How To Fight Back When You Start To Feel Overwhelmed

Being busy is fine, having a break down is not

Feeling like you have an impossible amount of tasks is the new normal. Articles and coaches may tell you to hustle harder, but forget to warn you against going overboard.

That’s what happened to me.

Finding myself paralyzed, so busy that I couldn’t even figure out how to begin to do it all, I realized I had to get myself out of that constant cycle of panic and anxiety. Here were some things I did that got my brain back in control.

Make a good old-fashioned list

“What’s wrong?” A friend once asked me. I flipped the table and shouted “EVERYTHING!”

…Ok I didn’t do that.

When there is so much to do you might get upset because you don’t finish it all, which makes you believe that you can’t do anything. Then you realize you’ve spent an hour in self-pity and still have so much to do! It’s like being in the washing cycle of mental pain, a loop that from which you never emerge

Do yourself a favor and write down a list of the things you think you need to do.

Go through that list. Then look at it and be realistic.

Mark the things that are must get done.

Everything else should be on the wait list. If you don’t have to write a book/start a podcast/organize a parade/ become governor then these things don’t get marked as crucial. They’ll keep for another day.

Create a calendar

Once you’ve finished your list you move on to the exciting chore of creating a calendar. There are several free templates online if you want to print one out or you can get all crafty and mock up your own. Make sure it is something you can look at every day, whether it’s on a wall or in your bag. Tasks that have a due date should go on first. Block off times that you know you will need to work on them.

Don’t underestimate the time a job will take!

You’ll find that finishing early will be better for your psyche than running behind schedule because you didn’t give yourself adequate time to do it. Also, don’t overstuff the calendar. Free time is ok and allows you to read or go to sudden non-work related activities that pop up.

Neglect not what is important to you

Take your friend up on that offer and have a coffee catch up.

Go to an art exhibit that’s in town.

Read the book you’ve been telling yourself you really want to read.

Have a date night.

We tell ourselves we don’t have time but, often, once we’ve blocked off our schedule, there have large swaths of unused hours left.

It should also be noted that the beauty of scheduling means that you can CREATE those magical hours where you can say “nope” to work and do whatever you want.

There is more than one way to calm a worried brain

NO, I CAN’T CLEAR BY MIND, BECKY!

If I had a penny for everyone who has told me that yoga would cure my anxiety then I would be able to pay for more of those yoga classes.

One friend of mine swears by the practice, saying she feels centered after a good session. If by “centered” she means “bored” then we are both centered after class.

I need an activity that I can focus on, like boxing or running. As witth yoga, breath is still important, but the physical actions can help you imagine you are literally beating the bad thoughts away.

Meditate however you want, but do try to find a way to free your mind from the clutter, in order to check in with yourself.