Feeling overwhelmed?
Do you have more to do - and less and less hours?
Here´s the solution.
What to do when feeling overwhelmed with life
I’m going to reveal how to eliminate your feeling of overwhelming.
Because I've been there.
So I will give you the right solution.
It’s the same strategies I used with dozens of clients to stop feeling overwhelmed.
Now you feel overwhelmed because you have too many tasks. You feel you can’t handle the circumstances. This collapses your brain and prevents you from being productive.
And you complain: "I should, I should, I should... !"
And it can go worse causing breathing difficulties, heart palpitations, or headaches.
Now:
Enough of being prisoner of feeling overwhelmed!
Feeling overwhelmed and depressed? Here is the SOLUTION:
If you’re a chronic “non-finisher,” you will discover how to change that. Just imagine how it would feel to:
- Eliminate your stress
- Get organized
- Sleep better
But first good news for you.
Feeling overwhelmed is not related to your volume of work. It’s simply knowing how to order your mind.
So if you want to stop your stress and become productive, you’ll love this guide.
And it gets better.:
I will give you 12 ways to eliminate overwhelming. Perhaps only one will change your life.
So without further ado, let’s do it!
1. To STOP feeling overwhelmed and sad first ask yourself: Is this so important?
Have clarity.
This will make your life 10 times better.
Perhaps now you are doing too much work just to empty the space.
And worse, you are doing things that don’t serve.
Too many tasks in your mind. So change your multitasking mindset.
First ask yourself…
What´s your passion?
If you do things just for the sake of doing things, you will get frustrated.
I know you´ve heard this thing about pursuing your passion, but first you must know what you want in life -even if you aren’t working on your dream job now-.
Because only knowing where you want to go you will stop feeling overwhelmed.
And then you will do one of the most important things:
Letting secondary tasks undone.
Because doing them means not doing the important things.
So make an inventory of your life. Do you really need to better your tennis skills? Or is it just to brag in front of your friends?
- Do you really need to finish that study?
- Do you really need to write that document so perfect?
- Do you really need to check Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat?
STOP LYING TO YOURSELF!
You don’t need to do MANY things you do now.
Life is short. So better say no.
And don’t feel guilty. You will feel much better.
So change your multitasking mindset. Whenever you do something that doesn't contribute to your long-term goal, throw it away.
You will get surprised by the difference of not checking your phone or quitting unnecessary projects.
So from now on ask yourself before every task: does this contribute to my long-term goal?
2. Feeling overwhelmed at WORK? Don’t be a people pleaser
Are you a people pleaser?
I know it’s hard to say NO.
But if you say YES to everyone you won’t achieve your goals.
Never.
When was the last time you did something for your dream?
If you are overwhelmed, you have to learn to say NO. And this means saying NO to many people -including your boss -.
So ask yourself: what are your TOP priorities?
Hint: they are no more than 3. (Yet better strive for only one priority.)
And then say NO to at least 80% of people that don’t contribute to it.
It will be hard at first, but your life will stop being after this.
You can become what you want in life. But only if you pursue your main goal. And therefore you must say NO to interruptions, people who want to gossip, and unnecessary projects.
3. Eliminate perfectionism
Feeling overwhelmed with work?
Here is the key:
Perfectionism can be your worst enemy.
And without you even noticing it.
The problem is that since you were a child you were told to be perfect.
Big nonsense!
Because there are thousands of things you don’t need to do perfectly.
You are losing a lot of time trying to do perfect what only has to be done.
So feeling overwhelmed thinking that you must do things perfectly.
- You don’t need to write the best emails…
- You don’t need to complete many tasks...
- You don’t need to say the perfect words always…
Perfection doesn’t exist. It’s only an illusion in our mind.
If still in doubt think that people don't expect you to be perfect. And if they expect you it’s a shield to protect themselves. Those persons are the most inefficient ones. They will always speak about ethics and perfection to hide their stupidity (and low productivity).
I’m not a perfectionist. But I was in the past. Yet the moment I let it go, I began to finish a lot of projects.
It´s about losing your fears. Once you face your fears you stop trying to do everything right. These videos will help you:
Once I stop being a perfecionist I wrote more.
And I made more imperfect videos.
I produced more!
And they were perfect enough!
4. Inspiration is for amateurs
Don’t depend on inspiration.
You can wake up every morning smiling. Perfect. But do it for you, only to feel well.
But understand that to achieve your dreams, you need a system. You can’t wait for inspiration.
And this is what you must do to achieve your objectives:
Focus two hours every morning on your most important project.
Cut down interruptions.
Plan in advance, you will save dozens of hours every month so.
Nothing to do with inspiration.
So please don’t wait for inspiration.
Inspiration is a trap.Because life is ups and downs. Chinese philosophy knows it well with its Yin and Yang.
Everything can’t go permanently up. The sooner you understand this, the less overwhelmed you will be. So don’t wait for inspiration. Follow a system that works despite your mood.
But don’t be a fool. Try to be happy. Be nice to others.
Smile.
And meanwhile, expect that bad days will come. But under the radar, you will isolate every day two productive hours (that´s a lot) even with a collapsed brain or an awful week.
So accept your lack of inspiration. You are not special, everybody has bad moments. And if you need energy to get motivated click here.
5. The old fashioned “take a break” still works to stop feeling overwhelmed
There are times when you will have to stop.
And here is the deal:
The classic “taking a break” always works.
There is a flow of energy, and this is not spiritual fluff fluff. There are moments where nothing works. Accept it.
Yet sadly it’s easy expecting too much from yourself. (Otherwise you wouldn’t read this). But don’t drive your car without petrol. You need to rest.
Because think on those days full of tasks. Nothing worked. The more you tried the worse.
So take a break.
In the bad moments, the best move is quitting and relaxing. It can be 15 minutes, one hour, or a complete day.
You aren’t inefficient if you abandon.
Because your brain needs its time to realign the thoughts. It’s a high-technology machine that needs maintenance.
One good way of taking a break is rewarding yourself. Whenever you finish something make a pause and breathe deeply. And if you finish something big take a one-day vacation. Design your own system to take a break. Otherwise you´ll self-sabotage yourself.
And please, get your hours of sleep. Whether you need 8 or 6 hours, take care of your brain.
In addition, here are 3 extra tips to take more breaks:
- Don’t be constantly connected to the news, Twitter, your phone, or whatever digital system you use. We aren’t so important. If you want to make a difference in life, do as if the world can go on without you.
- When you take a break let your imagination go free. Don’t read the newspaper or surf the Internet.
- Whenever you can’t get out of your head a bad response from a friend or a frustrated attempt to achieve a better job, simply kill your mental chatter with a command. STOP! Do it 10 times in a row if necessary.
6. You’ve felt this before
This is crazy:
Think about the last time you had that sensation of feeling overwhelmed. Was it as bad as you thought?
Or it was simply an internal monster you were creating?
The truth, please.
It was everything in your head. Because you choose. You choose to feel good or bad. Scratch a little in your past and you will see that everything depended on you. With a positive mindset you went far, but the days you felt negative you went nowhere.
So learn from those past experiences to not suffer the same problems again.
And the key is simply realizing that every experience is priceless. And the bad ones will teach you much more.
So embrace the feeling of stress. Don’t try to suppress it artificially. Simply think it’s a normal situation. It will pass and you will get smarter. And you´ll achieve peace of mind.
And get richer.
It’s only emotions. And you CAN control your emotions.
So whenever you feel overwhelmed, be an observer. It wasn’t the first time.
We always have the same problems. We are not so special as we think. It’s always the same worries and the same remembering of bad past scenes.
So see it as something normal. It was always so.
Once you see that feeling overwhelmed is a natural part of your life, you will conquer any feeling that holds you back.
7. Feel your body (The spiritual solution to feeling overwhelmed)
Be in the present.
So easy? Simply feeling the present?
Yes. It works.
Try this:
The next time you go to your kitchen to take a coffee simply feel. Stop thinking in the future.
Stop reviewing your past.
Stop hearing music.
You are consumed with what may or may not happen; office politics, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, the money…
Stop the noise!
Focus on your body.
Feel your clothes, your hands, and your chest.
Feel.
This will relax you.
And it will clean your mind to be more productive.
And of course, yoga and meditation will also help you (even done the newbie way).
It exceeds the scope of this article speaking of the benefits of yoga and meditation. But try simply 5 daily minutes of meditation.
You will hear from professionals you need more time.
Nonsense.
Only 5 minutes of meditation!
Don’t move for 5 minutes.
Even 5 minutes will work wonders!
Trying to put your mind in blank is efficiency on steroids. Even if you do it wrong (and you will do it many times). You will notice incredible benefits in the long term. Even if all kinds of thoughts interrupt your meditation.
Simply sit alone with your back straight and try not to think.
Want to know the best part?
The benefits will be incredible. And after some time you will enlarge it to 10 or more minutes.
But even only five minutes will change your life.
So easy?
Yes, so easy.
8. Eliminate unrealistic expectations (The X3 Strategy)
We plan wrongly.
It’s always the same, you want this and that and you establish a deadline.
But then you NEVER finish on time.
And it’s not because you are inefficient. You aren’t unproductive. No.
What´s the bottom line then?
It´s because you plan wrongly.
And the key to productivity is planning right.
Yet we are over-optimistic 99% of the time. Because you don’t realize that:
Everything takes 3 TIMES longer
then what you planned initially.
So to avoid feeling overwhelmed because you didn’t reach the deadline, realize it’s because you were too optimistic when planning. (Usually it was an inspired moment where everything seemed bright).
But if you plan well you can change this. I’m sure you’ve heard that “You are too optimistic about what you can achieve in a year, but too pessimistic about what you can achieve in five.”
So therefore use the X3 Strategy.
The X3 Strategy
From now on whenever you plan something, even if you think you took everything into account
MULTIPLY BY 3 the days you think it will take.
So you will eliminate tons of bad moments of overwhelming.
And finally you will kill the unpredictability that rules your life today.
I insist, it’s about planning right. And it’s as easy as multiplying X3 your initial calculations.
So take the three most important tasks of your to-do list, -those which “never get done,”- and recalculate what it will take multiplying them by three. Be realistic!
You will feel immediately better.
9. The “Is this really so bad?” strategy
Your problems aren’t as bad as you think.
(If in doubt go to your nearest hospital and take a walk through the waiting rooms.)
One of the easiest ways to stop worrying about your life is doing something nice for someone who is in a worse situation than you. -And believe me, you have lots of people around you in a worse situation.-
So do something for someone. Give him or her a call. Say how you appreciate something they did in the past.
This is more valuable than money.
Once you begin thinking about others, your problems take another perspective. “Are my problems really so bad?” you think. And you will feel relieved.
It’s so easy thinking that everyone is in a better situation than you. But no, you are in a very good position.
In fact, if you are reading this, you belong to a chosen minority of 10% of people who want to improve. The best positioned in every field. It´s also the best way to overcome adversity.
So give your energy to others and this energy will go back to you. Multiplied.
It’s something karmic. Don’t ask me why.
10. The old-fashioned “taking action”
Things change fast when you start doing something.
Imagine feeling overwhelmed with a big project in front of you. You will never finish it! And you begin to paint the worst scenario in your mind.
Enough! Stop thinking. Thinking is good, do it one hour every day.
But the rest of the moments take action.
If you need advice to get self-discipline click here.
Invest 5 minutes in the project that most “oppress” you. Something small is enough. But never try to do it everything at a time, because then the overwhelming symptoms appear.
Look, a big project is uncontrollable. But don’t let this distract you. You can only focus on one thing at a time.
You are already much better than 90% of people who never try.
So the key is starting small and building momentum.
And there is a second benefit of acting. In just that moment:
You won’t feel overwhelmed. Because you won’t think.
That’s why you hear that working is good for your health.
The key is always starting small and building momentum. For everything. For your habits and for your productivity.
So think, what big project makes you feel overwhelmed? And then take a small step. Only 5 minutes.
This will change everything.
The moment you think you have too much work, it’s the moment to do little work. Simply 5 minutes attacking your big project.
Everything changes when you start doing something.
The ones that go far aren’t those who attack the big projects like crazy. It’s the ones who attack in small bites.
Because it’s the ones that never surrender.
And they won’t feel overwhelmed, they know they are doing their best and every day they see an improvement.
11. The 5 deep breaths solution. (The fast one)
You can solve tons of problems simply breathing deeply.
When you breathe profoundly your body relaxes immediately. You inject oxygen into your cells and feel relieved.
And it gets better.
In the long term, this will prevent cancer, heart attacks, and other diseases.
Try it now! Simply take a deep breath. NOW.
Don’t you feel better?
Your brain in peace and your muscles more relaxed. (Which at the same time calms your brain even more). Feel it.
Everything is also the same benefits as a good diet.
So if you want to benefit from more benefits of breathing ALWAYS, follow this exercise daily:
Take 5 deep breaths 3 times per day.
With 5 deep breaths, you will recover your energy. Yet do it 3 times per day and your energy will go to the roof.
Try it now:
- Breathe in slowly through the nose (3 seconds)
- Let your belly expanded (3 seconds)
- Exhale slowly from your mouth (3 seconds)
Your new breathing exercise will eliminate feeling overwhelmed and make you much more productive.
And healthy.
12. Your Arsenal of Past Successes
You have an insatiable desire for more. It’s an ancient mechanism of your brain to survive. It’s good so.
But so you don’t appreciate everything you have now.
So turn it around.
Be grateful.
You did more than you think.
And therefore go to your past achievements. Remember
- that skill you managed
- or that brilliant sentence you said.
And you will feel immediately better.
The problem is, you’re too busy to get inspired trying to remember past successes.
And therefore you need an
ARSENAL OF PAST SUCCESSES
And you have them.
Come on! Stop feeling overwhelmed. There are lots of things you did well (otherwise you wouldn’t read this).
Be creative, there were good books you read and advice you gave to others. Remembering such things will inspire you.
Be grateful for what you have. And therefore make your inventory. Have your ARSENAL OF PAST SUCCESSES.
You must review the things you did well and the good skills you have now.
You need them to continue improving.
It´s the best self-growth strategy.
If you want more self-growth strategies here they are:
And there are many things you did well, believe me.
Your arsenal of past successes is the cool version of a gratitude journal. Yet you don’t need to write that. Simply keep them in mind. And your subconscious will do the rest.
It’s good pursuing big goals, but there are moments where you have to stop and be aware of what you did. It’s an error people do, not remembering the good things.
So if you now don’t remember your past successes, think for five minutes on 3 past achievements. No matter how big or small.
Look in your past and you will find brilliant moments where you passed that test, exercised hard, helped somebody, or make a great joke without trying.
With such an arsenal you will win mental power whenever you need it.
CONCLUSION
You can stop feeling overwhelmed.
If you’re or stuck with more than you can handle, apply any of those 12 tips. Use the one that fits better in your life:
1. Ask yourself is this so important?
2. Don’t be a people pleaser
3. Eliminate perfectionism
4. Inspiration is for amateurs.
5. The old fashioned “take a break” still works
6. You’ve felt this way before
7. Feel your body (The spiritual solution)
8. Eliminate unrealistic expectations (The X3 Strategy)
9. The “Is this really so bad?” strategy
10. The old-fashioned “taking action”
11. The 5 deep breaths solution (the fast one)
12. Your Arsenal of Past Successes
These are inexpensive methods to conquer anxiety and overwhelm. You can pay a lot to coaches and doctors. But they barely scratch the surface of what any of these tools can do.
So from now on be kind to yourself when you’re overwhelmed. Realize it’s normal and you will feel immediately relieved.
Want to know the best part?
You are much better than you think.
And whenever you need help review the tips above. They will calm your nervous system.
And it gets better,
You will be more productive. And you´ll lose all your fears so.
ONE LAST THING: Please tell me in the comments, what of these 12 advice you liked more!
11. The deep breath solution. Works every time!
Thanks for your commment Karen! Yes, deep breathing always works to have more energy.
Yes Karen ! Always breathing is a solution. If you want more info read apbut Pranayama respiration!