to-do list will be completed much faster when you give all your attention to the one task at a time. Not only is this more efficient but it also has the side benefit of reducing stress.
Once you’ve done this, organize your tasks and to-dos into larger chunks. You’ll probably come up with your own, but to help you get started, try: family, kids, career, self-care, relationships, health. Organizing your to-dos into chunks will help you see your world more clearly.
|Prioritize it.
Feelings of overwhelm come less from having too much to do and more from feeling like you have to do it all at once. Look at your chunks and prioritize your to-dos based on a combination of what must get done first and what makes you feel strong, empowered, and satisfied. And when you’ve completed an activity find a small way to celebrate your accomplishment (10 min on youtube, a cup of tea, stepping outside into the sun, etc…). Acknowledging your successes will give you strength and resilience to get through everything else.
|Take action.
Action is the antidote to feeling overwhelmed. Very often it is not the activities themselves that stress us out but our worrying about the activities. Just begin. Very often the simple action of beginning will alleviate the anxiety and stress that has accumulated.
|Consciously choose where you focus.
Worry comes from focusing on what is not getting done which has the side-effect of zapping motivation. And I know it’s tempting to focus on multiple things at once but… I’m here to tell you multi-tasking is a myth. Studies have shown that our brains can only focus on one thing at a time which means your to-do list will be completed much faster when you give all your attention to the one task at a time. Not only is this more efficient but it also has the side benefit of reducing stress.
Let me know what happens when you try these out!
Janna
Janna
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