When we’re overwhelmed during busy and challenging times, the way we react can actually make things worse. By being aware of the five common patterns overwhelmed people fall into, you can make things easier on yourself and those around you and do a better job of navigating your most important tasks and solving problems.
You think you don’t have time for actions that would help you
- Don’t dismiss good ideas because you think you’re too busy or it’s not the right time
- Choose the best option that’s easily available to you now
- By acting to help yourself, you’ll get practice finding doable solutions and feel more self-efficacy
You default to your dominant approaches and defenses
- When we get stressed out, we tend to get a bit more rigid
- Thankfulness can turn into overthinking
- Self-reliance can morph into micromanaging or doing everything yourself
- Resourcefulness can steer you toward doing things in unnecessarily complicated or unconventional ways
- When you’re overwhelmed, make sure you’re matching your values to the demands of the situation
You withdraw from your supports
- You miss opportunities to fill up your emotional cup when you need it most and risk your loved ones noticing the differences and acting out to get your attention
- Identify ways you still enjoy connecting with your supports even when you’ve got limited emotional energy
Focus isn’t the only way to get things done
- Your unconscious mind is great at problem-solving, too.
- Utilizing your wandering mind will help you get important things done, without so much pressure to be focused and undistracted all the time
You interpret feeling overwhelmed as a weakness
- Sometimes we get self-critical about the very fact that we feel overwhelmed
- Replace your self-criticism with compassionate self-talk
- You are more likely to procrastinate if you react to feeling overwhelmed with shame or anxiety
