Overwhelm is a Mindset
One of the greatest pieces of advice that I've ever received was a cousin to the familiar "Happiness is a choice," that you may have seen plastered on many an Instagram feed:
I wish I had been cool enough to come up with that on my own, but the #bossbabe who actually penned the phrase is Jen Sincero (author of You Are a Badass, which you should 100% read, if you haven't already).
In her tiny book, You Are a Badass Everyday, Jen (I can call her that. We're friends, right, Jen?) goes on to say that feeling overwhelmed is making the choice to focus on everything all at once, rather than what's in front of you in the moment.
I have been guilty of unnecessary overwhelm. I'd wake up in the morning and immediately go through my to-do list:
OK, I've got to get up, have my coffee, work out by 5:00, shower by 5:40, wake up the kids at 6:00am sharp, get them both dressed and get out the door by 6:40...
This would go on and on throughout the day, with me constantly coming back to the mental list of things I had to do and the time in which I had to have them done. I'd be massively stressed out halfway through the day and too mentally exhausted by the end to even get everything done. I firmly believe that mental exhaustion can be more powerful than physical exhaustion, and anyone who has ever been overwhelmed can back me up on that.
So what do we do? How do we solve this problem of tackling the things that we have to do without throwing our minds into the type of overdrive that leaves us too tired to even begin?
Make a List - Rather than letting the things you need to do bounce around in your head (and risk losing them), write them down. Every time something pops into your head, jot it down, and actually cross things off once you've done them. That way you don't have to worry about remembering everything, and you get a sense of accomplishment when you get something done.
Accept that the list is never-ending - As soon as you cross one item off the list, three more will come to mind (this is an undeniable fact). Some days you'll be super productive and cross item after item off, and other days you won't even remember that you have a list...or get dressed...and that's OK. There's always something to do, so don't drive yourself crazy trying to get everything done.
Know that everything can't be a priority - Another great piece of advice that I received? "If everything is important, nothing is." Priorities got their name for a reason, they go before everything else, and everything can't be a priority. Decide each day (or each week, each month, whatever timeline you can handle) what things absolutely have to get done and take care of them first. The rest will be added to the next list you make, y ya.
Stay in the moment - Life should be lived, not rushed through. Instead of hurrying to get to the next item on your to-do list, stay fully engaged in whatever is right in front of you. No one in the world is in a greater rush than a mom who is trying to get multiple children dressed and out the door by a certain time. It's easy to stress out about how slow my children move in the morning, or get frustrated with my daughter trying to play peek-a-boo when I'm just trying to get her shirt to stay on. I have to remind myself that these are moments that I will never get again, and I need to enjoy them.
You would think that staying present would be easier, but we live in a very fast-paced, busy world. There is always somewhere to go, something to do, someone to see. It's an environment that lends easily to overwhelm, but we get to choose how we experience it. Why choose to focus on everything all at once when we can choose to exist peacefully right where we are?
"Overwhelm is a mindset"
I wish I had been cool enough to come up with that on my own, but the #bossbabe who actually penned the phrase is Jen Sincero (author of You Are a Badass, which you should 100% read, if you haven't already).
In her tiny book, You Are a Badass Everyday, Jen (I can call her that. We're friends, right, Jen?) goes on to say that feeling overwhelmed is making the choice to focus on everything all at once, rather than what's in front of you in the moment.
I have been guilty of unnecessary overwhelm. I'd wake up in the morning and immediately go through my to-do list:
OK, I've got to get up, have my coffee, work out by 5:00, shower by 5:40, wake up the kids at 6:00am sharp, get them both dressed and get out the door by 6:40...
So what do we do? How do we solve this problem of tackling the things that we have to do without throwing our minds into the type of overdrive that leaves us too tired to even begin?
Make a List - Rather than letting the things you need to do bounce around in your head (and risk losing them), write them down. Every time something pops into your head, jot it down, and actually cross things off once you've done them. That way you don't have to worry about remembering everything, and you get a sense of accomplishment when you get something done.
Accept that the list is never-ending - As soon as you cross one item off the list, three more will come to mind (this is an undeniable fact). Some days you'll be super productive and cross item after item off, and other days you won't even remember that you have a list...or get dressed...and that's OK. There's always something to do, so don't drive yourself crazy trying to get everything done.
Know that everything can't be a priority - Another great piece of advice that I received? "If everything is important, nothing is." Priorities got their name for a reason, they go before everything else, and everything can't be a priority. Decide each day (or each week, each month, whatever timeline you can handle) what things absolutely have to get done and take care of them first. The rest will be added to the next list you make, y ya.
Stay in the moment - Life should be lived, not rushed through. Instead of hurrying to get to the next item on your to-do list, stay fully engaged in whatever is right in front of you. No one in the world is in a greater rush than a mom who is trying to get multiple children dressed and out the door by a certain time. It's easy to stress out about how slow my children move in the morning, or get frustrated with my daughter trying to play peek-a-boo when I'm just trying to get her shirt to stay on. I have to remind myself that these are moments that I will never get again, and I need to enjoy them.
You would think that staying present would be easier, but we live in a very fast-paced, busy world. There is always somewhere to go, something to do, someone to see. It's an environment that lends easily to overwhelm, but we get to choose how we experience it. Why choose to focus on everything all at once when we can choose to exist peacefully right where we are?
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