It’s entirely normal to feel overwhelmed; it’s a feature of the human condition and the fast-paced world we now live in. However, where this overwhelm prevents you from being able to problem solve and do what needs to be done, we need to step in.
The good news is there are ways to prevent this overwhelm from overwhelming you!
First, understand that overwhelm isn’t just a ball of thoughts that sit in your head. Overwhelm triggers the stress response; the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response. This understanding is important because it opens doors for us on how to manage it through practices and practical skills that can change the physicality of the mind/body system in the throes of overwhelm to tamp it down.
Practical Tips:
1. Plan ahead – as best you can, strategise dealing with an intense period. This could include delegating, prioritising and planning to support your wellbeing.
2. Cope ahead – this is a skill similar to above but focusses on planning for things not going as expected. The steps for this skill are:
a. Describe the situation that may arise. Provide as much detail as you can.
b. Note the options of coping with this situation (try for more than one option) and consider how you will problem solve. Again, provide as much detail as you can.
c. Imagine yourself in this situation and visualise yourself successfully implementing these options.
Both planning ahead and coping ahead reassure the mind/body system that there are options and autonomy in a situation. This can calm the nervous system and change body chemistry. Furthermore, writing these steps down, (preferably with pen and paper!) is a mindful activity and engages the prefrontal cortex. This, in the moment, overrides the emotional portions of the brain that take over when we are stressed/overwhelmed.
3. Drop perfectionism – remember: done is better than perfect. This may seem strange and feel like a cop out, but perfection doesn’t exist. Energy and time are finite resources (unless you have Hermione Granger’s Time Turner), so don’t waste them trying to achieve what is impossible. Perfectionism also increases procrastination as it increases the size of the task in front of you and compounds overwhelm, even preventing you from starting (freeze response). Besides, those who strive for perfection will likely produce a fantastic output anyway!
4. Prioritise and shorten your list – at the beginning of everyday, make a list of three – five tasks. Pick one as non-negotiable. Pay attention to, and celebrate, getting that one thing done. This provides a sense of achievement, keeping your motivation high for the rest of the day and increasing feel-good hormones and neurotransmitters, including endorphins and serotonin.
5. Reach out! – we are all need help sometimes, so talk to colleagues, friends and family. Not only does this give more views on dealing with the workload, talking is an outlet that can calm the nervous system and mitigate the stress response. Our mind/body system also feels safe when we are around, and engaging with, other people (a characteristic left over from evolving in tribes).
Please remember that it is completely normal to feel overwhelmed at work and at home but also know that we have influence in how far this overwhelm goes. Hopefully these ideas will help you next time you face overwhelm, but please do reach out!