Image courtesy of Georgie Cobbs @ Unsplash
Overwhelm happens when we’ve too many tasks to do or feeling overpowered with emotion or thoughts.
One reason that I don’t hear people talk about often is how Imposter Syndrome can play a part in being overwhelmed. I know from personal experience and the work that I do with my clients, is when you have things to do and you’re not sure whether your’e capable, you’re’ worried you will be judged or this is the day that you might get found out, it can send you into a tail spin of overwhelm. The outcome of this is that you end up doing nothing (which is avoidance behaviour) and you create a huge amount of stress for yourself.
Really important to note that when you’re stressed you can’t critically think and you lose 20 IQ points (who can afford that hey!), so the thing you want to do is to get yourself out of overwhelm as quick as you notice it, deal with it and get back on track.
So here are 8 steps that will help you get out of overwhelm, feeling more calm and confident and back on track.
Notice that you’re overwhelmed
It’s really good if you can know how it is for you when you’re overwhelmed. Where do you feel it in your body? What does your mind do? How do you act? Having this clarity is really helpful as when it happens you can catch it and take action to get out of it
Stop, drop and breathe
Like I said above when you’re in overwhelm it’s highly likely you’re in your stress response so the best thing you can do is practise some belly breathing for 1 minute (only 3 rounds of 6-11 breathing will reset your stress response) so from that space you’re ready to deal with the overwhelm from a more responsive place
Get out of your head and onto paper
Now that you’ve dealt with the stress response you’ll be able to think clearer so grab a pen and paper and write down everything that is causing you to feel overwhelmed. It’s so much better to see it all in black and white in front of you.
Be honest - what’s underneath the overwhelm
Overwhelm is the outcome of our thoughts and feelings, so be honest with yourself. Are you feeling overwhelmed as some of the things you need to do are outside your comfort zone? What is your Inner Imposter saying to you? What are you worrying about? What are you scared or afraid of? It’s important to understand that as you need to challenge those thoughts and feelings
Break it down into bite sized chunks
When you get overwhelmed it’s helpful to break down your thinking into bite sized chunks, focusing on what needs to be done and park some stuff that you will revisit later. Here’s a framework to follow:
Stop and Drop - what needs to be considered now
Short Stay - what needs to be considered in the near future
Long stay - what needs to be in my thinking/plan at a later date?Focus only on the stop and drop list
Use your imagination
Did you know that you’re brain doesn’t know the difference between what is real and imagined so imagine yourself feeling calm, confident and getting shit done! What are you feeling, what are you saying to yourself? What are you doing when you’re in that state?
Find the first thing to do from the stop and drop list
Now that you’ve imagined what it’s like to be in flow, the best thing is to get into action. Pick ONE thing from the list and do that. Don’t be distracted and do it regardless of how you feel or what you’re thinking - keep thinking of what you visualised to keep your brain on track
Celebrate and repeat
Now you’re in action mode and nothing quietens that Imposter chatter better than ignoring it and getting to work. Once you’ve done that one task, celebrate it. Give yourself a pat on the back, a high five, a fist pump but let your mind and body know that you recognise what you just did as a good thing. Then the only thing to do is repeat it. Pick the next task, celebrate and repeat
To help you work through this, I’ve also created a workbook that takes you through this process, which you can download here.