I Want More Peace And Less Overwhelm

Overwhelm feels like the weariness you experience after treading water for hours on end. As your strength fades, it’s all you can do to keep your head above water and catch your breath. It feels like you are drowning!

I bet you have had that feeling, because I hear about how overwhelmed people are nearly every day!

In fact, if I had a nickel for every time someone expressed their overwhelmed feelings to me, I’d be a millionaire! Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but there’s no denying that overwhelm is more common now than ever!

Besides not being a happy feeling, overwhelm limits your capacity, blocks your creativity, and hijacks your sense of calm!

Perhaps you’ve experienced some of the indicators that overwhelm has you cornered.

Pause. Slow down. Take a good look at that list. How many of those indicators are you experiencing right now?

There are all sorts of reasons overwhelm sets in – reasons like this:

♦ Being Bombarded

Today, it’s possible to access information in more ways than ever! Even more challenging, there are numerous ways that information is pushed in your direction.

Not only is the excess information overstimulating, it typically isn’t positive either. Bad news is much more overwhelming than good news.

Perhaps you need to limit the information coming your way.

♦ Social Media

Social media gets a bad rap, but it isn’t all bad. The trouble is that it has a way of sucking you in and gobbling up hours, not to mention how it fuels unwanted feelings like not wanting to miss out or comparing yourself to others that lead to overwhelm.

That’s why you have to limit social media and choose carefully how you allow it to influence your life.

One step I’ve taken is not installing social media apps on my phone and only accessing them on my computer.

♦ Phones

The perpetual ding of notifications and/or the ringing of your phone cause frequent interruptions. Plus, your phone provides easy access to social media, games, email, and all sorts of other distractions.

Don’t let your phone run you! Choose to keep your phone on vibrate whenever possible, delete the games, and limit the emails you can access on your phone. You’ll be amazed how that increases your focus and joy.

♦ Unrealistic Expectations

What does your “to do” list look like? Is it never ending?

Maybe you keep your “to do” list in your head. Did you know that storing all that information in your head might be contributing to your feelings of overwhelm?

Be realistic about what you can accomplish in a day. Write down the three most important tasks that need to be done and make them your priority.

As you get more realistic, you will feel less pressured and less discouraged too!

♦ Perfectionism

Have you been attempting to do everything perfectly? That’s another unrealistic expectation, because being perfect isn’t impossible.

What if you instead worked towards good enough? Wouldn’t that feel better?

♦ Putting Off Self-Care

What’s the first to slip to the bottom of the list when your plate is full? Activities like resting, engaging in exercise, eating well, or regularly participating in activities that bring you joy and fill you up!

Self-care is a necessity – not a luxury! It is energizing. It increases your creativity, and your sense of calm! Best of all, self-care protects you from overwhelm!

♦ Lack of Silence

It’s a noisy world! Silence is rare.

Maybe it hasn’t been intentional, but has constant sound become your friend? The TV, YouTube, podcasts – the options are numerous!

Unfortunately, the constant noise is an additional cognitive load that adds to feeling overwhelmed, even if you are listening to good stuff! Over time, you are unable to tolerate silence, but you need noise breaks to process life, think, reflect, and connect to what you are feeling.

♦ Poor Boundaries

The inability to say “no” is just one example of poor boundaries! If healthy boundaries are a foreign concept to you, then you are probably overwhelmed!

It’s time to appreciate your limits – we all have them!

Like David Allen says, “You can do anything, but not everything.”

♦ Transitions

Anything new is an adventure outside your comfort zone and often overwhelming. Just a few examples of transitions are moving, a change in relationship status, a new job, new season in life like having an empty nest, a health challenge, or starting a business.

Give yourself the space and grace you need to navigate those transitions.

♦ Lacking A Support System

Family and friends can be a huge source of support, especially in the midst of challenging circumstances. That’s why it’s imperative that you work on your relationships before you are in a position of needing support!

That support is like a lifeline when you are drowning. It’s more than OK to ask for help! And that’s what coaches do best – support you when you are overwhelmed and help you move forward.

♦ Clutter

Being disorganized, having too much stuff, or being surrounded by clutter contributes to feeling overwhelmed. It’s a visible reflection of what’s taking place in your mind.

Even when you have tons to do, taking five or ten minutes to clear away some clutter makes a difference!

♦ Fear

Your Fear Monster’s aim is to keep you stuck, feeling rejected, full of shame, and unable to move forward.

While you are waiting to muster your courage, all sorts of scary demands are stacking up and that’s overwhelming!

Knowing how loved you are by God, and leaning into who He created you to be, naturally eliminates much of the overwhelm fear creates.

♦ Needing Self-Awareness & Mindfulness

When you don’t understand yourself, your limits, or your needs, it leaves you feeling inundated or defeated.

And without being present and making time to process life, you’ll be on overload long before a significant problem shows up.

Take preventative measures and tune in!

♦ Unfinished Projects

Are you a starter, but not a finisher? All those unfinished projects tend to contribute to your overwhelm.

Refuse to take on anything new until you have completed what you’ve already started.

♦ Tolerating

When you ignore stuff that bothers you rather than proactively dealing with those situations, it doesn’t take long before it compounds and overwhelms you.

Over and over again, I see leaders putting up with bad behavior they lack the courage to deal with.

The same is true in relationships – putting up with rather than addressing issues. It doesn’t have to be a scary conflict, simply share kindly what would work better for you.

♦ Circumstances

Life throws you curve balls – money troubles, work issues, relationship problems, health challenges, or unexpected events popping up. There’s no denying that circumstances like that throw you off your center and leave you feeling overwhelmed!

Here’s the truth:

Overwhelm is a whole lot less about everything that’s coming at you on the outside and whole lot more about how you think about it on the inside!

Here’s another way to say it because the truth is that important:

Here’s the good news – since feeling overwhelmed is a “head thing” you can do something about it!

The next time you feel overwhelmed practice these 8 simple steps!

1. Admit You Are Overwhelmed

You can’t change what you won’t acknowledge!

2. Identify the Perceived Source

What are you blaming for your overwhelm instead of seeking out the real source of your overwhelm?

3. Spot the Thinking

You might see the demands of work as overwhelming when, in fact, you’re striving to be enough and feeling like you must perpetually work to prove that you are worthy of your leadership role.

Your thinking is the real source of your feelings!

4. Reframe Your Thoughts

An example: You are abundantly loved by God! You don’t have to prove yourself by working excessively. If you want to perform at your best, you must limit the amount of time that you work so that you are able to rest and face work with more energy and creativity the next day.

5. BREATHE!

Take a breath, pause, and regroup! Ask God for help! Nothing makes you feel more overwhelmed than operating in your own strength!

6. Pick Your Priorities

What’s most important may shift in the course of your day, however, it’s is still helpful to begin the day by identifying your three most important tasks to be completed. By doing that, you’ll be in a better position to adjust the course of your day should the unexpected pop up.

Knowing what’s most important is a powerful skill!

7. Make A Plan

Not just a plan to tackle your priorities, but a plan that includes making space for those rejuvenating activities. It’s difficult to perform well or resist the pull of overwhelm when you are running on empty!

Your plan should include some constraints – like bumpers in bumper bowling – to keep you on track. Maybe it’s setting specific hours for work. Or maybe it’s limiting the number of projects you juggle at one time.

Know up front the boundaries that will protect you from getting overwhelmed.

And finally, break down your next steps into small manageable steps. This will give you direction and allow you to see progress sooner.

8. Take Action!

It doesn’t even have to be a big action – just a baby step towards your goals, then another, and another! Soon you will leave that overwhelmed feeling behind!

Remember, overwhelm ignored, never shrinks. It grows!

What will you do to enjoy more peace and less overwhelm?

Photo Credit: nikko macaspac/Unsplash