5 ways to reduce overwhelm

It’s totally normal to feel overwhelmed sometimes.

But it's not the most helpful feeling when it comes to getting things done.

Because it usually leads to the opposite - avoiding writing that proposal and instead suddenly finding that pile of laundry or what your friends are up to on Instagram waaaay more interesting.

And then there's the proposal, still sitting there unfinished.

But now you have less time to write it, which only makes it easier to feel overwhelmed about it.

And the cycle begins again:

overwhelm > avoid taking action > no progress > overwhelm...

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed, here are five simple steps to break the cycle and get back to what you were doing:

1. Pause and breathe

When you notice you’re feeling overwhelmed, first take a pause and five deep breaths. This will help you interrupt the overwhelm cycle.

2. Realise it’s coming from your brain

Overwhelm is a feeling. And your feelings are caused by your thoughts (just sentences in your brain). This means your thoughts are causing the overwhelm. Tune in to what they are.

To do this, grab a piece of paper and write a list of everything that comes to mind when you answer the question “why am I feeling overwhelmed?”. The answers may look a little like 'there's so much to do'. Seeing these thoughts written down will help separate you, from your thoughts. Then check in - are these sentences actually even true or helpful in this situation?

3. Get clear on the facts

Write down the facts of the current situation. Facts are neutral circumstances that we can all 100% agree on. E.g. Proposal deadline in 2 days. Or 7 things on to-do list. Seeing these written down will help stop your brain spinning in overwhelm. Instead, you’ll be very clear what the situation is (the facts) vs what your brain’s interpretation of the situation is (the thoughts - from step 2).

4. Focus only on the most important things

Looking only at the facts - what is the most important next thing to do? Write it down. And then after that? Write it down. Now you’ve decided what's most important to get done. And what you'll move onto after that's done.

5. Do one thing at a time

As you work through the tasks from Step 4, work on only one thing at a time. Keep coming back to that - don't let your brain task-switch - and you'll make so much more progress on what's important.