Fall has been very, very busy so far. Very busy. Yesterday morning, I woke up for my long run (which I always look forward to) with dread. I. was. tired. So tired! As a person who can always “do it all,” I just got up and went. But my heart was not in it. I stayed up too late, but I had to meet friends, run, go to the farmers market, head to a Chicago Ideas Week presentation, go to an event and meet friends for dinner. So, I got up and went.
Between my new job, job-related travel, planning the husband’s big birthday party and training for the marathon, I am more than a bit overwhelmed. I am also feeling cranky and uncharitable which bothers me. I have so much that is good in my life and I need to embrace it, but some of the awesome things are filling me with stress and anxiety. I need an attitude adjustment so I looked for some ideas on coping with feeling overwhelmed.
I got some great ideas for dealing with being overwhelmed from this blog post on Psychology Today. To paraphrase:
1. Accept and acknowledge you are stressed and overwhelmed. [Check – I am telling the interwebs.]
2. Take control of your thoughts. Stop thinking “I’ll never get this all done” and change the persistent thought to “Which part can I tackle today?” or “I am making progress on X.”
3. Try not to do everything all at once. Multitasking or starting too many things is not effective.
4. Focus on the present. What do you need to do now? How can you be present.
5. Breathe deeply and take a short break. Sounds counterintuitive but it can help you reset and recharge.
6. Spend a few minutes doing something for yourself to reset. [Not too many minutes!]
Huffington Post offers 13 Questions to Ask Yourself if You are Feeling Overwhelmed with great answers/insights from some experts: (A few of my faves are included. Click the link for all of the helpful advice.)
3. What’s The Priority Here?
“Think about it: Humans are the only creatures in nature that resist the pattern of ebb and flow. We want the sun to shine all night, and when it doesn’t, we create cities that never sleep. Seeking a continuous energetic and emotional high, we use everything from exciting parties to illegal chemicals. But natural ebbs — the darkness between days, the emptiness between fill-ups, the fallow time between growing seasons — are the necessary complements of upbeats. They hold a message for us. If you listen at your life’s low points, you’ll hear it, too. It’s just one simple, blessed word: Rest.”
— Martha Beck
5. Am I Surrounded By Energy Suckers?
“Energy Suckers (a.k.a Negative Nancies, Debbie Downers and Sad Sids). These are the people who find the cloud around every silver lining. If you can’t cut them out of your life entirely, turn your interactions with them into a game. When my neighbor says, ‘I hate this horrible weather!’ I say, ‘Isn’t horrible weather great? It means I don’t have to wash my car!’”
— Donna Brazile
12. Is It Better to Fight Anxiety or Is It Okay to Be Nervous?
Accept that you’re having an anxiety moment — trying to squelch or deny it will only make it worse — and just focus on what’s in front of you, says David Barlow, PhD, founder of the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University. If you’re at an interview, meeting or party, listen intently to what the other person is saying. Make eye contact. When it’s your turn to speak, be conscious of every word you say. If you’re at your desk, respond to overdue e-mails or tackle the pile in your in-box. Whatever you’re doing, take a few deep breaths to help let the anxious thoughts and feelings float on by.
— Naomi Barr
One of the best tips I saw was from Lifehack. They say, “Don’t wait for stress to hit you to start practicing these quick ways to calm down when you are overwhelmed. The best way to enjoy a worry-free life is not to push yourself to the limit of being overwhelmed and frustrated.” Unfortunately, we don’t always have that luxury.
Another great reminder came in an unlikely place. I unintentionally clicked through to a blog post on a Christian news website. Not somewhere I would normally go. One of their tips was to rethink the term “have to”. They frame this in terms of asking for mercy on some commitments. I see it slightly differently. For the social (and work) stuff, I try to think of it as “I get to.” Like – “I get to run the marathon” or “I get to plan a celebration for my husband.” And, I do appreciate the idea of asking for help or forgiveness for not having time to do everything.
Just writing this post and acknowledging the feelings has helped me to feel a bit less overwhelmed with all of the things that lie ahead. So thank you for “listening” and following my search for tips to lift some of my stress!
What do you do to fight feeling overwhelmed? Do you take on too much like me?