How To Manage That Feeling Of Being Overwhelmed

In my last blogpost I was talking about feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work I have to do this time of semester.  Dr. Rita Durant (University of South Florida-St Petersburg) sent me this link.  In the article Dr. Susan R. Johnson (Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Iowa), discusses some ways to deal with the stress of being overwhelmed with the work load you have.

Some suggestions she makes:

• Slow down...block out everything and focus entirely on what you are doing in this moment.
• Complete a task. Randomly choose a task from your immediate environment and do it. Your priorities are not important in this step – in fact, an obsession with trying to find the very highest priority task to do may have precipitated the overwhelming episode in the first place!
• Make a list of everything you have to do. The subtext here is that stress is increased the more you try to keep things in your head.
• Clear your workspace. The goal at this stage is not organization, but focus. Thus, it is OK for the short run if you simply put everything from your desk on the floor. This gives you a clear space in which to do each task, without your eye (and mind) being drawn off-task by seeing the other work you need to do.
• Find a 10% solution...it is better to make small adjustments so that you can get back in control. To apply this method, think of activities in your daily life that seem to take too much time, or that specifically add to your sense of overwhelm. Select one, and break it down into steps. Look at each step separately, and see if there is a way it can be done more quickly or efficiently, delegated to someone else, or eliminated altogether.

Dr. Johnson has some great suggestions.  One of the questions I ask my students is, how many use a "to do list" of some sort?  Usually it's about half the class and usually it's my better students.

Comments

[Michael Wagner]

Perfect post for me at this time.

Always a good read.

Thanks for enlarging the conversation.

Keep creating,
Mike

[Tom Haskins]

I've blogged often about stress management for college students with a different premise. I agree that techniques to "take control of your cognitive patterns" are very effective in situations where the anxiety is self-induced. I understand that blaming the situation can be disempowering and contributing factor in chronic anxiety. Nevertheless, I presume that anxiety is doubled when the environmental stressors are meaningless. By seeing the system, the chronic nature of the pressures or the underlying assumptions that obstruct changes, choices or moderation, the stress becomes meaningful. There are specific facets to accept because they cannot be changed and other features to courageously modify.

[Delaney Kirk]

Thanks Mike. You and I are a lot alike in that we find it hard to say no to all the cool projects we find. Thus...overwhelmed happens.

[Delaney Kirk]

I enjoyed visiting your weblog, Tom. Thanks for coming by to comment so that I could find you. And I agree with your comment. However, in my own case I need to just say no to projects that are really not that important.

[Ho oponopono]

I'd like to share a life help technique that I've become extremely enthusiastic about. It's a process called ho'oponopono (sometimes spelled ho oponopono or hooponopono). What is ho'oponopono? In a nutshell, it's a way to solve problems. Very simple to do. All one has to do is repeat the following phrase: I love you, I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you. Say this phrase silently to yourself, say it as often as possible and as close to constantly as you're able. The results of engaging in the ho'oponopono method are twofold: Firstly, one feels an almost immediate sense of calm and peace. The second outcome from using ho'oponopono, when it is used on a regular basis, is that a person's life comes into ideal form -- this is not to say that a person will have all of his or her ego desires met, but that his or her life will come into form in a way that is ideal for that particular individual. I can hear eyebrows being raised (virtually, of course) right now. I realize that on its face ho'oponopono sounds unbelievable. Life peace and an individually ideal existence, just by saying a phrase. Come on! Okay. I understand any cynicism that may come up, and I absolutely appreciate the valuable role that cynicism sometimes plays. Honestly, I am not trying to convince anyone about anything. All I suggest -- and a suggestion is all that it is -- is that people try ho'oponopono for themselves and see how it affects them. I can absolutely say that it has positively affected me. But ultimately people will make up their own mind, as it should be. 'I love you, I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you.' There you go. Here's a web site that offers info about the ho'oponopono method if anyone is interested: http://www.hooponoponohelp.com . Peace and blessings.

[New Balance Shoes]

She believes yoga could rope a useful tool to help people battling depression and anxiety disorders.
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