Simple time management steps can help you avoid overwhelm
Do you feel busier than ever? Are you struggling to find time for what is important to you? So many women we talk to are juggling many commitments and demands on their time and feeling stressed each day.
The problem is it doesn’t take much to go from feeling stressed to feeling overwhelmed and then to burnt out. And the impact on our health and our lives can be huge and upsetting. So it is really important to be aware of the signs when you are heading towards overwhelm and know the steps to take to avoid it happening.
Overwhelm is that feeling you have when you have lots to do and don’t know where to start and perhaps have fear around your ability to get things done.
Here Are Some Common Causes Of Overwhelm:
• You have lots of things you feel you need to do but don’t see how you
can in the time you have
• You want everything to be perfect
• You find it hard to say no and have other people regularly taking up your time and energy
• You have some fear about your capability to do what is needed to complete a project
• You already feel tired or even unwell
• You want to feel in control all of the time
• You feel responsible for everything and everyone
• You have everything mapped out and something gets in the way of you completing
the task as you had planned
When we feel overwhelmed it affects us on many levels. Emotionally we can feel escalated levels of stress and anxiety, low motivation and even a sense of drowning or being stuck. Our emotional state in turn affects our physical health. When I feel overwhelmed my stomach gets tied in knots and it plays havoc on my digestive system. Val’s jaw tightens up and she gets headaches. Other women I know feel tightness in their chests, others get short tempered and withdrawn.
What does overwhelm feel like for you? What causes your overwhelm?
How Can You Avoid Overwhelm?
Here are five time tips you can use to avoid overwhelm:
- Become aware of your own personal warning signs – what are your thoughts, how is your body feeling. Don’t ignore the signals.
- Say “No” and be comfortable doing this (with no guilt!). A time management tip we swear by if you find this difficult is to write yourself a script and practice using it until saying “No” is easy for you.
- Ask for help – both at work and at home. It is not a sign of weakness to ask for help – it shows you know what needs to get done and have a plan to make it happen. No one said you have to do it all, so don’t!
- Make it a practice to “under promise and over deliver.” Only promise to do what you absolutely know you can do within the given time frame. If you find you have the time and energy and feel like going an extra step then over-deliver. Just don’t make it a requirement every time.
- Take breaks in your day. 10-15minutes in the fresh air will refresh your mind and body. Take a walk, stretch, read, meditate…whatever works for you. You’ll also find the change in perspective is great for coming up with new ideas and problem solving.
How To Get Out Of Overwhelm
Here are seven time management techniques to try:
- Acknowledge when you are overwhelmed. This is an important first step. Once you admit it you can then take action to do something about it.
- Put things in perspective. What is the worst case scenario if you cannot get done what you had planned? If it is not life and death, then it’s time to revisit your priorities.
- Get clear about what you are trying to achieve and your priorities. What are the key actions that will best advance you achieving your objectives? What are the actions that your manager would expect of you?
- Get stuck into the priority actions. Overwhelm can paralyse you or the opposite – have you running around like a headless chicken. By stepping into the tasks you will refocus and gain a sense of progress.
- Separate the tasks from your sense of self worth. Your ability to get everything done in the time you set yourself is not a reflection of who you are as a person. Don’t fall into telling yourself your struggling, your not working fast enough, your not smart enough.
- Again, get help if you need someone to handle of the tasks that are easy to delegate so you get things done.
- Revisit your expectations of yourself. Are you realistic of what you can expect to do? Are you acknowledging you have limits? Identify tasks you can drop off your To Do list and give yourself a break – because if you don’t you can’t expect anyone else to.
Please share with us and other readers the causes of your overwhelm and what works for you. It’s always great to know we are not coping alone and to learn from other people’s stories.
