I feel
overwhelmed A LOT. (Just look at my blog
title- The World Overwhelms ME!) I’ve
been coming up with ways to reduce my own anxiety and overwhelm (I know,
they’re not exactly the same thing), and I realized that there are two
different types of help for overwhelm. There
are ways to feel calmer RIGHT NOW when overwhelm hits, and there are ways to
work on reducing the severity and frequency of how overwhelms appears in my
life. This is my list of longer-term overwhelm
solutions- ways to reduce the underlying overwhelming:
1. Make it a
habit to plan the night before. When I
do this, I’m usually amazed at how much time I actually have. (I do plan out my weeks, too, but I don’t
plan specifics until the night before, or I end up spending all of my time
re-planning because something did or did not happen the way I planned.)
2. Differentiate
work time from personal development time from free time. Decide how much to spend on each, and stick
to it without guilt.
3. Try a
marathon sprint. Pick a project. Don’t stop until it’s done. Yes, keep your appointments & routines, but
don’t start anything else until this project is completely and totally done and
you can move on with your life.
4. Use ‘admin’
days to relieve the overwhelm of the to do list. Put all the tasks on one list and set aside a
day just for completing them. When they pop up and try to overwhelm you,
just set them aside for the next admin day.
5. Pick
simpler goals. Yeah, I know, it’s
important to dream big… but it’s also important to make progress and not spin
your wheels. Picking something simple
and actually accomplishing it is better than picking something big and getting
nowhere.
6. Planning
time is as important as work time: plan out to do this, do this, do this- uber specific-
make a list, get all the materials ready, make all the big decisions, then
powering through the actual work will be much easier. Differentiate decision making/ planning time
vs. get it done time.
7. Counterbalance-
keep projects short so that they can be counterbalanced with learning and other
work.
8. Learn and
practice mediation and mindfulness. Read
anything by Thich Nhat Hahn to help you get started.
9. Get some
help- delegate whatever you can delegate without making a ton more work for yourself.
10. Plan for
space and breathing room- stuff always takes longer than expected, and things
always come up. Leave room.
11. Put
systems in place for stuff that needs to be done on a daily & weekly bases.
It’s one less thing to worry about and take up brain bandwith.
12. Keep
things listed as whole projects. Knowing
all the steps isn’t necessary until it’s time to tackle that project. Sometimes breaking things down helps with
overwhelm, but sometimes it makes it worse because it becomes an endless to do
list. Break down the 3-5 projects that are next on the priority list. Leave the rest for later.
13. Keep
tasks off your mind… write them all down, schedule in/ write down follow ups…
and then forget about it until then.
14. Come up
with systems for social media…Facebook, Instagram, email, etc… batch it all and
check it all during set times only.
15. Temper
your expectations for yourself. “I
should…” is a dangerous way to start a sentence.
16. Be really
careful about taking on new responsibilities.
Make sure you actually WANT to do it and CAN do it- not just that you
want to be in charge of it.
17. Look
around your life with the mantra “less is more” in mind. Find places where you can do or have less.
18. Consider
making big changes. Are there big life changes that can be made to make your whole
life less overwhelming in general?
19. Plan
realistic steps to achieve a certain goal...sometimes it’s not the goal that’s
overwhelming you, it’s not having a plan.
20. When
overwhelm appears, stop and notice and write about it- even briefly. Look at where the struggles are and come up
with strategies to set yourself up for success.
Failing to plan is planning to fail and all.
