4 Simple Steps To Help Avoid Being Overwhelmed
Boost Your Resilience Against Getting Over Worked And Overwhelmed
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second of a two-part series on how to avoid becoming overwhelmed. Read the first part here.
Being overwhelmed is rarely something that suddenly springs up on you. It may seem as though it does, but more often it is something that sneaks up on you over time. Days and weeks or even months pass, and you may find your tolerance and resilience to lifes challenges diminished. Often there are small slips in performance and productivity you or others can observe over time, but they can be easy to miss. Then one day you realize your mistakes are piling up and your productivity has stumbled. And you begin to see and feel the impact of a loss of resilience.
There are those who have more natural resilience to stress compared with others, but chances are that at some point in everyones life, their resilience may be lowered and they find themselves on the verge of becoming overwhelmed. Even if you are not yet feeling overwhelmed today, there are techniques you can practice each day that can build your resilience and fortify you against the days when you do begin to slip toward becoming overwhelmed.
Consider these small daily changes to your routine that can help you build resilience.
4 Steps to Reduce Your Odds of Becoming Overwhelmed
1. Stop! Stop checking the market news, your investments, your bank account or your retirement fund. Checking every day only leaves you frustrated and possibly worried. Unless you are within weeks of cashing out, checking in even once a month (or less often) is usually frequent enough to gather good information and see big-picture trends.
Do you review the news more than once a day? Whether on LinkedIn, CNN or in the newspaper, it is easy to read more and more newsmuch of it bad. This can lower your resilience. It is great to be informed, but find opportunities to be informed about good news, and avoid bad news on a regular basis.
2. Find a quiet place to think every day.
While you are there, stop checking your messages, email and social networking sites. Do this for at least 30 minutes once a day.
You may consider adding peaceful images or videos of nature or calming vistas, or soothing music. Research tells us that for most people, music and images impact feelings and mood. If you can find ones that help you relax, then incorporate them into your quiet place. Over time, you may find that you can create your own images in your mind through visualization. Even spending 15 minutes visualizing a relaxing scenario or picturing yourself stronger and more resilient can impact your ability to be resistant to stress.
3. Become aware of your body’s physical needs. If you need to rest and relax, select a warm room, a warm bath, a sauna or a walk in the sun. Learn to breathe, and pay attention to your breathing. Breathe in slowly through your nose and feel your lungs expand, then exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat this at least three to five times, and really pay attention to what you are doing and how it feels. As you practice this, you will find it easier to draw upon the feelings of relaxation and being in the moment when you are under stress and need to call upon it.
4. Be aware of your surroundings. Be in the moment and notice what you see, hear and feel around you. If you do not like what you see, change your surroundings. If you cannot be in your ideal surroundings, bring an object or visualize an image that you find calming.
If you can catch your self before you fall and learn to apply these four simple techniques, you just may find you are better able to build your resilience and navigate your way back to productivity before you become overwhelmed.
Related content:
Getting Overwhelmed? Catch Yourself Before You Fall
Happiness, Will You Know It When You See It?
How to Turn Fear to Your Advantage