Feeling Overwhelmed?

If you are overwhelmed, welcome aboard. Multiple times a day, I am having conversations with people about what they have going on and the things that are making them feel seriously overloaded. Here are some common issues:

• parents of teenagers are extremely worried because their child has been cooped up in their rooms, living on a screen, since the pandemic started.
• health care workers are burnt out from dealing with COVID and all the implications.
• people are missing variety in their lives, especially seeing loved ones on a regular basis.
• people are generally tired of pandemic lifestyle.
• many are annoyed at those who are not following the rules properly and the vaccine rollout.

These are just to name a few of the things that are contributing to a feeling of overwhelm right now. It is hard to figure out what to do for yourself when it all seems like too much. Compensating by doing more is not necessarily the answer but that is often what we turn to. We get busy, we try and avoid hard feelings but in the end, this only makes it worse.

Here are some things you can do when feeling overwhelmed.

1. Stick to a Routine – Go to bed and wake up at a decent hour. Sometimes people report that they cannot fall asleep and so they stay up most of the night. This leads to sleeping in the next morning which can lead to falling behind on tasks that need to be done. This whole cycle of going to bed late, sleeping in and falling behind contributes to low mood and feeling crappy.
2. Rest – Especially if you are not getting a good nights’ sleep, it is important to rest during the day if you can.
3. Drink Water, Eat Food – Make a point of drinking extra water and eating meals. Lots of people back away from taking care of themselves when struggling instead of leaning into healthy habits. It may seem that not eating or drinking would not help with feeling overwhelmed but ensuring the basics are covered helps with coping.
4. Break Down Tasks – break tasks into smaller chunks to make them manageable. Another way to break things down is to keep your focus on one day at a time.
5. Talk to Someone you Trust – reach out to someone who you know can hold your pain or frustration. Talking about it can relieve some of the feelings of pressure and discontentment.

Expect moments of overwhelm, especially during a pandemic. While it is not the most comfortable feeling, paying attention to your basic needs can help get you through.