What you can do when you feel overwhelmed?

When we get overwhelmed we are confused, and the world feels like it’s closing in on us. Tasks build up, nothing gets done on our to-do list, the pressure increases and our head is filled with thoughts of every single thing that could possibly go wrong. This feeling can be crippling.

So, what can we do about it?

Recognize reality

Yes, you may have a lot on your plate, but the stress you are putting yourself through isn’t helping. You can choose how your emotional response to all of this is. The first thought would be to put a sword through that task list and get it done, no matter how you feel. But that is setting unrealistic expectations with yourself. So the first step would be to recognize the reality you’re in. You’re overwhelmed, and that’s okay.

Ask yourself how much of what you’re feeling is real

Don’t ignore your emotions, but ask yourself how much of it is real and how much is just emotions out of stress. A lot of our gut reaction stems from the latter.

Prioritize

Once you’ve done that, feed the things that are critical on your list, delegate what is urgent and the remaining you can starve.

Do what you can

Now that you have prioritized things from your list, you can easily shift your focus to doing what’s critical and hence chances of succeeding increase! This is great motivation to begin your tasks.

Be confident

Once you’ve tackled critical items from your list, your confidence will naturally increase and you’ll notice the overwhelming feeling starting to fade away.

Introspection

Once you find yourself in a better place, journaling about your emotions helps to get a better perspective.

In times of chaos, our thinking turns cloudy. But life needn’t be that way. There is usually a better way. Either in the middle of the chaos or once the dust settles, take time to evaluate a better way for next time.

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