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In Part 1 of our Overwhelmed Series, you learnt about what feeling overwhelmed means, types of overwhelm, and how to identify when you’re feeling Overwhelmed, or, in short, the signs of overwhelm.
But we didn’t discuss what causes overwhelm. Where does it come from? What can you do? In Part 2, you will learn.
- What causes overwhelm and
- Solutions to prevent it from occurring.
Yes, it is possible to hijack overwhelm before it happens! (If you are new here and you missed Part 1 of this series on dealing with overwhelm, then you can click here for a short, simple, and straightforward post. Once you have read that, come back here to continue.)
In Part 1 of this series, we said that when we say something is overwhelming, or when we say we feel overwhelmed, what we mean is that thing or those emotions affect us very strongly, and we do not know how to deal with them. They overpower us.
Also, if something is overwhelming you, it’s often in large quantities; it feels huge, and like more than you can handle at that moment!
We also said that if you sometimes feel overwhelmed by your tasks, you likely have too many things to do and don’t know where to start or what next steps to take!
I also mentioned that I find that when we’re overwhelmed, our brains freeze and we feel like we can’t focus on that particular agenda. It becomes hard to keep things in perspective.
So what next?
We are in an overwhelming state and
- We feel stuck, stressed, and extremely overwhelmed.
- Where do we go from now?
- What actually causes overwhelm and,
- Is there a way we can prevent it, or hijack it before it even happens?
- How can we best uncover overwhelm, so we can start taking action and have the results we want in life?
- How can we move through life with less stress and overwhelm?
- How can we enjoy our lives in the midst of the chaos?
After years of experiencing overwhelm, I have discovered it is possible to manage overwhelm, get things done, and move on in life with less stress.
Yes, it is possible to have peace and become productive despite overwhelming attacks. Although you will have to make the decision, to begin with, to commit towards learning and coaching yourself on understanding what causes overwhelm and how you can hijack it before it happens. This can be a magic pill.
Do I think it’s worth giving it a try? I do! It might take a little practice here and there, but once you start moving from overwhelm to taking action and finally getting the results you want, you will be a more happy and productive person.
Lets first begin with basics.
Overwhelm Uncovered:
Let’s uncover overwhelm.
Based on the signs of overwhelm, (which we learnt here) let’s check the different ways you can feel overwhelmed. Looking at overwhelm and its definition from all these angles will help you get more clarity on understanding and uncovering the truth about overwhelm.
It’s important to understand the basics of what overwhelm revolves around.
So let’s have a look at…
Different Ways You Can Feel Overwhelmed. You can be:
- Overwhelmed by life.
- Overwhelmed by love.
- Overwhelmed by grief.
- Overwhelmed by work.
- Overwhelmed by emotions.
- Overwhelmed by anxiety.
What are the examples of real-life experiences of overwhelm from our day-to-day lives?
Examples of things that can make us feel overwhelmed:
- Too many things to do
- Deadlines
- Being too excited
- Too much clutter in your environment
- A crowded environment
- Noisy areas
- An excess of energy or emotion such as happiness or anger. —When we are flooded with happiness we may experience tears of joy; when we are overflowing with anger, we may bang things, throw things, or cry. In both cases, the emotions are too much and demand release.
Overwhelm can portray itself in different ways, even though all types of overwhelm are either external or internal.
The main questions are: What causes overwhelm? What leads us to an overwhelming state? And what can we do?
Causes of and solutions to the “overwhelm” feeling.
Let’s look at common things that can cause you to feel overwhelmed and what to do about them:
1) Lack of Planning and Scheduling
Without planning and scheduling, you have things to do but no direction on how or when they should be done, which is the number one cause for constant overwhelm.
Solution
Plan and schedule what you need to do every day. Planning is deciding what you will do and how you will do it. Scheduling is allocating the time in which it will be done.
I’ve found this really helps when it comes to managing overwhelm because it gives direction to the day.
Not sure where to start when it comes to planning? Check this productivity course here.
2) Perfectionism
Most people struggle with perfectionism without even knowing it! Perfectionism is when you want to do everything perfectly because you’re afraid of what people will say about your results.
You fear being judged and therefore try to do everything perfectly without any flaws. The main problem is that you’re constantly overthinking. Is this good enough? which can be overwhelming.
Solution
Aim for progress over perfection, and go for good enough. Understand that people will always have their own opinions whether you do something well or poorly!
The best thing is to be yourself and do what is good enough!
Not sure how to handle perfectionism? Check out my course Productive Bad*ss Babe which takes you From Overwhelm To Productive.
3) Too Much Clutter
You might be feeling overwhelmed because there is too much clutter around you. From a disorganised desk to dishes in the sink and piles of laundry, too many distractions can reduce focus and concentration.
Solution
Be a little bit more organised. You don’t have to emulate the best-organised gurus on Instagram and Pinterest, but at least make sure you put things right back where you found them.
This makes it easy to see what you need without getting distracted by moving things around and trying to find something.
4) Too Many Things on Your Mind
Your thoughts are scattered in many different directions. You have too many things on your mind, too many responsibilities, too many commitments, and you don’t know how to balance them, or even where to start.
Solution
The first thing I always advise is to download your thoughts. Write down what you feel and what’s in your head at the moment.
What is racing through your mind? Then divide those thoughts into high priority and less urgent.
Three things that prevent you from getting closer to your dreams:
- Overthinking
- Overanalyzing
- Saying “yes” to everything
Doing these three things tend to make us take on more than we can handle.
Wrap Up
Quite overwhelming right?
Too much information too fast right? I can relate, and because I cannot share everything in this post, there is a final Part 3 in this series. Click here to read it: How I Process and Handle General Overwhelm.
If you liked this post and want to learn more about overwhelm and productivity, then make sure you join our free VIP community for overwhelmed and highly sensitive women. As a welcome gift, I will share 3 productivity secrets with you that actually work for US easily overwhelmed and highly sensitive people.
Let me ask you, do you ever feel easily overwhelmed by the amount of things you have to do every day? Enter your best email address where I can send the 3 secrets to productivity for overwhelmed and highly sensitive souls.
Much love,
Frida.
Other Related Post To this.
- What does it mean to feel overwhelmed and how many types of overwhelm are there? Overwhelmed Series
- How to Process and Handle General Overwhelm Overwhelmed Series part 3
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