Here’s the irony of the situation: I thought of this topic a while ago, and was then overwhelmed when I thought of writing this email.
How did I know I was overwhelmed?
There are certain symptoms that come along with overwhelm. They won’t look exactly the same in everyone, so it’s good to learn yours. That way you can recognize what is happening to you.
What did it look like for me? Well, for one thing, I kept pushing off writing the email. I was overcome by a general sense of dread when I saw it in my bullet journal to-do list, then I would push it off for the next week. And repeat. Whenever I thought about sitting down to write, my brain said things like nope and can’t and not now. I also did a lot of sighing.
But here’s the thing: Overwhelm can feel uncomfortable and like something we want to avoid. But it is not a weakness. It’s a message.
What is it coming to tell us?
There can be a few things overwhelm is coming to tell you.
- You need a break. When you are calm, rested, and energized, overwhelm does not come knocking.
- You need to take one thing at a time. Small steps are a lot less overwhelming.
- You’ve taken on too many things. Saying no often doesn’t feel like an option, but remember that every “no” means saying “yes” to something else.
For me, overwhelm was coming to tell me that I was trying to write this email during a very hectic few weeks.
You’re reading this email now, so obviously I got to it at some point. So what did I do? I broke it up into smaller steps, and I didn’t try to work on it on the very hectic days. I ended up working on it in little increments over a long period of time, but hey, it worked. I got it done.
So the next time you’re overwhelmed, think about what it’s coming to tell you.