3 Tips to Fight that Overwhelming Feeling
I don’t know about you, but occasionally, we all have those days when we fight overwhelm. Recently, I had several things I needed to do all feel like they were due at once. A few jobs that I had actually delegated, as in paid other people to do, somehow parts of those jobs fell back on me. It wasn’t just a small task, and I am still in the process of finishing it up, but for a while I wondered again if the old saying about a job done right you do it yourself didn’t bear repeating in my head. It didn’t help me to dwell on how this help had somehow created loads more work than I needed at the time…or was even prepared for.
Mentally, I had to shut out those thoughts as they didn’t get me anywhere...they actually brought me down. When you have days like this, it can shut you down if you suffer from anxiety or feelings of helplessness. When you are in a state of overwhelm, you can lash out, get angry, worry and create even more problems for yourself than you had before.
You might notice the need to want to sleep more, and actually do less. Emotional triggers can start to flare like being very upset and not having an outlet for it. You might even go into panic mode.
I want you to take a minute and think about your triggers. I have talked about this plenty of times before on the page, and finding the trigger is very important. One of my triggers, to be honest, is when I pay for something I expect over the top service. Really, high value delivery. I don’t think it’s ever too much to ask because if you ask anyone in my Club, no matter the price point, I over-deliver in my Club.
I know that perhaps not everyone has the same work values…like delivering something almost 2 months after we talk about it, or surprise! You have to finish all this up even though you are swamped right now. So maybe it’s also the element of surprise that can be a trigger. But whatever it is for you, think about what triggers your state of overwhelm and journal it out.
3 Tips to Fight that Overwhelming Feeling:
- Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Pause. You can get through this and you might need to just take a step back for a moment…maybe you need to vent or journal it out, but you can get through it. It’s possible that right this moment you are holding onto something that you need to let go of, so consider journaling around the feelings that are coming up, meditating, or getting to some relaxing yoga.
- You don’t have to get it all done at once. You can baby step it. I have been taking baby steps, maybe more like crawling to be honest, but I am slowly getting this extra task done. It’s March and I am still not finished, but that’s the beauty of going slowly. I don’t need to fret about an end date as this is a task that is just on me. If you do have a due date on your project though, use your planner and count back how many weeks you want to space it out. How much time will it take? Can you delegate some of the smaller tasks and what can you do last? Perhaps the easiest thing is to say you are going to work on x task 1 hour a day until it’s done. If it’s something like cleaning a garage or getting rid of things around the house.
- Action is what motivates…not the other way around. When you are in a state of overwhelm, doing nothing is very tempting. That is why you can’t wait for motivation, you actually have to get up and do something which will then motivate you. Crazy, but think about it. You have the whole house to clean and you sit down for a minute…or two…or the afternoon and then you say it can be done tomorrow. Guess what? Tomorrow something else comes up as well and so on. There will always be an excuse to block your “motivation”, but not your action. You are already up and running.
Recently a friend of mine was in overwhelm as well because she had lots on her plate. I do want you to know that you can say no to others as needed if the overwhelm is simply because you have taken on things that were not yours to begin with. If that is the case, you might be interested in reading these articles:
- Saying No. (a really old post)
- Boundary Setting and the Empath
- Overthinking 101
- Panic to Peace…Your Guide to Meditation
Want more information about my Head|Heart|Health Club that works to help move you from overwhelm to calm? >> Learn More <<
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