Feeling Overwhelmed?

When we have too many demands on our thinking over an extended period of time, cognitive fatigue can set in, leading to you becoming even more prone to distraction or feeling less agile, and this just makes you feel even more.

If you are feeling constantly overwhelmed, here are some simple strategies to try and make things easier. Not all may work for you, but hopefully some of them will help:

Try and identify the sources

It can seem that there are 101 things going on in your mind, but often you just need to pinpoint one or two and deal with them first. So ask yourself, "What one or two things, if taken off my plate, would alleviate 80% of the stress that I feel right now?"

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you can actually take them off your plate – you may still be responsible for them. But maybe just recognising them and acknowledging them can still help you identify a significant source of your stress, and then at least you can start a plan of action for dealing with it.

If it’s a big project that’s almost done, then finish it. Or, if it’s the sheer size of the task or project that is overwhelming you, break it down into more manageable chunks (remember the saying that you can eat an elephant one bite at a time).

But often it can be a relatively small thing, such as completing your tax return, or booking your summer holiday!

The point is that once you think you know where the big balls of stress are coming from, you can start doing something about them.

Set boundaries on your time and workload.

Try compartmentalising the time you spend on a task or project, making sure you set a time to leave work and sticking to it.

Maybe you need to start saying no to specific activities. I am someone who struggles to say no – being someone who loves to solve problems, I often find myself saying yes to everything, because I want to help fix the problem, to learn something new, and to be “valued” more where I work. But this just ends up being a vicious circle of doing more and being asked to do more. But I have started saying no, and this now means that those around me learn to solve the problems themselves, and it gives me a little more “space”. I just have to keep reminding myself to not keep saying yes to stop myself slipping back into the old routines, but it works.

Stop the perfectionism.

Perfectionism can lead us to make tasks or projects bigger than they need to be, which can lead to procrastination and feeling distressed.

As things start to pile up, that feeling of overwhelm grows, which leads to more procrastination and more overwhelm, and so it goes on.

It is not always easy to know when good is good enough, but just remember the saying “done is better than perfect”, don’t agonise over it and just ship it! Ask yourself what the marginal benefit of spending more time on something. I am actually doing it right now on this post! You need to get the balance of getting that message across and everything else that goes with it that is just icing on the cake that is just not needed on this occasion.

Outsource or delegate.

Now this for me is the hard one.

Ask yourself, “What is the highest and best use of my time?”

Those activities that don’t fall within your answer can be either delegated to others or taught to others. This can include anything – whether it be something as straightforward as updating a spreadsheet or more complex like managing a project. There are numerous non-work situations too, like cleaning your house or washing the car (I hate washing the car!).

So why is this so difficult for some people (like me) to delegate? Well, it means giving up control of something to someone else who may not do it as well as you – it is a risk! Or maybe you feel like you don’t want to impose the work on someone else (even though they may actually be paid to do it!) and you feel bad about that. Or maybe you just think that it will be quicker for you to do it than to teach someone else to do it. Or quite simply because you just like doing it.

These are all great reasons not to delegate. But the more you start thinking in this way, even if you start small, with practice it starts to get easier, and even becomes a habit that you apply to new things that come along, where instead of thinking “how do I do this?” instead you start thinking “what needs to happen here and who is the best person to do it?”

Question what will happen if you don’t…

Think twice about what will really happen if you don’t deal with all those things on your plate. Yes, there is likely to be some important stuff, but question what will be the impact if you just don’t get to something. Putting some of these things in your life into perspective might make you realise that maybe the world won’t come to an end if you don’t manage to cut the grass this weekend. Cut yourself a little slack.

Body basics

During times of stress, it is easy to forget about your physical wellbeing.

You don’t need a a life changing health drive programme, just work on the basics:

• Get more sleep. You are almost certainly not getting enough sleep. Nobody gets enough sleep; I don’t get enough sleep! Go to bed earlier, skip News at Ten, get into bed early, try and give yourself at least seven/eight hours a night. And that includes the weekends.
• Keep off the booze. Alcohol as a form of self-medication is not going to work, trust me. I don’t need to say any more on this.
• Get some exercise. Even if it is for only 15 minutes (that is only 1% of your time in the day) go for a walk, or a gentle jog, anything to get you moving and clear your head.
• Try eating a little more healthily. This may be hard if you are short of time and are relying on the convenience of ready-meals, but a piece of fruit with breakfast, lunch and dinner is a simple and easy way to start.

So there are some simple strategies to help reduce that feeling of overwhelm!

But a quick disclaimer – I am not doctor or a psychiatrist! So if things are really bad then please consult your doctor or medical professional, remember they are there to help you.