3 Strategies to Help Beat Overwhelm
Feeling overwhelmed seems to be a topic I find myself talking about to more and more people. With many citing their endless things to do list as a reason for not taking better care of themselves and their health.
When I’m talking about creating more healthy habits it’s at this point that I can usually feel their energy level drop (and face along with it). I can almost feel them mentally running through that endless list of things to do. Saying to themselves “ya right, easy for some, easy for a health coach to say, but what about me? I have to sleep 8 hours, meditate, exercise, eat well, connect with my partner, have fun, be creative…. STOP!”
Does this resonate with you? How did you feel even just reading that?
I’d like to help by exploring 3 key strategies:
our mindset
time
linking our goals
Let’s talk about a mindset shift.
When I think about putting our wellbeing first instead of it being an afterthought I do think it’s not only about changing habits, it requires a mindset shift.
Instead of thinking of adding health to your things to do list, it’s about realising how much easier other areas in your life could flow if you start with your health. I think the best way to see this in action is to experiment.
Trying adding in one healthy habit this week and see how you feel. Notice how this might play out in other areas of your life and affect how you’re showing up.
Now let’s talk about time.
I feel the way we think about time is partly responsible for us feeling overwhelmed. We tend to think about our day in chunks of time. Each one associated to a particular task on our list. We have 8 hours to work, 8 hours to sleep, 1 hour for dinner, 1 hour with our partner, etc. No wonder this can leave us questioning where on earth can we fit in eating well, rest and movement.
“What if instead of measuring our time by tasks we measured it by quality instead?”
What I mean by this is that if we’re showing up as the healthiest version of ourselves then that same 8 hours of work could look very different. We could achieve so much more and have time for lunch and breaks throughout our day. Because our time was more productive we don’t have to work as late and that same hour with our partner could be about true connection. A completely different hour than showing up exhausted.
So we’re now thinking about time differently.
How to tackle our list of things to do? Of all the goals we want to achieve?
I’m here to say that even this can shift.
Often when we move the needle in one area of our lives, it organically and quite holistically moves in others. We can really notice this when we put our wellbeing first, building a healthy foundation from which to start.
With this strategy it’s helpful to identify a healthy habit that can act as a keystone goal, a goal that supports or is linked to others to start. You can then become aware of improvements in other areas.
For example, I prioritise good quality sleep and find I’m waking up more energised. Now what else might this effect on my list? Not hitting snooze and then feeling like I’m rushing in the morning. That’s a tick. Being more focused with work and getting my project finished by the end of the day instead of it running into the evening. Another tick. I now have more time to spend with my partner. And another tick.
Can you see how the strategies of shifting your mindset, thinking about time differently and linking your goals could potentially help your days flow a bit differently? By putting your wellbeing first you could actually feel less overwhelmed with everything you’re trying to do?
I’d love to know in the comments below which strategy resonated the most with you?
