In the daily quest to get everything done, tick off that to-do list and put your best energy, mind and effort into all you do…is there ever balance?
So often you can be stuck on an endless calendar or diary flow, wondering when you actually have a life outside of this but also remembering how much passion you have for your business!
It can put you into overwhelm and there are days when I have felt really overwhelmed too, to the point of being paralysed and stuck in a very non-productive energy.
I have learned over the years several ways to interrupt these patterns and I would love to share them with you to put into practice yourself.
Here are 3 ways to empower yourself when in overwhelm!
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Stop, take a breath.
It can be an automatic tendency to simply just push through, go faster, get the things done, push, push…
I have found this does not always work. When you are pushing, your creative flow and any energetic alignment you may have had just disappears and even if you are going at a great pace and trying the push through, nothing really gets achieved.
So, stop. Take a few minutes out to get your bearings. Take your mind and body out of the situation for a pause.
Check in with what is going through your mind and quieten it down as best you can. Often some meditation here or a short mindfulness activity helps.
A simple series of long breaths in, long breaths out, for 5 or more repeats will bring you back to centre, refocused and ready for the next step into your day.
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Write a list
Writing a To DO list is vital in keeping on track each day. Often though, we have far too many things we try to get through!
I seriously have had to-dos that would be impossible to get done in 1 day yet I still overwhelm myself with that every now and then!
So, after you have taken a breath, grab a pen and write 3 things that MUST be done today.
You can then write anything else after that but the top 3 are the ones to focus on.
The other way to do this is to brain dump and write down ALL the things you want to get done and then highlight 3-5 of them.
This doesn’t reduce what needs to be done but what it does is give you FOCUS and this can then in turn give you momentum to complete the tasks.
When you are in overwhelm paralysis- nothing gets done!
A bonus from this exercise is that you will often see many of the tasks are able to be outsourced or delegated so mark those o your list too and hand them over to someone else.
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Be kind to yourself!
Often in this energy I see people being really mean to themselves. Berating themselves over not being efficient. Being mad at themselves for wasting time. I am an over achiever and when this happens to me, my mean streak (towards myself) comes out! This may also be the case for you too.
It takes a deliberate decision and mind here to be super conscious of what you are thinking and saying to yourself and others.
This morning I was tipped over the edge with an unexpected repair going wrong and it costing me money that I felt was wasted. I mulled this over and over and it added directly to my overwhelm. My thoughts to myself were not kind and I knew it could spill over into a reactive behaviour.
I really had to sort it out and find a new perspective on the story, which I did after about an hour. Interesting that in this moment, I was gifted something by a stranger!
That would not have happened if I was not consciously changing my attitude, story and reaction including the thoughts and words to myself.
Be kind to yourself. It is all ok. It will get done. You will be fine.
Ultimately what we need to get done gets done.
We really can be harsh on ourselves as humans and when overwhelm does occur, be even more harsh.
I hope you will begin the practice of stopping, taking a breath and getting your bearings and thoughts in a better place when you start to feel this way. It really can mean the difference between a great day and a wasted day (which doesn’t make you feel good and the cycle continues!)
Balance may not always be possible in this busy world and life we are all living however you do have the power to be more in the present moment and feel the overwhelm if it begins. This way, it can be managed immediately before it becomes and issue and your whole day, or more, is ruined or wasted.
