How to Keep from Being Overwhelmed

When your responsibilities pile up, it can be easy to feel like there is too much going on and you are unable to handle it. If you are feeling overwhelmed, it may be necessary to step back for a little while and reflect on what is making you feel so exhausted.

A girl is angry in front of her laptop
Photo by JESHOOTS on Unsplash

We want to help you take care of yourself and make some changes to your life so that you can feel more in control and not so inundated with everything that life is throwing at you.

Determine Your Priorities

One of the best ways to deal with feelings of exhaustion and being overwhelmed is to make a list of what is important to you. Put this list in order as best you can, taking time to think about each entry on the list and what it means to you.

Reflect on this list and keep it somewhere that you will be able to see it every day. This will help you to put things in perspective and see things in a new light. If you focus on what is important and put your time into the most important things, then the less important things won’t seem as stressful. You might be able to eliminate some tasks from your day and spend your time more wisely. Often, the reason we feel overwhelmed is because we don’t prioritize well, and we waste time that we could be using for better, more important things. Being mindful of what is truly important will help us to focus and keep things in the right perspective.

Talk to Someone About Your Feelings

It can help to just communicate with another person how you feel. When you are taking on feelings of responsibility that seem to be more than you can handle, it is beneficial to share that experience with someone. Telling them that you feel overwhelmed and that you aren’t sure how you can cope will in itself be a way to cope. You will find that you are at least a little less stressed and that you are sharing your burden with another person. They may not help you with those responsibilities, but they can share your feelings with you and empathize.

You might be surprised at how helpful this practice is, and when you find someone you can confide in who will understand what you are going through, you will have a partner who will be there emotionally for you. That’s at least emotional help even if it isn’t physical help, and yet many times, that person will pitch in and offer to help or provide advice that can make things easier on you. They can give you a different perspective on things and help you to deal with some of your issues. It is not a bad idea to take your problems to multiple people in this way and get different kinds of counseling for what you are going through.

Split Your Tasks Up

When you have a lot to do, it may help to divide these tasks into smaller parts. So, if you want to clean your home, you can do that little by little over the course of the week. You don’t need to do it all at once, and trying to do everything in one go will make you feel overwhelmed sometimes.

You can split tasks up between you and another person as well, like a spouse, a friend, or a hired professional. Using the top cleaning services in San Diego, CA to help with the housework will certainly make things easier for you and leave you less to do.

We stress ourselves out by putting too much on our plates at once, giving ourselves a lot of work to do and not asking for help. If you have a plumbing or electrical problem, why not get some help with those if they are beyond your expertise? If you have lots of housework or yard work to do and you can afford to pay someone to do those, why not do that? You will give yourself some more time in your schedule and it will be like presenting a gift to yourself- the gift of time.

Focus on the Moment

This is an emotional grounding exercise that can help you in times when you feel overwhelmed. In those times, you can have trouble focusing and keeping yourself grounded. Here is what can help- take a moment and think about where you are, what you are doing, and why you are doing it. When we feel anxious and stressed, we may be thinking about things in the future or the past and not focusing on the moment. It helps to meditate on our place in this moment and in this world and why we do what we do.

If all of that sounds esoteric and not very helpful, then try this instead- Ask yourself the following questions:

By answering these questions, you can give yourself some positive motivation and stop focusing so much on future anxieties and worries.

Remove Sensory Inputs

Feelings of anxiety and a sense of being overwhelmed can come from sensory overload. This means that there are too many things trying to get our attention and keep us from being focused. You know how hard it is to study when there are noises and distractions everywhere, right? Well, you can feel distracted and unfocused because there is too much going on during any activity you are engaged in.

What helps is to drown them out or step away from them. So, you can try closing your eyes, putting your headphones in, and listening to music. You can also step away from the situation and go somewhere quiet to meditate and think and be alone.

When your situation is too much for you to handle, try to cut out sensory inputs to calm yourself down and regain control.