Multiconstruct

There are a couple of secrets to dealing with feeling overwhelmed. Our fast paced modern life often feels like far more is expected of us than we can actually deliver. Overwhelm can result in frenetic activity that doesn’t bring results, like spinning your wheels, shutting down and not doing anything, or perhaps worse yet getting the “fuck it’s”, where we start doing behaviors we ordinarily would never do.

Learning to handle overwhelm with grace has been a skill I have been forced to develop. I remember when I was leading a multidisciplinary team working with hard to serve individuals in a behavioral health program and my Manager said: “You look like you feel overwhelmed”.

I said: “I don’t feel overwhelmed, I am overwhelmed.” The issue was not my emotional regulation it was the material factors of the job I was assigned to do.

My first tip is differentiate, is this a feeling or is it a situation that truly exists? If it’s a feeling we use our reliable feelings management skills of taking a moment to  slow and deepen our breath. Note any tense areas, I carry my stress in my neck and shoulders, so stretching and relaxing those areas are a must for me.

Note your thinking. Question and challenge any thinking that is contributing to the feeling. Can we look at something differently to get a different result? In addition to challenging negative self talk launch some positive self talk to encourage and soothe yourself. If those helpful and comforting thoughts don’t immediately come to mind, think about what you would say to a friend.

If it’s an actual situation of being overwhelmed then prioritizing and strategically addressing the confounding issues is the key. I rank what I have to do and mostly tackle the most important things first. When you’re taking action you focus on that task with your whole attention and let the rest go until it’s their turn.

We can only do one, or sometimes two things at a time. Don’t try to tackle more than that. Make your list and work through it, most important things first. That’s it. Manage your feelings and strategically work your way back to control.

That one was for me today friends. Time to get back at the immediate concerns of the day. Thanks for reading.