Defeating Overwhelm
Overwhelm can be an absolute drain on your life. If you let problems pile up, the results can be disastrous. Overwhelm can actually shut down your life, when the problem gets bad enough. Productivity comes to a halt and nothing gets done. It’s a terrible feeling, but it’s not an inevitable one.
In my life, I have had many issues with overwhelm. More often than I care to think about, I was overwhelmed with everything going on in my life. It still happens to me today.
But over time, I’ve learned to overcome - and defeat - overwhelm. I use these techniques every day, and especially during extremely busy times in my life. Life has a way of piling up problems on top of you…if you let it happen. Here’s how to prevent it from bringing you down.
Stop. When you start to feel overwhelmed, the best thing you can possibly do is stop everything you’re doing. Immediately. Why? Because when situations begin to pile up in your life, they have a way of commanding your attention all at once. Suddenly, each situation bears the same amount of importance in your mind. This will cause you to spread your efforts out among each situation/problem…and none of them will ever be solved completely. You can’t let this happen…so once you start to feel overwhelm coming on, stop. Then move on to the next step…
Breathe. This step is extremely important. For the next 2 to 3 minutes, do nothing but breathe. Close your eyes, if you want to. Don’t think about your problems…don’t consider which problems to tackle first. Just breathe. This action requires you to calm down. Don’t worry about wasting time…you’ll actually make up for the 2 to 3 minutes of quiet time later. In fact, you’ll make it up tenfold or more. So just breathe…don’t think about anything. Just relax. Then you can begin to tackle the problem.
Think. Here’s where you’re going to solve your problems. Now that you’ve cleared your mind and took a breather, it’s time to make your “plan of attack”. Understand that you’re being attacked by overwhelm…and don’t allow it to beat you. Take out a pad of paper and a pen. Begin to write down everything on your mind…all of the situations that are commanding your attention right now, all the problems, and any other ideas you may have. This is called a “Brain Dump”.
This list shouldn’t be a numbered list…just a bunch of phrases/ideas on a piece of paper. Once you get everything down, take another minute or two to breathe and read what you’ve written. Once you’re ready, look at each of the situations individually. Chances are, even though you shouldn’t have consciously ordered this list, the most pressing issues on your mind will be at the top of the list. But don’t worry about that…just take each item one at a time.
Look at each situation, and think about what you need to do to fix the problem or accomplish the goal. Make notes on that same sheet of paper. When you stop the exercise, you will have everything - all the problems and possible solutions - right in front of you. Take comfort in that…the hard work is over.
Now, you need to implement your solutions.
Start. Your solutions are there…now you need to begin to tackle the problems. One at a time. Attack one situation or problem, implement your solutions, and move on to the next one. This lets you move smoothly from one situation to the next, shrinking your “to-do” list with every one.
Using this method, I’m able to eliminate the worst part of overwhelm…fear. Fear of not knowing HOW to fix your situation. By putting the solutions right in front of your eyes, you don’t have to worry about forgetting them. It’s then as simple as following instructions, as opposed to just “making it up as you go”.
I use this method every day. If you try it, I promise that you’ll find that it does much more than just “help” with overwhelm. It literally defeats it. And that can be life changing. 
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