Three (4) Things About… Feeling Overwhelmed

Feeling overwhelmed?  If so, you aren’t alone.  Even though many of us have just had some vacation time during the holidays, and only 11 days ago started a New Year full of optimism and commitment, a bunch of us are feeling anything but encouraged and rested.  It’s common – and really frustrating – to find yourself feeling tired, discouraged, and overwhelmed this time of the year, when you really thought you’d be feeling energized and hopeful. 

Today we’ll take a look at Three (4) Things you can do when you feel overwhelmed:

 1.  Take a Breath and Slow Down

Remember, you don’t have to figure everything out today (usually), so hold up a minute. 

And even if you DO have to figure it out today, you need to calm down a little bit first.  So sit down, close your eyes, take some deep cleansing breaths, and clear your mind. 

Maybe say a prayer while you sit there relaxing. 

Do your best to stop thinking about all the things you are worried about and just BE.  You need to calm your body and mind down so that you can think clearly and productively. 

If your first thought is, “I don’t have time to sit down and relax,” then you really need to sit down and relax…

2.  Break It Down

We often get overwhelmed when we have so many things demanding our time and attention that we feel the weight of everything all at once, and we panic.  We become paralyzed with the sheer mass of all the things on our plate. 

And of course, everything needs to be done RIGHT NOW! 

So we feel the pressure of time in addition to the seemingly unreasonable number of items on our to-do list. 

Maybe you only have one task in front of you, but it is so big and confusing and seemingly impossible to do that it might as well be 1000 tasks.

You know the joke that says, “How do you eat an elephant”?  The answer is, “One bite at a time!”  I’m not suggesting that you eat an elephant to help you not feel overwhelmed, but the concept and process is the same.

When you have a BIG TASK (or tasks) facing you, and you are overwhelmed and too paralyzed to even know where to start, you have to break the big thing down into smaller and smaller chunks until you have a “to do” list that doesn’t freak you out. 

For example, let’s say your task is to “take over the world”.  Pretty big, no matter who you are, right?  So here’s the process I would go through to break that down into manageable chunks:

Task:  Take over the World

Preliminary Steps: 

1. Define “world”
2. Come up with a “take over plan”
3. Put the plan into action
4. Celebrate

Detailed Steps:

1.  Define “world”

a.  Look “world” up in dictionary

b.  Run the definition by people I trust

2.  Come up with a “take over” plan

a.  Pick a date to do this thing

b.  Appoint a team of helpers

– Make a list

– Ask them to help

– Have a “take over the world” meeting

c.  Decide how to take over the world with my team

– List all our options

– Pick one

– Make sure everyone knows what the plan is

d.  Get Supplies

– Pay with my credit card

– Give everybody their supplies

e.  Make sure we’ve thought of everything

f.  Have one more meeting to make sure we’re all on the same page

3.  Put the plan into action

a.  Set a meeting place and time for “before” and “after”

b.  Do the thing

c.  Meet back at the meeting place

d.  Set up new office

4.  Celebrate

a.  Invite the whole world

b.  Send thank you notes

This was kind of a silly (or maybe not…) scenario, but you get the idea.  Keep breaking down each step until you can read the “to dos” without feeling panicked.  Then start there.

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, the idea is to find a way to get you unstuck and get started.  Once you’re started and less panicked, everything will start to go better.

3.  Make Sure the Tasks Are Reasonable

If you’ve got too much on your plate, it may be that you are taking on tasks that don’t belong to you.  Those of us who are doers seem to collect tasks that others should actually be tending to themselves.  So take a good look at your list and make sure the tasks belong to you. 

Also, make sure the tasks that do belong to you are reasonable.  My “take over the world” task?  Not really reasonable.  And if I keep trying to do that task, one of several things will happen, none of them good.  Even if I managed to take over the world, THAT in itself would not be good!

4. BONUS: Stay in the Present

You will have to fight against the tendency to become overwhelmed again and again, even after you’ve followed these steps and settled yourself down.  It’s so easy to look at THE WHOLE THING ALL AT ONCE again and get terrified, paralyzed, and shut down.  So if you find that happening, go back to step one above. 

Take a breath, stop worrying, and just start on one of your low level tasks.

Keep bringing yourself back to the present:

• Don’t allow yourself to dwell on past mistakes/hurts.
• Plan for the future, but don’t park there and worry about it constantly.
• What is your focus for TODAY? What do you need to pay attention to RIGHT NOW?

Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  NIV

Until next time, be purposeful, and keep your eyes looking forward.

Rebecca