Dear All
I couldn’t’ quite fit these eight suggestions into the usual five so we will have to think of this post a 5 + 3 things to do today. I promise not get into the habit of the extra three
In life it is very easy to become overwhelmed with all that you have to do either at work or at home. Sometimes you spend so much time dwelling on all your tasks that you end up being too daunted to start any of them. The feeling of being overwhelmed makes you feel tired and exhausted and it can be very hard to find the motivation to do anything. It is important to find strategies that work for you that enable you to lift yourself out of this situation. Here are eight suggestions for when you next find yourself being overwhelmed.
- Remove your-self from the situation – choose a time in the day to go for a walk in the fresh air for about half an hour. It is important to immerse yourself in a different environment to allow you to put all the things that are overwhelming you into perspective. Walk slowly and thoughtfully and allow all the different things that you need to do come to you naturally. Try not force thoughts through you mind. Treat this time as you time and a time to take stock of the things on your mind.
- Make a list of your tasks – Find a quiet spot without distractions and simply write down in a random order the things that are on your mind and that you think you have to do. I would put this list in a small and compact notebook that you can carry in your pocket; loose paper is fine but could be lost which will cause more stress. Have the list with you at all times. Put everything on this list from all the different areas of your life e.g. work, family, social and sport. Just the process of writing things down takes them off your mind and onto paper. Ideas on paper are much easier to deal with than ideas on your min
- Prioritise your tasks – Take a calm look at your list in its entirety. If there is a task that you are dreading and not looking forward to then put a circle around it. Choose three tasks that you consider to be the most important. Make one of these three the one you circled i.e. the one you are least likely wanting to do.
- Choose one thing to do and break the task up into chunks – the idea here is that you need should split larger tasks into smaller manageable ones. In my opinion the smaller the better, so small that you cannot fail at it. If you have to write a letter and it relies on several e-mails then the first chunk might be to find the relevant e-mails, print them off and staple them together. Simply starting a task and achieving a small part of it will make you feel that you are making progress.
- Decide on something to do now – it is important to start something small straight away. It does not matter what it is or how small but as long as you start. Doing something small now is far better than doing nothing.
- Find a quiet spot and breatheproperly– sometimes you just need a quiet moment away from distractions such as your phone, the internet or other people. This solitude needn’t be for a long time, five minutes will do. When you have found your spot try to clear your mind of all thoughts as hard as it might be just think of nothing. Imagine all your thoughts being in tiny helium balloons that are floating off. Imagine putting your thoughts in small rubbish bags, tie the ends and throw them away. You need to close your eyes and enjoy the darkness. Concentrate on your breathing and take deep breaths through your nose. Allow the inhaled air out though your mouth slowly. Repeat this until you feel completely relaxed. Concentrate on nothing but your breathing. Enjoy your quiet time alone.
- Avoid thinking about the final outcome – instead just think about the next action you have to do. If you have broken the task down into mini chunks then this should be easy. Once you have completed a few of the smaller the chunks then there is no harm in looking at your progress. Give yourself a reward for the progress you have made.
- Avoid people that will have a negative impact on your day – we all know people at work and in our social life that drain our energy and we are left a little bit worse about ourselves. At times of pressure and when combinations of deadlines are approaching these types of people do not help. They will take up your time and if they tell you about their problems you will feel even more overwhelmed. If you can try to surround yourself with positive people, people that actually do and are active rather than talkers and moaners.
Please feel free to contribute your own suggestions to David at [email protected].
Thanks for reading
David
