4 Easy Steps to Feeling Less Overwhelmed
Chest tight.
It’s hard to breathe.
You feel out of control and have no perspective on what’s actually important.
Everything just feels like…too much.
It’s that all-too-familiar sensation.
Overwhelm.
I thought I had overwhelm conquered.
I was at the peak of my time management and productivity journey. I’d escaped burnout and felt like I had the secret to accomplishing whatever I set my mind to. I could tackle it all. No matter what.
So it snuck up on me a little by surprise.
I was staring at what could only be described to my overly dramatic brain as an “Everest of a to-do list”. Stacked high. Treacherous to attempt to climb.
Everything felt urgent and like a top priority.
This was definitely going to be the time everything came to a screeching halt as undone work piled up around me.
The overwhelm was all-consuming. It made me feel, for lack of a more sophisticated term, icky. Am I sick? Am I dying? What’s happening?! Ohhhh…that’s right. This is overwhelm. Hello old frenemy.
Looking back, I realize there is no escaping overwhelm.
The good news is, it only has to be momentary.
When overwhelm hits, you can politely escort it to the door with these 4 easy steps.
Step 1: Get it out of your head
You know the feeling. That low buzz of panic. Unable to focus on any one thing. Feeling like everything is piling up higher and higher and may topple at any moment.
That’s how it starts.
You get caught up in this swirl as you panic about all the things you don’t think you’ll ever be able to get done. Now add to the panic just trying to remember all of those things you should be panicked about.
The quickest relief? Get it out of your head.
Pause what you’re doing and write it down. Grab a scrap of paper or open an app on your computer. Then write down all of the looming tasks that are buzzing through your brain.
Write until you have everything captured.
Once you have it all laid out in front of you, it won’t seem as daunting. You’ll feel instant relief as you shift focus from trying to remember all the things to now being able to make a plan for what to do next.
With everything out of your head, you can focus on what really needs to get done (spoiler alert, it won’t be the entire list you just captured…):
Put the items you wrote out in priority order. If you could only choose one thing, what would you do first? And if you had a little more time, what would you do next? And so on. Giving everything on your list equal value will always overwhelm you. Force yourself to rank them.
Break bigger tasks down into bite-sized chunks. If you have a big project weighing on your mind, you likely can’t get it all done today. But you can start making progress with a few smaller tasks. What can you make progress on?
Cross off anything that doesn’t seem all that important now that it’s out of your head. Trust me, there will be some sneaky tasks causing a lot of angst that don’t deserve your attention now that they’re on paper.
The effectiveness of this step is that it pauses the overwhelm loop long enough to get back into action.
You can now start making progress again because it’s clear what needs to get done and what was just creating a little extra drama.
Step 2: Find the next action to get started
Aside from a long list of undone tasks, overwhelm can sneak in from not knowing where to start. You have too many projects full of more unknowns than knowns. So you sit idle.
Instead, take a look at the projects you’re feeling overwhelmed by.
Do you know the next action to take on them? If yes, take that step and keep moving until you get stuck.
When you get stuck or if you didn’t know where to start to begin with, your next action is to figure out your next action!
Rinse and repeat until the project is done.
Here’s an example. Let’s say you want to remodel your bathroom, but, you’ve been avoiding the project (an anecdote definitely not pulled from my real-life experience…). You don’t know what your next action is because you’ve never remodeled a bathroom before. This “I don’t know” thought leaves you feeling overwhelmed so you never start the project.
Your mission: find the next best action.
In this case, the internet might be your best friend. Google: “What do I need to know for a bathroom remodel.” The internet instructs: “Choose a bath design”. Great. There’s the next action. Schedule an hour to hop on Pinterest to find some inspiration and create a vision board.
Next, you’ll likely tell yourself you don’t know how to find a good tiler or plumber. There’s your next action! Ask around to friends and family or consult trusty Google again. Step by step you’ll keep moving forward and chip away at the overwhelming project.
“Action isn’t just the effect of motivation. It’s also the cause of it.”
- Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
The best way to find clarity with where to start or how to do something is to take action. When you’re taking action, you’re also making progress. Someone who’s making progress isn’t overwhelmed.
Step 3: Reprioritize
Even when you think you have everything perfectly planned out, the unexpected fire drills threaten to derail everything putting you back to the overwhelming square one.
A request from your boss requires your attention for most of the day.
You get sick.
New tasks show up that make your original top priority pale in comparison.
Overwhelming, to say the least.
But it doesn’t have to be.
Pause. Digest the new information. And make a new plan.
Pull up your list from Step 1 or take a look at what you previously planned to get done for the day or the week and decide if you need to make adjustments.
With the new information, have your priorities changed? If you could only choose one thing now, what would you get done?
Is there anything you were originally planning to work on that’s not worth your time anymore? Or can be bumped to a different day/week?
Adjust your plan. Choose your next actions based on your latest set of priorities. Nothing is set in stone. You are still in control of where your time goes.
Food for thought… If you find yourself reprioritizing and reshuffling your plans regularly, use this as an opportunity to think critically about how you should be planning your time.
It’s possible you aren’t giving yourself enough free time in your calendar to eb and flow with incoming work.
Or you’re being too reactionary to someone else’s priorities and letting your own fall to the side.
Or you maybe aren’t being realistic with yourself in the first place about how much you can accomplish.
Save your future self from some self-inflicted overwhelm and adjust your planning approach ahead of time.
Step 4: Shift your mindset
Fact: Your overwhelm isn’t actually caused by all of the things you have to do. Your overwhelm is caused by your thoughts.
Your thoughts?
I.e. YOU are the cause of your overwhelm.
But, guess what? If you are the cause, you are also the solution.
When you find yourself stuck in that familiar sensation of overwhelm, tune into what you’re thinking. Does your internal talk track sound a little something like this:
“There’s no way I can get this all done.”
“I have too much to do.”
“I’m going to let them down.”
Without judging yourself (we all default to negative self-talk when our brain is left to its own devices) “try on” some different thoughts. Think a new thought and imagine what it might be like if you believed the thought was true.
These are some that have worked well for me. Give these a try or experiment with others that feel right to you:
“I have the time I need to get things done.”
“I’ve always gotten it done before, I will this time as well.”
“I trust myself to prioritize effectively.”
“I am capable of making a plan and getting things done.”
“Whatever I get done is enough.”
“It’s just not going to happen today and that’s okay.”
Finding a thought that resonates with you can push you back into your action brain and alleviate that overpowering feeling of overwhelm.
A simple mindset shift can give you the sweet relief you’re looking for.
Conclusion
Feeling overwhelmed is a normal part of being human.
And, unfortunately, you can’t escape overwhelm by doing more.
Reducing overwhelm takes time, effort, and practice. It will never go away forever and will likely be a knee-jerk reaction you face daily. So, be patient with yourself. Try different strategies. Find the practices that work for you to feel more in control and less at the mercy of that pesky overwhelm.
If you need a little more support freeing yourself from overwhelm, check out Never Work Overtime Again. The course teaches you how to take control of your work life so you can start having a life. Go from overwhelmed with the guilt of an unfinished to-do list to confident and ready to tackle your week with ease!
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in February 2023.
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About Me
Hi, I’m Kara. I’m a former workaholic turned time-management expert. I help women stressed out in their 9-5 get more done, in less time, so they can get back in the driver’s seat and start living a life they love.
