How to deal with overwhelm
Being overwhelmed is something that I deal with in a major way multiple times a week. Sometimes my whole brain just makes a little party because it is full of ideas, problems and life-changes (and a anxiety disorder sometimes). Especially if you are someone that is just constantly creating and thinking you know how much harder overwhelm is for creatives. I developed a little routine for those situations that I show you in this post about How to deal with overwhelm.
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Take a break
Depending on how messed up your brain feels you should take either a few hours to a few days off of whatever you are doing. You don’t want to get a burnout just because you are overwhelmed…believe me when I say that it happens (my 2014 self would appreciate this info). Just take a step back from whatever makes your brain implode. You could also read a book in this time. I would suggest βGetting Things Doneβ since it is on topic.
Have a self-care only day
My ultimate advice for every bad mood or situation is ALWAYS self-care. Have a self-care day with skin care, 5 sites of journaling in your notebook and a long meditation session. Recharge your inner batteries and make yourself feel good. Journaling is my number one self-care task when I feel overwhelmed because I can let out every thought onto the paper and analyze what’s the problem.
Set achievable goals
Now that you had a little reset and wrote down all your thoughts you should structure and organize. Set yourself achievable goals and make a list of action steps to ever goal. Those action steps can be cut down even more into daily tasks depending on the goal. Prioritize your goals and also prioritize your live areas. Your health is more important than work for example.
Have only 2-3 big tasks daily
Outside of your daily routine you should only have 2-3 bigger tasks daily. Nobody can really do more than that on an average day. On good days you can obviously add another task after you finished the first 3. I personally recommend 2 tasks for the slower people or the people dealing with mental health issues (like myself) and 3 for the people that aren’t really prone to procrastination and stress.
Make journaling a habit
I already wrote a whole blog post about the reasons you should start journaling, but if you are easily overwhelmed this should definitely the first thing that you should make a new habit in your life. It may not be the easiest in the beginning, but it gets so much easier with time and you will notice that you will feel a bit lighter and free.
If stress is a constant problem for you I suggest you to talk to either a coach (if you think it’s based on the way you work) or a therapist (if you think you could have sensitive mental health). I personally just started opening coaching spots that you can check out HERE.
These were my tips on How to deal with overwhelm. Always remember that everybody is different and there might be some things that help me better than they help you. If you have a little routine for overwhelming life situation you can comment it down below or share it with me in my contact formular.
If you want to get printable reminders for your mental health or an ebook about inspiration that you can read through while you are having your self care day you can get them in my resource library that you can access as a part of my newsletter squad. Sign up here to get the freebies and monthly tips for creatives:
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