What to Do When You Feel Overwhelmed

There’s a point where things stop feeling manageable. Not just busy. Not just a bit stressed.

But like everything is sitting in your head all at once and you don’t know where to start.

You might have a list or if you are like me...several. You might know what needs doing.

But instead of starting, you feel stuck, you avoid it .Or you keep thinking about it without actually doing anything.

I relate to this and I have found that a lot advice at this point doesn’t help.

It tells you to:

• get organised

• make a plan

• prioritise

But when you’re already overwhelmed, that just adds more pressure. This is where things can get stuck.

Why this happens

When there’s too much going on, your brain is trying to process everything at once.

Too many decisions. Too many expectations. Too much input.

So instead of helping you move forward, it does the opposite: It delays, it avoids, it shuts things down.

The hard thing to remember when you are in this place is that this isn’t a lack of effort.

It’s overload.

What actually helps

When things feel like this, you don’t need more structure. You actually need less.

Start here:

Reduce input

Close tabs. Silence notifications. Step away from noise if you can.

Give yourself a minimum of 10 minutes to allow your body and brain to decompress- focus on your breath or sit with your feet on the ground (no shoes on) and push your feet into the ground. Notice how this makes you feel.

Get it out of your head

Write everything down.

Not neatly. Not organised .Just get it all out of your head and onto paper or a document on your laptop/phone. The idea is to get all of the tasks out of your head and onto paper where you have a visual document that can then be worked through.

Choose one thing

Ask:

“What would make today feel slightly easier?”

Pick only one thing.

Make it smaller

Smaller than feels necessary. The key is to break things down into very small tasks.

for example-

Lets say you need to get on top of admin. The list is huge. Instead of looking at multiple things, try this:

Open one document. Just one.

Start briefly

Set a short timer. To start I think 5 mins is reasonable.

Start.

Stop when the timer ends.

If you find yourself in 'the zone' try to use the Pomodoro Technique- work for 25 mins then take a 5 minute break.

A different way to approach this

If this is something you come back to often, the hardest part is usually knowing what to do in the moment.

Not later. Not when you feel better.

Right then.

That’s why I’ve created simple, structured tools you can open and follow without having to think it through.

You can explore them here: Tools & Resources | NeuroNest