I’m Completely Overwhelmed!
Being overwhelmed is like being buried beneath a huge mass of things to do. Can you relate to that? If so, then you have felt overwhelmed. Often, “time” is a factor in the equation to feeling overwhelmed. Too much to do and not enough time to do it!
The problem.
There are a couple of stressors that can cause you to feel overwhelmed. One is anxiety and depression. It does not have to be severe clinically diagnosed anxiety or depression. It can come from the type of depression and anxiety that most of us cope with.
Another stressor (more common), is letting little 5 minute tasks build up over time. I would guess that we are all guilty of this. Unfortunately, it’s like an avalanche. Essentially a few snowflake sized tasks start to run into other snowflake sized tasks. Before you know it you are buried beneath a huge mass of small tasks. Does this happen to you?
The solution is not obvious.
You might feel like taking a break when you are feeling overwhelmed. Honestly? This is the worst thing to do! Time is a factor in the equation of feeling overwhelmed. When you take a break from your mountain of tasks, you put more stress on yourself! Here are some things to help dig your way out.
Be Proactive!
Create a routine that sets up your life for success! It sounds cheesy while I write it, but a simple routine can help with getting stuff done! Routines are awesome, they become more automatic (like a habit) and relieve stress. BUT you have to own your routine! If you let it own you then paying homage to some stressful routine can ruin your momentum! Make sure your routine is flexible and simple. Complexity is bad when it comes to routines. If you need help with this, then let me know. I have a mountain of experience related to setting up daily routines.
Be realistic about time.
Waiting to the last minute to get stuff done is a good recipe for feeling overwhelmed. It is better if you write down a task that you need to get done and put an estimated time on it. Like “1 hour”. So that you can count up your tasks and figure out if you actually can get them all done in the amount of time you have.
My advice on estimating. In simple terms: double how much you think it will take to get something done! Estimating how long things take is always hard. If you start writing tasks down and putting an estimate next to them, then you can learn about how long it takes for next time. Small adjustments for your estimating will improve over time. Process improvement for the win!!!!
Personal Retrospectives!
The term retrospective is common in the agile community (the one I live in 🤣). It essentially means to look back and review your last sprint. When I do this for myself it is SO helpful (especially when dealing with feeling overwhelmed). Here are 4 journal prompts that you can use for a personal retrospective.
- Something that went well was…
- Something that could have been better was…
- Something that still puzzles me is…
- Something I want to try next is…
I do this at least 2 times per week in my morning journaling. It doesn’t always look like these 4 prompts but I do write about these topics.
Will you give this a try? Please let me know how it goes.
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