Feeling Overwhelmed

That feeling—the tight chest, the racing thoughts, the to-do list that breeds faster than you can tick things off. If you’re experiencing intense stress due to an excessive workload or high expectations (either external or self-imposed), you’re not alone. That state of total mental saturation is called being overwhelmed, and it’s a completely normal response to an abnormal amount of pressure.

This isn’t a sign of weakness or poor performance; it’s your mind and body signaling that your current demands are exceeding your capacity to cope. It’s time to stop pushing harder and start pushing smarter.

Why the Pressure Cooker Boils Over 🥵

Understanding the source of the overwhelm is the first step toward relief. While the feeling is internal, the triggers are often external and systemic:

• The Never-Ending Workload: You have too many tasks and not enough time or resources. You might be constantly working extra hours, but the finish line keeps moving further away.
• Perfectionism and Imposter Syndrome: High expectations, especially self-imposed ones, can be a major stressor. The belief that you must be flawless or risk being “found out” puts immense pressure on every task.
• Lack of Clarity: Unclear roles, shifting priorities, or a lack of support from management can make a heavy load feel impossible to navigate.
• The “Always-On” Culture: The pressure to be constantly available via email or chat blurs the lines between work and personal life, leading to chronic exhaustion, a key sign of burnout.

Practical Strategies to Regain Control

When your stress response is activated, your ability to think clearly shuts down. The goal is to move from a state of paralysis to a state of prioritized action.

1. The Clarity Audit: Tame the Chaos

You can’t manage what you can’t see. Your first task is to get everything out of your head and onto paper or a digital list.

• Brain Dump Everything: Write down every single task, project, email response, and expectation that is currently stressing you out—no matter how small.
• Prioritize Ruthlessly: Use a simple system, like the Eisenhower Matrix, to sort your tasks into four categories:
  • Urgent & Important: Do these now.
  • Important, Not Urgent: Schedule a specific time to do these later.
  • Urgent, Not Important: Delegate or automate.
  • Neither Urgent nor Important: Eliminate them entirely.
• Eat That Frog 🐸: Tackle your biggest, most challenging, or most dreaded task—your ‘frog’—first thing in the morning. Completing it gives you immediate momentum and reduces the mental weight for the rest of the day.

2. Communicate and Negotiate Boundaries

This is often the hardest part, but it’s essential for long-term survival. Remember: “No” is a complete sentence, but often a conversation is more effective.

• Speak to Your Manager: Approach the conversation with solutions, not just complaints. Present your prioritized list and say, “I have X, Y, and Z to deliver by Friday. I currently have capacity for X. To complete Y and Z, I need to know which is the higher priority, or if we can adjust the deadline on one of them.”
• Learn to Say ‘No’ Gracefully: When a new request comes in, don’t automatically say yes. Instead, say, “I’d love to help, but I’m currently focused on the [Project A] deadline. If I take this on, when would you like me to deprioritize [Task B]?” This forces a joint prioritization.
• Set Digital Boundaries: Turn off notifications when you are focused on deep work. Stop checking emails outside of work hours. Use your calendar to block out time for actual work, not just meetings.

Instant Relief: Use Your Mind to Recalibrate

When you’re mid-overwhelm and need an immediate reset, there are simple mental techniques you can use.

• Mindful Breathing: Take three long, slow, deep breaths—in through the nose for a count of four, hold for four, out through the mouth for six. This simple act physically interrupts your body’s stress response.
• Change Your Viewpoint (Reframing): The feeling of being overwhelmed often comes from focusing on the entire mountain. Take a step back and ask yourself: “What is the single most important thing I can do in the next five minutes?” Focus only on that small, actionable step.
• Create a “Calm Anchor” (NLP Technique): Think of a time you felt completely calm and in control. As you intensely recall that peaceful feeling (sights, sounds, feelings), lightly press your thumb and index finger together. Practice this a few times. The physical trigger (the “anchor”) can eventually be used in stressful moments to quickly access that calm state.

Your Call to Action: The Smallest Step Forward

You don’t need to fix everything today. You just need to take the next right step.

Today, choose one of these actions to commit to:

1. Stop everything and perform the Clarity Audit to map out your true workload.
2. Block out 60 minutes in your calendar tomorrow for deep, uninterrupted work on your single most important task.
3. Use the Mindful Breathing technique three times today—once when you first feel overwhelmed, once during lunch, and once before bed.