Overcoming Overwhelm

Feeling overwhelmed? Daily life can be tricky to navigate if you’re feeling that way. You have a million things to do and then you don’t know where to start. You start to feel anxious and then it’s a snowball. 

You’re not alone, everyone feels like that sometimes. Some people more than others; we’re here to help. Here are 6 tips to cope with stress and overwhelm from having too much to do.

Meditate

A meditation practice is super effective when it comes to dealing with overwhelm. Even taking one minute to breathe deeply will change your life for the better. Try inhaling for 4 seconds, holding for 4 seconds and then exhaling for 4 seconds. It’ll do your mind and body good! 

Create a List of 5 Things

This is a great practice. Each morning when you wake up create a list of 5 non-negotiable things that you need to get done that day. You can only do those 5 really important things. If you don’t finish, you add them to tomorrow. This is a great way to get clear on what you need to accomplish and filter out the extras. 

Don’t do the Things that Don’t Need to be Done

This goes along with the previous. If you eliminate all of the extra things that you do that don’t need to be done, you’ll be a lot more productive, and you’ll be able to get way more things that you actually need to do done. 

Set Realistic Expectations

This is a big one. We often expect ourselves to do so much in such little time. We continue to take on more and more things because we “can” or “should” and then we end up getting nothing done. Anybody ever have that happen? I know we all have. You’ve taken on way too much and instead of being methodical and getting it done, you flounder and end up getting nothing done. So set some realistic expectations to each day, and you will see much more benefit. 

Delegate

You don’t have to do it all yourself. Trust us. We all have that little voice in our heads that says “If you want it done right, do it yourself”. But that old saying is just that, old. It’s ok to ask for help, and it’s ok to delegate tasks out to your family, or co-workers. You in fact CANNOT do it all yourself and the sooner you admit that and get on the delegation train the better your mind will feel. 

Focus On The Big Picture

Sometimes you are going to feel overwhelmed. That’s a given, this is life. But if you constantly focus on the bigger picture, it’ll make it a little easier to handle. Focus on the big picture and don’t worry about the little stuff. You’ve got this!