What To Do When You’re Stuck In Overwhelm

We’ve all been there… full of dreams and aspirations and to-do lists as long as our arms and all of a sudden we find ourselves scattered and unable to focus on any one task. We so desperately want to make the right choice, to be efficient, to move the needle forward in our business that we begin to overthink the details and lose sight of the big picture. Before we know it analysis paralysis has kicked in and we’re officially stuck in overwhelm.

Now, all we can focus on is what we’re not doing, or even worse, what everyone else is doing. Here’s the good news… A) It happens to the best of us – trust me, I’d know! B) We can avoid becoming stuck in overwhelm, just like we work our muscles in the gym – practice, habit, rinse and repeat.

If you’re currently overwhelmed AF and struggling to see the wood from the trees, so to speak, here are 3 tried and tested actions you can take that will help to create clarity, fast.

Reframe things to help drag you out of panic and into a more positive mindset.

I was chatting to one of my coaches after a particularly heavy bout of overwhelm and as I explained to her how I was feeling and how I was self-sabotaging and not getting anywhere. She immediately jumped in, with more than a hint of excitement in her voice, and said – ‘this is great, it usually means that some massive growth is right around the corner.’

It wasn’t what I was expecting her to say and it caught me off guard in the best way. I felt a bit of the tension melt away as I opened myself up to the possibility that actually I wasn’t just totally useless and that I’d get to experience the progress I was looking for, very soon, if I just kept moving forward. That shift in perspective and mindset meant that I woke up the next day, clear-headed, focused and ready to go!

So, if you’re currently feeling stuck and bogged down, just take a deep breath and know that change is coming!

Put those blinkers back on and spend a little time getting reacquainted with your ‘big vision’.

Often, when we’re overwhelmed and unfocused, it’s because we’ve allowed ourselves to become too distracted with what we think we should be doing or what everyone else is doing. It’s time to refocus and get laser clear on what we want out of our life and business. Once you’ve reminded yourself of exactly what you’re working towards, I can guarantee it will make all those other small decisions that we have to make day-to-day that much easier.

You will know where best to direct your focus to help move you along the path toward achieving your big vision.

Ditch the to-do list to ditch the overwhelm.

Ok, fine, not entirely, however, I’m a firm believer in that having anything more than 3 to 4 tasks on your to-do list, with one of those tasks being a relatively ‘big’ job, will just leave you feeling either defeated or burnt out. Neither is a good look.

In addition to that, I would really try to gain some clarity around how and when you work best… Take me for example, I know that I work best first thing and that I have a total mental / energetic slump around 2 pm/3 pm. So, I work on all of my ‘big’ tasks first thing and I save 90% of my admin for that mid-afternoon lull because I know that I need minimal creative energy for emails.

If you keep a close eye, I can guarantee that you’ll notice your own rhythms and energy shifts and as with our strengths, we really will get the best results if we play to them instead of fighting against them.

Do you ever find yourself getting stuck in overwhelm? If so, how do you drag yourself out of it, I’d love to know so that I can add to my arsenal of tips, tools and tricks!

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