5 Tips for Conquering Overwhelm

You’re overwhelmed because you’re confused.

When your mind isn’t confused, when tasks and priorities are clear, there’s no overwhelm.

When your mind is focused, overwhelm is absent.

The problem is that stress ensues as we start to feel overwhelmed. And the more overwhelmed you feel, the more stress you create for yourself. 

This is a vicious cycle. One that we’ve all felt at some point in time or another.

We can’t always articulate what the cause is or how to describe it, but we know it when we see it.

“There is simply too much to do and too much happening.”
“I can’t even get started because my list is too long.”
“Even if I could get started, I have no idea where to start.”
“I want to run away from all of this.”
“I just want to go back to bed.”

These intrusive thoughts often conclude with,

“Stop the world; I want to get off!!”

Is there anything we can do about this? What causes this confusion and lack of focus?

Causes of overwhelm

Stress

The biggest cause proponent of confusion (and therefore overwhelm) is stress. While a healthy amount of stress may serve you in motivating yourself to get something done, too much stress can take a severe toll on the nervous system. Which is why it is important not to let your stress turn into overwhelm, and cause discomfort and agitation in the body.

Unclear priorities

If your priorities aren’t clear, how can you decide what to work on first? Creating some sort of structure when faced with many tasks that need completing is crucial to our overall ability to manage our stress levels and therefore avoid overwhelm.

People pleasing

If you have the tendency to people-please, getting a number of tasks from different people can cause priorities to get confused. “If I take on this one, I’ll disappoint this other person”. What’s more, prioritizing others’ needs at the expense of our own personal needs also takes a severe toll on our well-being, leading to even more stress.

Overwork / tired mind

Contrary to what many Type-A personalities want to believe, your brain has its limits. If you work a job that is very mentally demanding or stimulating, it is crucial to give your brain a rest from time to time so that it can recuperate and operate at full capacity.

Low level of well-being and self-care

Self-care is critical to your overall well-being and directly correlates to performance. As mentioned earlier with people-pleasers, if you are not making your overall well-being a priority, your capacity to perform will diminish significantly.

Lack of sleep

Getting enough sleep is the most important aspect of your well-being as it impacts every aspect of your health and performance.

Solutions to overwhelm

“I have so much to do today, I’ll need to spend an extra hour praying.”
– Martin Luther

1. Stop

Go for a walk in nature, sit by a tree or by a plant, bask in the stillness.
Take a minimum 1-hour break.
Turn off all inputs – no news, no social media, no phone calls.
When clients tell me they have too much to do, I suggest they take an extra day off.

2. Write Everything Down on Paper

Be sure to write down everything there is to do or that you think there is to do. This is important as it gets you out of your head (an easy place for confusion to manifest). Making your tasks more concrete by writing them down on paper is much more manageable.

3. Clarify all priorities

Pick the top 3 most important tasks and prioritize them as follows:

1. If you could get only one thing done today, what would be the most important thing for you to do?

2. Do that for each of the other two tasks you picked out: e.g. if you could get only two things done today, what would be the 2nd most important thing for you to do.

3. If you can’t pick the 3 most important things because the priorities are unclear, have a conversation with whoever gave you the task (even if that person is you).

4. Notice if/when you are people-pleasing in this prioritization task. Drop it. What’s the bigger purpose of the work you’re doing? Prioritize toward making the biggest impact there.

4. Break down large tasks

Identify large tasks that are hard to start because they’re simply too big. Break these down into smaller pieces that take no longer than ½ a day.

5. Level Up your well-being and self-care

1. Take regular breaks from work – your brain needs to rest in order to be able to reach peak performance mode.

2. Limit your work hours and the hours you are reachable by your employer.

3. Have a morning start-up ritual and evening shut-down ritual– this helps to keep you from thinking about work while you’re not working. Don’t fall for the idea that you need to be available 24/7.

4. Limit social media and news– these are distractions that severely limit your ability to rest during your breaks. This is especially true in the evenings.

5. “Do not disturb” is one of the greatest self-care tools available on our devices. Constant interruptions keep us from staying focused and on-task.

6. Get better sleep. Sleep is the most critical factor for maintaining high-performance.

In conclusion…

Whether or not you are feeling stressed out by work, your relationships, or family obligations, there are steps that you can take to ensure that this does not lead you to overwhelm. Understanding how to prioritize your tasks while also making time for rest and relaxation is the best way to ensure you are not confusing your needs with the needs of others. 

Still feeling overwhelmed?

Writing down your tasks and the other tips above are great ways to avoid overwhelm. What is even more effective is to have someone to support you in generating greater balance in your life.

Get support

Get supported to get past feeling overwhelmed. Join me at my upcoming event, Meditation and Inner Work Retreat starting September 23rd, 2022.