Overwhelm Can Be Really Useful?
Really useful – are you kidding?
It’s stopping me getting things done and preventing me sleeping. I’m shopping to make myself happy and eating to console myself. I feel each day is a herculean task. It takes so much energy to focus my attention on getting something done. It’s just awful.
Overwhelm is useful because it’s actually a great big hint
It’s a hint that things in your life are out of kilter, that all isn’t great. Ignore this hint at your peril.
At best it will sit there like a low grade noise – not really obvious most of the time – bit like the planes in the sky, just a background hum that disrupts the calm and peace of your existence and your thoughts.
At worst we may experience adrenal fatigue, exhaustion, chronic stress, depression…….
And somewhere, in between, we may respond by withdrawing from others or from activities we previously enjoyed. We may be angrier with others and with life, our patience stretched and our frustration growing. We may avoid dealing with things, procrastinate, make poor decisions which then add to our sense of overwhelm.
Overwhelm is often the heads up that it’s time to do things differently.
It’s a heads up for you – not your boss, your partner, your children, your older parents. It’s for you to act and to change not them.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with life what can you do?
Here’s 3 areas you can choose to start with:
1 Life Audit:
• Do you really need to do all those things on your to do list? What are you trying to prove? What would happen if you did less?
• Do you spend your time with people you love and who make you feel good? Do you spend enough time with yourself to meet your needs?
• Do you give yourself time each week to do the things you love? How can you do more of those things?
2 Self Belief and Values:
• Does everything have to be perfect? Would good enough be a useful new value to embrace?
• What matters most really and truly in the depths of your heart? Do those things. Make those things a priority.
• Others won’t do things exactly how you want but does that really matter? Would that matter in 2 months time? 2 years time?
3 Seek Help:
• Sometimes we are so off track that it helps to get professional help
• Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness yet it often feels like an admission that we’ve failed, that we are not good enough, that we are an impostor who finds themselves out of their depth.
• Asking for help is strength as it’s you acknowledging that you are not the best that you can be. It takes courage to ask for help so you are being brave.
• There is lots of help out there and something and someone will be just right for you. Explore, ask questions, connect and take that step to invest in your wellbeing.
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