One of the most rapid and stealthy causes of low mood and mental distress, is overwhelm. It silently creeps up on us in an instant, and we don't immediately recognise it when it happens. So once present, it can fester and grow unnoticed, until we eventually realise we 'feel bad'.
Overwhelm requires just one simple mechanism to take place - for the balance of the load you are dealing with, to tip.
We are all equipped with our own personal level of capacity - a mental capacity, physical capacity and of course, an emotional capacity. For the most part, it is physical capacity that has dominance throughout each day. That's simply because as physical beings, we are governed by physical natural laws. Within these, resides the natural law of time. So there is only 'so much' time in any day to do things, enable transactions, progress life circumstances and achieve outcomes. And as we all know, time is the one thing that others like to take.
The second major aspect governed by natural law, is the physical body. Quite literally, the amount of energy we have within our body to get things done, to travel between locations, to effect physical movement, and to maintain our own momentum.
The dominance of physical capacity is a real thing. On any given day, you may either run out of time, or run out of energy. Or both.
So, actual physical capacity dictates the amount we actually get done. It is a fierce master of each day of our lives. And on that basis, it is fair to assume that most, if not all of us, conclude each day with an amount of things 'not done'. Therefore, the remainder gets carried over to the next day.
Our physical capacity to get things done will then start each day already carrying the leftovers of the previous day, week, or even months. It is inevitable that without taking direct focused action to clear the backlog, our physical capacity will ultimately, and naturally, become overwhelmed.
The feelings accompanied with not getting things done, lessens our inner spirit. We may be frustrated, annoyed, fretful. We could be disappointed in ourselves and in our own inability to achieve. If we turn that inwards, we could become self-judgemental, even self-destructive in formulating an unfair view of our self and our perception of lack of achievement.
It’s a flawed mindset, relative to a flawed outcome. Overwhelm will bring us down, without us even realising it.
So Help Yourself:
1. Understand the physical laws and needs, and don't try to fight them. Instead, make them your friend! Time can be your friend when you try not to have more of it than exists. Your body is your friend if you give it rest, fuel and some time in a restorative environment.
2. Take action! Get a pen and paper out and write down what didn't get done at the end of each day. You then start the next day with a clear understanding of how much capacity is already needing to be allocated to the backlog. You can then adjust your day's plans accordingly.
3. If you start the day with very little 'spare' capacity, be more discerning in how you offer that capacity to others. Consider carefully what you choose to additionally take on. "I just can't fit that in today," is a valid statement. But always use it in truth, so that you maintain the integrity of all your actions.
4. Make good choices for what gets to 'take' your time and energy, based on its value. In assessing how worthwhile or valuable something is, give consideration to the contribution it can make to both you and others. If something is somewhat pointless, useless, meaningless or unworthy, then don't allocate it your precious resources.
And REMEMBER… Overwhelm is a FEELING
The only way it gets attention is when you recognise what you're feeling. Over-busy people switch off their feelings in order to direct all available resources towards the 'doing'. Stop! Raise awareness to how you feel. And get clear on how you choose to use your resources before the enemy of overwhelm catches you unaware!
