So much work to do, so many things to get done with, everything seems like a mess, why does everything have to fall apart at the same time!
You might have definitely experienced this feeling where you felt like it’s getting too much to handle. You don’t believe you can manage everything at once. You just want to somehow escape it all.
Does this occur to everyone or is this something that happens only with you?
Rest assured, it’s natural to feel overwhelmed by responsibilities as well as expectations and there are many people who feel this way. The reason why this overwhelming feeling stems is not because you have so many responsibilities but it’s the lack of time in which you have to accomplish the goals due to which you feel overwhelmed. The time you have might not seem enough to manage and finish all the pending tasks, thereby pushing you to the edge.
People experience feeling overwhelmed at work, in a relationship, as a parent and sometimes even because of personal shortcomings. It happens as a result of accumulation of a series of piled up stressors.
So, what to do if you are feeling overwhelmed and anxious all the time?
When you are swamped with work, very often you tend to overwork and push yourself to an extent where you can’t take it anymore. Instead of taking a step back and considering why we do this and developing a new methodology, we frequently respond to ever increasing burdens by working harder and for longer durations. Here are certain measures that you can take to stop feeling overwhelmed.
Identify your triggers. When you feel overwhelmed, it feels as if there’s too much to handle. Identify and define what that too much is and where it is stemming from. It will help you get to the root cause and rectify the situation.
Pause for a moment. Step back from what you are doing and take a moment for yourself. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, tell yourself that you will get done with all the pending tasks, and then get back to the work at hand.
Be easy on yourself. It’s okay to take a break and do something else. Very often stress hinders your ability to be on your best performance. Change of work is a kind of rest and doing something else other than what is overwhelming you for some time, can help you get back to your work later with greater productivity.
Delegate and ask for help. This is specially required when you feel overwhelmed at workplace or at home. It’s okay to ask for help by distributing the responsibilities among other people. Your mental health is more important than doing everything all by yourself to prove a point about your capabilities.
Talk to a professional. It’s always a good idea to talk to a mental health professional about the things that irk you. This professional will teach you techniques to multitask, increase your efficiency and get through bothersome issues with healthy, mindfully applied coping mechanisms.
“A little progress each day is still some progress every day. It eventually adds up to big results.”
Feeling overwhelmed and Depression
An interesting question that most people have is that “Is feeling overwhelmed a symptom of depression?”
Feeling overwhelmed and Depression go hand in hand. Yes, feeling overwhelmed can be one of the symptoms of depression. The effects of depression on every element of your life are overwhelming in and of themselves. It makes individuals doubt their own qualities, competencies, connections, and worth. Being overwhelmed is suffocating too and can prevent you from acting in anyway. People often lack the motivation to proceed because they are afraid of failing or being rejected.
Signs of feeling overwhelmed
When you feel overwhelmed, you experience what it’s like to lose control of yourself. You regain control of your emotions by understanding what overwhelms you, why it happens, and how to handle it. Feeling overwhelmed in life can be due to a variety of reasons apart from being swamped with work.
Lack of sleep is a less known but very common reason behind feeling overwhelmed. If your body doesn’t get the optimum amount of sleep that it requires, you are prone to feel overwhelmed since the mind and body, both aren’t well rested.
Significant life changes can bring about a major shift in your life and leave an impact. It can be one of the causes of feeling overwhelmed since you are put into a novel situation.
Ways to deal with it
So, what to do if you are feeling overwhelmed and anxious all the time?
When you are swamped with work, very often you tend to overwork and push yourself to an extent where you can’t take it anymore. Instead of taking a step back and considering why we do this and developing a new methodology, we frequently respond to ever increasing burdens by working harder and for longer durations. Here are certain measures that you can take to stop feeling overwhelmed.
Identify your triggers. When you feel overwhelmed, it feels as if there’s too much to handle. Identify and define what that too much is and where it is stemming from. It will help you get to the root cause and rectify the situation.
Pause for a moment. Step back from what you are doing and take a moment for yourself. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, tell yourself that you will get done with all the pending tasks, and then get back to the work at hand.
Be easy on yourself. It’s okay to take a break and do something else. Very often stress hinders your ability to be on your best performance. Change of work is a kind of rest and doing something else other than what is overwhelming you for some time, can help you get back to your work later with greater productivity.
Delegate and ask for help. This is specially required when you feel overwhelmed at workplace or at home. It’s okay to ask for help by distributing the responsibilities among other people. Your mental health is more important than doing everything all by yourself to prove a point about your capabilities.
Talk to a professional. It’s always a good idea to talk to a mental health professional about the things that irk you. This professional will teach you techniques to multitask, increase your efficiency and get through bothersome issues with healthy, mindfully applied coping mechanisms.
“A little progress each day is still some progress every day. It eventually adds up to big results.”
Therapy is a great way to cope when you are feeling overwhelmed.
Download the app Ganeshaspeaks to speak to very qualified wellness therapists and counselors.