This is a topic that comes up a lot for my clients. Spinning plates at work, an overly demanding boss, juggling kids, elderly parents, school holidays, a sick pet, a broken boiler, job insecurity. You name it – the pressures can rain down and often all at once. And I haven’t even got to the news… devastating loss of life on repeat, impunity, incompetent and ineffective leadership. I will be thrilled if I never hear the word “tariff” again.
When thinking about being overwhelmed, a little bit of neuroscience understanding is helpful. The prefrontal cortex is right at the front of your brain. It’s quite small but it’s a key area for our decision making. It’s where we solve problems and anticipate and manage emotional reactions. It uses up lots of battery power! If we perceive a threat in our environment, energy leaves that area and goes to fight that threat. That’s when we might struggle to focus or make a decision. In the immediate, space is helpful and sometimes enough to allow you to regulate. Breathing exercises are also highly effective.
There are a number of Coaching tools that can help when you’re feeling overwhelmed. In a workplace setting, Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix can definitely be beneficial. This is where tasks get organised into four quadrants around how urgent and how important they are. What would you put in Q1? Is that task actually Q2? And whatever you put in Q3 – get good at delegating – vital (I can help with this by the way!)
Another useful tool? I’m a personal fan of a “Brain Dump” – where you write down everything that comes to mind that you want/need to do. Often it can be really helpful to do this on a Sunday night as you think about the week ahead. Just this act of transferring everything on your mind to paper is powerful and settles the Sunday Scaries. It frees up space in your head and is an act of decluttering. You’re then in a position to prioritise, organise, schedule and relegate. So for example, replacing the kitchen tiles isn’t going to get done this week (and that’s fine) BUT fixing the bathroom door handle is because I will feel a lot better if this time next week I can shut the damn door. Or, I’m definitely not going to revamp my website this week, but I am going to write my next blog post. Why don’t you give a Brain Dump a try? Remember – there is going to be a lot on that list that just ain’t happening this week.
There’s a lot in our lives that’s out of our control. When we realise what we can control and how we can make small steps of progress that make us feel good, the overwhelmed feeling begins to ease.
If you’re interested in turbo-charging your professional and personal development, I have a 50% discount on a bundle of six coaching sessions. Normally that would set you back £540 but right now it’s an investment (in you) of just £270.
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