How to Overcome Overwhelm: A Practical Guide

Life can sometimes feel like a massive hailstorm, pelting us with tasks, responsibilities, to-do lists miles long, and all with a side-order of anxious, stressed-out feelings. We’ve all been there — but what if we could learn to create some calm during those times of overwhelm? How cool would that be?

In this blog post, we’ll explore strategies to overcome overwhelm and in way that helps us to remain cool, calm, and collected. No clichés or fluff — just real tools for those moments when overwhelm threatens to fill us with stress and anxiousness.

And our first strategy is…

1. Don’t Judge Yourself for Feeling the Overwhelm

It’s all too easy to cast a critical eye upon ourselves when we’re feeling overwhelmed. I’ll be the first to tell you, doing so only creates more crappy feelings alongside the overwhelm.

Actually, overwhelm serves a purpose — it serves as an indicator that your brain doesn’t feel there are enough resources to deal. So, instead of judging yourself, try saying something like, “OK, the overwhelm is happening.” This will create space between you and the overwhelm so you can think a bit more clearly about your options and resources.

2. The Brain’s Survival Mode