Feelings of overwhelm are signs from your unconscious mind that something needs to change. By recognising it, you put yourself into a great position because it is possible to develop strategies to avoid succumbing to the feelings.
Working with your overwhelm can dramatically improve work performance.
Here is what we do when we are feeling overwhelmed:
1. Take a moment. Remember, overwhelm is triggered from thoughts, and these thoughts may not necessarily be based on facts or reality. Have a cup of tea, stop what you are doing, and take 3-6 really deep, slow breaths - you need to let the stress hormones released into your body subside so that you can re-engage your logical brain.
2. Get your thoughts onto paper. When someone is feeling overwhelmed, it is likely that there are many thoughts running around in the mind, colliding into each other, and that just makes everything seem more confusing than what it is. Dump the thoughts out of your mind, and onto paper. And remember, be specific. Using terms like everything is going wrong will contribute further to the feeling. What specifically is on your mind?
3. What is the most important thing you can do right now? Prioritize prioritizing. What needs to be done now? Start with the most important, and simply start doing. Our brains understand the concept of progress, so by making progress, the mindstarts feeling less overwhelmed. You may find that many of the things you thought were problems aren't really that important.
4. Keep moving forward, and note your progress. Give yourself breaks, and know that the fastest way to solve a problem is often to stop focusing so intently on the problem.
If you have more strategies that you would like to share to help others be more awesome more often, we would love to hear from you.