Practical Steps To Beat Overwhelm
Overwhelm is something that has come up lately in a few conversations.
The dictionary defines overwhelm as:
bury or drown beneath a huge mass of something, especially water
have a strong emotional effect on.
It is common as a business owner to go through phases where you feel overwhelmed.
It can be triggered by any of the following:
Too many projects on the go at the same time
Simply not knowing how to tackle a large project or goal
Trying to tackle a new skill that you feel inadequate around
Saying yes to too many commitments
A tendency to procrastinate
Not having enough sleep or not sleeping well
Not enough down time
Trying to achieve a g goal in an unrealistic timeframe
Going through a huge personal change such as separation, having a baby or a death of a loved one
Often when I experience overwhelm I feel an intense amount of stress and pressure and rather then being able to focus on one thing at a time, I don’t know what to do and become ineffective.
Many people can still function in business while feeling overwhelmed and although on the surface they are producing results on the inside they are suffering.
Some symptoms of overwhelm could be:
Loss of motivation
Becoming unproductive (even though you have so much to do)
Starting to dream about running away or going on a holiday or escaping (not just related to overwhelm, could be related to being bored or unhappy)
Feeling stressed
Getting grumpy, upset and angry easily
Isolating yourself
Stopping communication
The first step to overcoming it, is to realise what it is.
Each situation that triggers it can be very different for each person, and often it is complex to unravel and each situation has a different set of strategies.
If you tend to beat yourself up, this is one more stress on top of an already stressful situation.
And a painful thing to add into the mix.
Self forgiveness can often be the first step.
Strategies for overcoming the different reasons for overwhelm
Overwhelm that is triggered by: Too many projects on the go at the same time
Make a list of priorities
Make a list of your personal goals
Match up your personal goals with the list of priorities to work out what to let go of.
For example, I was finding myself getting overwhelmed with my list of marketing options. They ranged from posting content in my group, running my weekly mini-mastermind, social networking in other groups, FB lives, FB adds to strategic videos, Creating a webinar, Doing online presence audit videos for prospects, LinkedIn marketing and starting a face to face networking group of my own.
To solve this I worked out what are my goals. My goals are to grow my one-on-one coaching clients from business owners that I meet online, so that I can travel and still attract new clients and grow my business. My other goal is to create an online course that relates to my coaching business so that in front of the right people and with the right joint venture partners , I can make lump sums of money.
Once I worked this out, I was able to get rid of some of the options for the time being, and refocus my efforts on what will ultimately lead to what I want. I was getting tripped up by the fact that I was getting most of my clients from either referral or people that know me already, and this was causing me to have some doubt about which marketing efforts to focus on.
Overwhelm that is triggered by: Simply not knowing how to tackle a large project or goal
Find someone that can help you identify the steps
Find someone that can help you break down the steps and set deadlines next to each one
Talk this one through
Get help
Ask other business owners on social networks
There is no shame in asking for help or admitting that you don’t know how to move forward
That is the fastest way to solve this one. This is the work that I do with a lot of my clients in the one-to-one sessions, so reach out if you are in this situation.
Overwhelm that is triggered by: Trying to tackle a new skill that you feel inadequate around
Do some work on your mind-set
Get it primed for growth mind-set thinking
Watch Carol Dwek’s Ted Talk on the growth mind-set
Work through your beliefs around learning something new
Confidence comes from taking action, so don’t let the feeling of inadequacy stop you
At the same time, make a plan about how you are going to learn the new-skill; You-tube videos, signing up for a course or getting a tutor
Set aside time for learning in your schedule
Set a timeframe for when you want to learn this by
Break down the steps or modules and set deadlines next to each one
Find and join a community of people that are learning the same thing for support and networking
Overwhelm that is triggered by: Saying yes to too many commitments
First we need to work out:
Are these commitments to yourself or to others?
If they are to others and you say no, ask yourself what is the worst thing that will happen?
If they are to yourself and you say no, ask yourself what is the worst thing that will happen?
Ask yourself, am you capable of saying no and is it possible in this scenario?
Am I a people pleaser?
Do I hate letting people down and think that saying yes is helping them?
Saying no is kinder then saying yes, and then breaking your word.
This damages your reputation, and the people that are depending on you feel let down.
Ask yourself what has made me say yes to all of these commitments at the same time?
This one takes a good hard look at yourself to overcome.
In the short term work out which of the commitments are actual priorities.
Be proactive and communicate to people that are depending on you. When can you actually do this? Or if you know you don’t want to, renege. Reneging is one thing that people also have trouble with. Again it is better to be upfront and honest than lead someone on.
If they are all commitments to yourself and you are letting yourself down ask yourself, how can I avoid this in the future?
What can I do, delegate or dump altogether right now? Take action on what you decide.
Psychological and mental space is part of well-being and overcoming overwhelm.
Overwhelm that is triggered by: A Tendency to Procrastinate
Procrastination is a huge topic in and of itself. It is complex and not easy to solve.
You need to get to the cause of the procrastination.
Is it because you hate what you are doing, you don’t know how to do it, you feel isolated, you feel trapped into a situation that you don’t know how to get out of, you feel lonely or you feel unworthy.
A fantastic Ted talk to watch on procrastination is by Tim Urban.
He says in the talk that what causes procrastination is a desire for instant gratification.
If there is a deadline involved, panic will set in and motivate action, eventually.
Although ultimately productive, it is no fun and very stressful.
Making yourself do something when you don’t feel like doing it requires a lot of maturity and discipline.
Sometimes learning the hard way is the only way to resolve this one.
Get some professional help if you are in a constant state of suffering over this self inflicted behaviour.
Overwhelm that is triggered by: Not having enough sleep or not sleeping well
This one is easy to fix and will pass quickly with a good night’s sleep.
Do your best under the circumstances.
Be kind to yourself.
Keep in mind as you feel terrible and overwhelmed, that the feeling is temporary.
Set yourself up to get to bed early, or be able to sleep in, so that you can get back on top of feeling great and becoming productive quickly
Let people around you know what is going on . Do some exercise, this always helps, even if it is one minute, 1 minute is better than none. Set a timer for 1 minute. One minute might lead to 2 minutes.
Overwhelm that is triggered by: Not enough down time
If you are high achiever or a type A personality then down time is a foreign concept.
Tim Ferriss says to think of down time as recovery time.
Lack of down time catches up with us eventually and is not a sustainable way to live.
Name the “down time” something empowering.
Give yourself permission to relax and lie on the couch.
Being busy all the time blocks space to think and come up with creative ideas and solutions to problems.
Schedule the time in your diary just as you would an important meeting.
A meeting with yourself to recharge, rest and think, is urgent and important.
Why wait until you are overwhelmed before you take this vital time for yourself
Overwhelm that is triggered by: Trying to achieve a goal in an unrealistic timeframe
Such a counter-productive process , if it pushes you into overwhelm.
Communication is the key - keep updating on progress
Be straight about what results you can realistically produce
Be the first person to contact the other party before they come knocking , wandering what is happening
Overwhelm that is triggered by: Going through a huge personal change such as separation, having a baby or a death of a loved one
This overwhelm takes time to recover from
You may feel out of sorts for up to a year
Even if you are still productive able to achieve and hitting milestones , on the inside, you might still feel out of control and that your life is falling apart
The most important thing is to have a support person that knows what you are going through
Talking it through is so helpful and very therapeutic
Being kind to yourself and reaching out to friends, family and even getting professional help or a coach is the best way forward
Isolation in this is a killer because the feelings themselves are very isolating
Feeling like an outsider is another layer of complexity that causes more suffering
Hopefully some of these suggestions will be of use. The thing to remember is that, there is always a solution and someone to reach out to, such as myself. My mobile is 0414 707751 and my email is info@visionaccountable.com.au. I have a FB group as well, and here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/VisionAccountable/