This past month I have been feeling overwhelmed. I’ve experienced a great amount of stressors in my personal life recently. Before I could resolve or process one stressor, another would all but too quickly appear.
Essentially for the past month I have been on survival mode. Stress was on an aggressive offensive and I couldn’t keep up. Life doesn’t stop. I found it challenging to try and overcome the stress while still trying to juggle all the responsibilities of daily living.
MedLinePlus explains that too much stress can lead to symptoms such as sleep issues, decreased energy, body aches, and anxiety. I can admit that I had begun to feel those symptoms and then some.
So what do you do when you’re feeling overwhelmed?
Breathe & Deescalate
Feeing overwhelmed can cause our breathing and heartbeats to be irregular. It can signal the “fight or flight” response. It can reduce our critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Take some deep breaths. Compose yourself. This advice may be cliché but it’s here for a reason. Much better choices are made when you are as calm and level-headed as possible.
Step back then regroup
This is not the same as breathing and deescalating. Take some time to remove yourself from your stressor and allow yourself to regroup. Develop a plan. Find a way to approach your stressor differently. Sometimes stressors cannot be resolved immediately. You remaining in the space where the stressor is will not stop you from feeling overwhelmed. Remove and reorganize yourself.
Focus on one issue at a time
Having many issues at once whether big or small can be overwhelming. There may be days where nothing seems to be going right and the amount of stress is too daunting. This then can lead to avoidance which usually makes feeling overwhelmed even more destabilizing. Address one issue at a time. If you can break down a big issue into smaller ones, do so.
Implement Self Care
Through anything you are going through you should be taking time to take care of yourself. Feeling overwhelmed already can lead to stress which in turn can lead to so many other issues. Ignoring self-care can make stress even more pronounced. It’s a vicious cycle that should be avoided. Despite all that may be going in in your life, still invest in self-care.
