How to Beat the Feeling of Overwhelm 

We as women are constantly bombarded with so much noise that we feel overwhelmed. And the more overwhelmed we are, the more we feel connected to each other who are also experiencing being overwhelmed.

We tend to think about overwhelm, as taking on too many tasks at once. But at the end of the day, it’s never enough. The truth is, overwhelm isn’t about doing or having too much; it’s about not knowing where or how to start.

 Overwhelm and uncertainty go hand-in-hand. It’s about not knowing what the future holds—the fear of the unknown. And in both cases, we feel stuck, not sure of what to do next, and we become paralyzed and do nothing at all.

 We’re desperate to feel productive. We need a quick fix to feel we’ve accomplished something, so we do anything and everything, grasping at straws to get a quick high of worthiness and importance.

 However, when we look at our lives, we claim to be busy, and there’s never enough time. When we do get the courage to start something but don’t have confidence in the outcome, we busy ourselves with meaningless tasks to complete our day so that we feel productive. This gives us a false sense of productivity.

 Productivity

Real productivity starts with prioritizing your life by your desired outcome. By asking yourself what your intention is and what your why is, you can reverse-engineer your goal and start mapping out a plan based on your end results. 

Not sure where to begin? I suggest sitting down and dumping everything on your mental to-do list out into a journal.

Reviewing everything you’ve written down, start prioritizing what really needs to get done. Separate those to-dos into categories of “urgent,” “important,” “necessary,” and “distractions.”

When we have an overview of what our life and daily activities entail, we can start from the top of the priority list with what is urgent, meaning this is a must and must get done ASAP.

 The next category is important. It doesn’t take priority over the urgent tasks.

The third category is necessary. These are the tasks that are necessary to get done but do not hold a sense of urgency or importance and can be done at a later date. These are the tasks that we typically go to, as our default, to get a quick fix and productivity high.

The last category is the one we tend to go to when we feel overwhelmed. We go to simple, easy, meaningless tasks—distractions. These are where we go when things are hard and we don’t want to feel overwhelmed. Distractions are the task that makes the loudest noise, distracting, and deterring us from not getting results or feeling productive. Many of us resort to distractions when we don’t have a solid plan and we operate in a state of analysis paralysis— where we shut down and numb out with distractions.

 Perspective shifts to what’s important help keep us from being overwhelmed. 

When we’re able to shift our perspectives into what is most important—our intentions—we’re able to get things done faster and more efficiently, saving time spent on doing the meaningless tasks that we may not even enjoy. That shift in perspective changes everything!

When we find joy in what we do, the clearer the outcome gets.

If you are (still) looking for that “quick fix,” start within. Flip the script from what needs to get done to what you get to do. Start asking yourself quality questions. Are my tasks urgent, important, or necessary? Is what I am currently doing resulting in productivity, or is it a distraction? Why does it matter? What is the (end) result I really want?

The power of clarity brings calm to our overwhelm. Now you get to choose what you focus on and how you spend your days.