Feeling overwhelmed can cause stress and anxiety, preventing us from living our lives fully. If you would like to stop being overwhelmed, discover 12 different tips to help you finally overcome overwhelm.
Introduction
Do you currently feel overwhelmed in your life? Perhaps you’re dealing with work stress or an overload of personal tasks, or maybe you just feel like there is too much going on in your life.
In times like this, it’s important to take a step back to get in control.
I recognize it is not easy, and periods of overwhelm can be very stressful. Through this post, you’ll discover 12 different tips for how to stop being overwhelmed.
These are all tips that I have used personally, and have served me well time and time again.
One important thing to consider as you read through this post is that all of these are merely suggestions.
Don’t feel the need to do it all. If at any point you feel stressed by the list itself, remember that any single one of these tips can be enough for you to get the ball rolling.
The point is to feel more in control, and these tips are meant to serve you. Take what sounds good and start from there!
Why Do I Constantly Feel Overwhelmed
One of the first steps in this process is to better understand why you are constantly feeling overwhelmed. Awareness is the first step in being able to turn everything around for the better.
Here are a few reasons you might be overwhelmed:
- Saying yes too often
- Overloading yourself
- Workplace burnout
- Overworking
- Requiring a break
- Pandemic stress
- Life transitions
- Or insert your reason
Remember that each of us is different. Maybe it’s a bit of the above, or maybe something entirely different. If neither of the above reasons resonates, simply ask yourself:
Why am I feeling overwhelmed?
What is causing distress in my life?
What has changed recently that may have disrupted my life?
Pause long enough and listen to yourself to find the answer. Those answers can lead you to the solutions you need.
Related: 14 Tips To Navigate Life Transitions With Grace
How To Stop Being Overwhelmed
If you’re ready to get back in control of your life, try any of the following tips.
1. Intentionally take a pause
One of the biggest reasons we get overwhelmed is because we’re too busy doing, doing, doing. Oftentimes, simply taking a pause is enough to help us feel calm and collected.
If you feel stress arise, pause. Switch up what you’re doing for a moment. Go for a walk. Or simply stop and breathe.
If you find you’re constantly overwhelmed, perhaps consider taking a day off or even going on a vacation. Clear your calendar and give yourself the gift of rest. This can help you properly reflect and reset.
2. Clear your head & put it down on paper
It is likely that your mind feels cluttered and thus cannot work through your thoughts.
In times like this, consider doing a brain dump. Start by writing down everything in your head.
What to include in your brain dump:
- Tasks you need to do
- Recurring thoughts that keep coming up
- Ideas you have
- Things you’re worried about
- And more
Get all your thoughts on paper and clear your head. If it helps, write it on a whiteboard, a notebook, or a piece of paper.
Once you have everything visible in front of you, you can then take the time to process what is happening in your mind.
Hopefully, you can then determine what is important, what is true and not, and ultimately remember that you are safe and in control of your thoughts.
3. Chunk it down
In Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP), there is a concept called “chunking down”.
Whenever we feel overwhelmed, it’s usually due to a lack of clarity because we are focused too broadly on the big picture.
When our thoughts are vague and ambiguous, our brain struggles to process them and determine clear next steps and actions.
At this point, we like to “chunk down” which means to break down all the big thoughts in our head and get much more specific. By getting specific, our brain has a clearer path of action, which helps us get in control.
If you followed the previous step above and did a brain dump, the next step would be to chunk these thoughts down. Break down any task that feels overwhelming.
Here is an example of chunking down.
The big thought: I need to clean my house
Chunk it down:
- I can start by cleaning my kitchen
- I can clean the pantry in my kitchen
- I can remove the expired items in my pantry in the kitchen
Notice that the big thought “cleaning the entire house” can feel very heavy. Yet, as you break it down and get more and more specific, the task at hand gets simpler. Then all you need to do is focus on that one task at a time.
If you want to achieve any task, chunk it down as much as you can. This simplifies your thought process and reduces cognitive load.
You will have clarity of mind once you get specific.
4. De-prioritize
As you work through all the different thoughts and ideas in your head, you’ll determine things that may not be pressing nor urgent.
If they aren’t important or time-sensitive, it’s time to de-prioritize it.
Don’t waste precious space in your mind on things that don’t matter at the moment.
Review and reflect on what can be de-prioritized, then actively remove it from your calendar and also from your thoughts. Get clear on when you’ll get to that task, and commit to not worrying about it until you need to.
5. Stop multi-tasking
Do you multi-task? This is may be what’s causing you extra stress. I understand the intention behind it – we want to be as productive as possible.
Though, multi-tasking can often hurt us more than help us.
If you’re a multi-tasker, try challenging yourself to focus on one task at a time. Use techniques like the Pomodoro technique to work on your time management and productivity.
Sometimes, less is more! Here are some other Productivity Tips to help you get on track.
Related: 10 Best Planning Tips for Ultimate Productivity and Success
6. Declutter your space
Where do you spend time most of your time? Which areas feel cluttered and lead to stress or anxiety?
The spaces we spend our time in can affect our mood and mental clarity. If our space is clean, simplistic, and relaxing, we in turn will also feel much more relaxed.
Consider if the spaces you spend time in might be causing you to feel overwhelmed. If so, take some time to reduce the clutter and get organized.
These might be digital or physical places.
Some places to consider decluttering:
- Your desk space
- Your office
- Your kitchen
- Your cellphone
- Your desktop
- Your email inbox
Think about which spaces cause you distress, and then what small changes you can make to declutter.
One caveat here: if the task of decluttering adds to the stress, simply skip it. We’re focused on how to stop being overwhelmed overall. Remember that you can also start with smaller steps.
7. Change your environment
Like previously mentioned, our environment greatly affects how we feel. If you can’t clean your space or if you’d prefer a bigger change, just switch up your environment!
Go work at a cafe for a few days.
Sign up for a coworking space.
Spend the weekend in a different city.
Work from a different room in your home.
Sometimes it just takes being in a different space to feel rejuvenated again.
8. Master your mindset
Often, our mindset and inner critic can be our biggest blockers. We may be holding on to limiting thoughts and beliefs that keep us stressed and feeling out of control.
It’s important to watch your thoughts and remember this:
“You are not your thoughts. You are the thinker of your thoughts.”
Your thoughts don’t inherently mean anything. You get to choose how to process the recurring thoughts that appear.
We want to ensure that the thoughts we let in serve us. If not, we need to consciously work to reframe these thoughts.
If you’d like to discover how to Master Your Mindset, grab this free guide! You’ll get a checklist that covers 7 steps to building a resilient, confident mindset.
Related posts: How to Powerfully Overcome Your Limiting Beliefs
Related posts: 5 Confidence Building Hacks to Boost Self-Esteem
9. Practice self-love and self-care
You can never go wrong with practicing self-love and self-care. Often, our stress comes from trying to please others and put their needs first. This results in putting ourselves on the back-burner.
If this happens over time, we deplete our energy and it can lead to resentment.
Remember the most important kind of love is the one we give ourselves.
Put yourself first.
Give yourself what you need.
Love yourself a little more.
Here are some examples of Self-Care Ideas to explore this Fall.
Related: 30 Delightful Fall Self Care Ideas You Have To Try Now
10. Journal your thoughts
Journaling is my favourite form of meditation and self-care.
It’s just you, your journal, and your thoughts.
You get to have a conversation with yourself. Freely, openly, honestly, and vulnerably. Let yourself explore the thoughts that come up. Destress by letting out your fears, anger, and frustrations. Love yourself through empowering words and reminders.
It’s a beautiful process that always helps me feel instantly relieved. I suggest trying it out!
You can start by simply grabbing a journal and freewriting. This means writing without guidance nor process – all you need is to write for a certain period of time (start with 10 minutes). See where that takes you.
If you’d like a little guidance, check out these Journal Prompts for Self-Discovery.
As you journal more often, you’ll determine what type of journaling you like most!
Related: 50 Journal Prompts for Self Discovery and Personal Growth
Related: 5 Letters to Write to Yourself for Self-Love
11. Ask for support
Remember that you’re never alone and that you can ask for help. There are plenty of resources to get help.
Here are different ideas to consider:
- Hire a Productivity Coach
- Hire a Life Coach
- Work with a Therapist
- Join a community of like-minded people
- Get help from colleagues
- Meet fellow entrepreneurs
If you’d prefer, you can also find communities and forums online. The point is to get out of your own head.
Discussing your pressing thoughts and challenges with others can bring you the answers you might be looking for.
12. Set boundaries for yourself
Are you clear on your boundaries? Boundaries inform others (and ourselves) how we expect and desire to be treated.
The clearer we are with our boundaries, the more we can focus on building the life that we desire. This also helps others play a supportive role in that.
To get started, create a “NO List”.
Note down the things that are a “NO” for you, the things that you won’t tolerate in your life. Get clear on those limits and write them down.
Here are some examples of what’s on my NO list:
- No working past 5 pm
- No working in the bedroom
- No meetings on Fridays
- No early morning meetings
- No last-minute requests
- No negative people in my life
These are just some boundaries that I set for myself and others I work with. The list can change and evolve as we do, but the most important thing is to stick to the boundaries we set.
This defines what is important for us. It’s simply another way of self-care.
Once we start to say NO to things that no longer serve us, we can make space for the things that do.
Conclusion
As we learn how to stop being overwhelmed, it’s important to recognize that it can take time. Depending on where we are in our journey, it might take repetition of some steps, or maybe compounding different steps on top of each other until we feel better.
Give yourself grace in this journey. Know that you’re not alone. We’re all in it together when it comes to building our best lives.
Wishing you peace, calm, and joy always.
XX
Tam
How will you choose to reduce your overwhelm?
Leave a comment below!
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