Hands up who is overwhelmed at the moment?

Yes I am overwhelmed again!

I really hate feeling overwhelmed.

Sometimes I don’t even notice – it seems to become a way of life.

It was my friend who pointed this out when we caught 30 minutes with a cuppa for a natter.

Her observation took me by surprise. Well I know I get overwhelmed now and then, but most of the time…. really?

Has the worry about getting all my work done, getting kids to various activities and if the last person I saw at work yesterday is still ok, become habitual?

It made me think that I think that my overwhelm has become part of my identity – well almost. I am not sure when this happened but I do not think that it is something I want to continue long-term.

To be honest it is exhausting. I don’t sleep and I am not that present at home with my family and I am less productive at work certainly. At times, when its bad I do start to second-guess myself, which is never good.

I have noticed that as my overwhelm worsens, my productivity worsens, which worsens my overwhelm… you know where this is going. Yes, it becomes that negative downward spiral!

Is it true that overwhelm is part of my identity? No not really. I can feel at times that it is all-consuming but there are ways to deal with it. So its only an issue if I allow it to be.

Thankfully, I have found some methods that have helped me at work to break away from the downward spiral. Five simple tools which help me take control of my workload and overwhelm thoughts. I have restarted them and they are really helping, thankfully.

5 Tips to stop overwhelm at work:

1) Take plenty of breaks : when I have several tasks to complete, I find it’s best to work on each one individually. As we all know, multitasking does not work so well as we think it is. So I focus on one piece of concentrated work, anywhere between 45-90 minutes which seems to work for me.

THEN for the most important thing – taking a break. Yes, take that break! Have a cuppa (and biscuit if you can snaffle one from somewhere). I have to keep reminding myself it does not need to be for a long time. 10-20minutes is enough. My colleagues like going on walks round the building outside. I usually prefer the cuppa, biscuit and natter but each to his own! When I fall away from this way of working I set a timer to get me back on track.

2) Time myself. Sometimes my overwhelm wants to tell me I have no time. But is that true? Well no. So to allay my fearful mind I actually time myself. This has a two-fold advantage. Partly it keeps me on track, but it also shows me how long it takes me to do things. I realise that that tricky email/report does not take as long as my mind wants to make out. When I have completed something that I thought I would not that day, I celebrate. Yes, you read that right I CELEBRATE! I would like to say I do a bit of yoga or stretch, maybe some jumping-jacks or push-ups. But being honest its …another biscuit with a cuppa of course!

3) Understanding when I am most productive. The other area I have noticed over the years is that I understand when I’m the most productive. Morning, especially early morning is great for me. 3pm onwards I am not very productive. I get all the tasks I need to get done that day, or ones that need a lot of brain power, in the morning. After 3pm, I do more automatic tasks that do not need a lot of thinking about- I like to think of these activities as “colouring”.

4) Stop Multitasking and start chunking. I am always tempted to multitask. I am a woman after all! Working on several items at once actually clutters my brain and I get less and less productive. If I’ve got a big project to do I break it down into smaller tasks or chunks (and time them!). I make sure to complete the entire smaller task for that project before moving on to another.

5) Limit Myself From Distractions. I never have my phone on my desk and if I do I silence any notifications. I realised from a young age I can be a chatterbox and so I am always tempted to chat to the nearest person about … well practically anything. So now I make sure that I only chat in one of my breaks and not for longer than I need. It can be tricky and I have to get my mindset right but my trusty timer on my phone also helps .

Do you have overwhelm?

How does it manifest in your life?

Has it become a way of life for you too?

If these 5 tips to stop overwhelm at work have helped you. There are some advanced techniques and if you would like to work on your overwhelm, come and talk to me at The Professionals Coach and let’s see how I can help you to get it under control.

Right I’m off for a cuppa and biscuit……!