How to Deal with Overwhelm and Stick to it
“This is the One”, I Whispered…
I began my day thinking of a million things to do.
Get coffee, make it extra hot, open laptop, log on, check snapchat, check TikTok, listen to podcast, text that boy, check my LinkedIn, check Instagram — no, check Twitter. That’s how many?
While listening to Vusi Thembekwayo’s podcast on ‘Quitting’, I thought about work, life, work again, then life again. These two are the most important things in my entire existence and yet, seem to be giving me an imbalanced type of vibe. I knew what I needed to do. So, I took out a pen and a stack of pink coloured sticky notes and started writing down all of my to-do lists. The serious things, garbages and the not-so-much-a-garbage things in my head. Scattered in one-third of my sticky notes, felt clear-headed for a moment, and then -Whoosh! Overwhelm.
How did I deal with my overwhelm?
I embraced it.
Though, I shouldn’t have. It gave me a sense of overflow. Something to run back to. Unscarred if I ever feel empty. It didn’t make any sense. I didn’t want to free time from my fingertips, and I didn’t feel like welcoming contentment.
I paused it.
I couldn’t be everywhere at once. I couldn’t save my energy if I cannot rescue my mind from slipping into oblivion. I paused — and then dimmed the glow a little so I could breathe life into the lucky number 5 which made it out of twelve thousand dreams from the dark. That way, the frequency was measured, tied it to my brain, and focused on 5.
Okay, here are 5 things you can do to not feel overwhelmed
- Ask the right — scary questions: Why do you feel overwhelmed? What are the too-many things to do? How can you complete 3 out of that loaded list?
- Make a list: Write down everything that you need to do. If need be, make an exhaustive long list. Take your time, and just keep writing.
- Star out the most important things: 7 or 8 things. Star them out, and write them out on a separate page or paper.
- Streamline your starred list: Into 3 or maybe 5, then again, write them out in a standalone paper and place it somewhere you can see them every minute or hour.
- Visualise, and then act: Once you’ve streamlined your already starred list, you should have a clear mental image of how it’s going to go, Just — get right into it.
But watch out!
You might get distracted. Don’t push it away. That distraction might be swaying your mind from feeling overwhelmed to feeling energetic. Keep in mind that, even if you get one thing done out of three, it’s progress and it doesn’t have to be perfect. You can always roll over to the next day, and the day after that.
…whenever you’re ready.
PS: 3 articles in a week! #FeelingAccomplished!
