We live in a world that can feel like it’s always dialed up to 100. We are bombarded by news and media almost 24/7, we are expected to balance 101 different daily responsibilities and identities, and life loves to throw extra curveballs our way just to keep things interesting. Given all that, I think it’s safe to say that most of us have been feeling overwhelmed more often than we would like.
Feeling overwhelmed can definitely be pretty uncomfortable – your brain is spinning a mile a minute yet can’t focus, and your body feels agitated and frozen all at once. When we feel this way, our nervous system is literally in a survival state and our rational brain has gone offline – definitely not conducive to actually getting things done!
Luckily, there are things we can do to help our nervous system regain a sense of safety and get our rational brain back online. Whether you are feeling overwhelmed because you have too many things on your to-do list or because we are living through multiple “once-in-a-lifetime” crises all at once, take this as a cue to pause and prioritize your own wellbeing. And next time you find yourself feeling frazzled and at your limit, give one or more of the tips below a try and see if they offer you some relief!
Physically Slow Down
When we are feeling overwhelmed, our nervous system is often in overdrive. This can translate to rushing and moving faster than necessary, which actually keeps our nervous system in a dysregulated state instead of helping us to feel calm. Next time you’re feeling frazzled while running errands, I want you to take a moment to notice your pace. Most likely you’ll find that you’re getting unusually annoyed at slow walkers as you try to power walk to your next destination.
When we move at a more frantic pace, our heartrate speeds up and we tend to breathe harder, which is also what happens when we are in a fight or flight survival response. Rushing can keep us in this survival state, perpetuating our overwhelm. But if we intentionally slow our body down, we are cuing to our nervous system that we are safe and that it can rest. So next time you find yourself rushing around, try purposely slowing down your body and see what difference you notice!
Get Your Body Moving
Conversely, it can be hard to allow our bodies to slow down if they are full of excess adrenaline and frenetic energy. In this case, you might try doing the opposite of the above tip before attempting to slow down. By this I mean that you are going to intentionally get your body moving in any way that feels good to you. Here are some suggestions of ways to do this:
- Do 10-20 jumping jacks or burpees
- Put on a great song and dance it out
- Do a full body shake
- Go for a run (or jog in place)
- Do a few sets of weight lifting
No matter which activity you choose, the key is to be intentional while doing it. Pay attention to your breath and how your body responds to the movements. Once it feels like you’ve discharged most of the extra energy, then you can try intentionally slowing down again.
Mono-Tasking Is In, Multi-Tasking Is Out
Often, we feel overwhelmed because we are trying to do too many things at once. When you are focusing on 5 different tasks, none of these tasks are getting your full focus. This is the best way to ensure that nothing gets done properly. Research continues to show us that multi-tasking is actually less productive and efficient than doing one thing at a time. The one thing it does help us achieve is more stress!
Next time you have 18 tabs open and are balancing too many tasks, I challenge you to pick just one and focus only on that one task. Notice how different it feels to direct 100% of your focus and effort to just one thing. While it may not be practical to do this all day long, see if there are times you can dedicate to single-tasking.
Ground Yourself Using Your Senses
When we are feeling overwhelmed, it is hard to be rational and address our thoughts calmly and logically. It is much easier to do this when we feel grounded. A quick way to ground ourselves back in the present moment is through our senses. You can do this by eating, drinking or chewing something with a strong flavour, such as mint gum, ginger candy or flavoured tea. Or else you can keep something scented by you, such as a bottle of essential oil, and give it a sniff.
Take A Break
You have a million and one things to do and I’m asking you to take a break!? I know this tip sounds counterproductive, but I promise you it’s not. When we are feeling overwhelmed, we’re probably not working very effectively anyways.
There’s a general misconception that if we stay seated at our desks and go through the motions, then we are being productive and effective. This simply isn’t true. In fact, research has been finding the very opposite – we are more productive during our work time when we allow ourselves regular breaks to disengage from our work. Check out this article for more information on this phenomenon and links to relevant research studies.
To prevent overwhelm, plan out several breaks throughout your day. And make sure to do something you enjoy on your breaks! Here are some suggestions for shorter breaks that you can definitely build into your day:
- Go make yourself a cup of coffee or tea
- Have a quick chat with a co-worker away from your desk (and not about work!)
- Have a quick cuddle with a pet
- Keep a yoga mat by your desk and get up for some quick stretch breaks
- Take a quick walk around the block
- Read a chapter of a good book
- Watch an episode of your favourite sitcom
- Water your plants
- Listen to a quick guided mindful meditation
Brain Dump
Often, we feel overwhelmed because too many thoughts are vying for our attention. Imagine being a kindergarten teacher and having 20 little ones asking you questions or trying to show you their artwork or just trying to snuggle up to you all at once. That’s basically what having too many things on our plate can feel like in our brains. Enter the brain dump.
One thing that I find really helpful when I can’t think straight anymore is to write everything down. Doing this kind of feels like emptying your brain out and can help you to make sense of your thoughts and prioritize them. Whether it’s just random thoughts that you want to make sure to remember or all the things you have to get done this week, get them down on paper and see if that helps put the screaming 4-year-olds in your brain down for a nap.
Prioritize, Prioritize, Prioritize!
Sometimes we just need to realize that it is not humanly possible to get everything on our to-do list done – we can do anything, just not everything. This is where prioritizing comes in – scan through what you would LIKE to get done and make a list of what absolutely HAS to get done. Then you can break the rest of your list down too, to prioritize what has second priority, what you would like to get done but can live without, and what you can delegate.
Another tip I once heard on a podcast is to write up your to-do list and cut it down by 50%. I know this sounds impossible but I have found that it works! It’s a lot less overwhelming to look at a list of 5 things vs. 10. And often the sense of accomplishment from completing the 5 things motivates us to start on the other half of the list. But even if it doesn’t, we can feel grateful that we did accomplish the smaller version of our list.
Break Tasks Down
“The secret to getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking down your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”
-Mark Twain
Often, we get nowhere fast with a task because we are too caught up in the big picture and the endgame. The antidote to this is breaking down our task into smaller and smaller tasks until our next step feels achievable and doesn’t leave us feeling overwhelmed. You don’t have to tackle the whole skyscraper of stairs! You just need to take the next step on the staircase.
Set a Timer to Just Get Started
When we feel overwhelmed, getting started is often the hardest part. As I mentioned earlier, we might feel so frazzled by everything that we feel frozen. Once we finally start whatever is overwhelming us, it usually doesn’t seem as bad.
One thing that I have found helpful for getting started on something I am putting off is setting a timer. This can be for only 2 minutes if that is all you feel you have in you – doing a task for 2 minutes is better than not doing it at all!
Mel Robbins also suggests the 5-second rule for getting over that initial hurdle. Basically, you count yourself down from 5 like you’re about to launch a rocket and you set the intention that you will start whatever it is you have to do once you reach 1.
Once you start your task, remember we are aiming for progress, not perfection. And once we get over that first obstacle, it’s not uncommon to feel unblocked and to continue working past the amount of time we set for ourselves.
Shift Your Perspective
Our brains have an inherent negativity bias, meaning they are essentially magnets for anything negative. This was great in a time where being on constant alert for bad things was critical for our survival. In modern times, this isn’t as necessary. The good news is, we can train our brains to shift perspectives and focus on the good as well.
Next time you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the things you have yet to accomplish on your to-do list, make a Ta-Da! list instead. A friend shared this name and concept with me and I absolutely love it: you are simply making a list of everything you have already accomplished instead. And check it out, you already have one item to add to your Ta-Da! list once you’ve created it: create a Ta-Da! list 😉
Similarly, if you are feeling overwhelmed by all the bad things happening in the world, turn off the news, limit your social media use and make a list of all the good in the world instead. This can even become a game, where you go around all day looking for the good or just things that you are grateful for.
Conclusion
I hope some of the above tips help you to find a bit of peace when you are feeling overwhelmed. If I can leave you with just one takeaway message, it would be this: Remember that rest is also productive! There will always be more things to get done, but it’s so important to take care of you first. And if you need additional incentive to prioritize your wellbeing and respond to feelings of overwhelm, know that we are able to get way more done when we are in a grounded, calm state!
PS – looking for some more ways to regulate your nervous system and achieve calm? Check out these posts:
