When I feel overwhelmed I do these three things.

You’re overwhelmed.

There’s a lot on your plate.

So many projects on the go, children are screaming; attention pulling you this way and that.

‘I’m so overwhelmed by it all,’ you say.

But what is overwhelm?

It’s a word you hold in your head.

It is just a thought.

Overwhelm isn’t a thing. It’s not any one thing. It can’t be, because all we have is the thing right in front of us.

The thought of being overwhelmed takes up a lot of energy — energy that can be directed at the task at hand.

“Realise deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.”

~Eckhart Tolle

Understanding this is the first step to diminishing your sense of overwhelm.

We don’t need to do what our thoughts tell us. They are just suggestions, and most are assumptions.

Those thoughts that say that we need to do several things at once.

We don’t need to do what they say.

See unhelpful thoughts as reminders to return to consciousness.

The best we can do is put everything into the thing right in front of us with a kind of grace and present joy.

One thing at a time. That’s all we can do.

Get out of thought and into presence.

“Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done.”

~Greg McKeown

It may be, however, that you are confusing overwhelm with being overloaded, which are two very different things.

You might have made the very human error of saying yes to more things to which you can feasibly dedicate attention. Particularly those tasks and activities that have no relation to one another that you agreed to do out of a need to please others.

If you are overwhelmed, you are unconscious.

But if you are overloaded, it might be time to get back to the essentials.

Simplify things right down.

What is unnecessary that you include in your life right now?

Perhaps it’s time to choose one thing out of the two options you can’t be without.

Go smaller. You can add things later as you progress, but keep it simple for now.

What is the one thing you need to do to get what you want, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or even unnecessary (credit: Gary Keller)?

What would you love to create most of all? How does knowing this in your heart inform what you prioritise over the rest?

What do you need to stop doing to maintain total focus on the absolute essentials?

What drains your energy? Drop them.
What energises you? Do more of that.

Become a minimalist in how you use your time and energy, or at least break down your tasks.

You will find by regularly culling a lot of the items in my to-do list, nothing terrible happens.

And when we are focused more intensely on fewer tasks that truly matter, we are more creative, and the world benefits the most.

“Clarity is what a person’s psychology is always endeavouring to return to. Innate clarity and resilience are always shining a beacon, even when a person seems hopelessly lost…”

~Jamie Smart

Thirdly, you could be overwhelmed because you don’t know what to do.

Most of us see an image in our heads of what we need to do, and it’s a scary mountain shrouded in swirling mist.

But all you need to do is be conscious of each step on the way.

Are you conscious of the steps that make up your high-priority project?

If not, that’s why you’re procrastinating, fearful, ‘lazy,’ and ultimately unconscious.

List out all the components of what you need to do. Guess if you need to.

Get it all on paper. From this create a rough outline of what needs to happen from start to finish.

You have an outline; now you’re 90% more conscious. What does the outline require you to do?

What are the steps? Or at least, what are your first handful of steps so that you create momentum.

Make it so clear there is no confusion in what you need to do next.

Are you still overwhelmed?

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If these ideas stirred something in you, I’d love to read your comment below. I read them all.

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Alex