Thought Download Reflections

I’m feeling overwhelmed and I know a lot of they is pressie in putting on myself.
I don’t want my work to feel this heavy. I wish I had a job where it was more simple and I could show away at the end of the day and not have to think. Think about strategy, social media numbers, am I doing enough, will I get everything done on time.
The overwhelm feels heavy and uncomfortable. My brain feels fuzzy and I find it hard to settle. To unwind or put work aside and focus on my life outside of work and what I want to do with my time and utilise for me. I feel like I can’t get away from this feeling of overwhelm or switch off from this fuzzy brain feeling.
I know I can only do what I can. I am one person doing a lot of tasks in just 8/9hrs, 5 days a week. If that is enough for the team, that should be enough for me. Why am I expecting so much from myself?
Probably a fear of failure. Most likely the underlying feeling something will go wrong or I’ll miss something and be annoyed or angry at myself – even when no one else is. Even though that’s how you learn. And even though these are black and white, catastrophant worries and thinking. But I think they anger towards myself is something in afraid off. The only way I can describe it is like when a parent just snaps at the child and goes in to a rage.
This overwhelm is so uncomfortable and the more I feel it, the more my brain and body is wired and the more room I give to the aforementioned.
And the result of that is the day passes me by – I don’t take breaks, I don’t eat right (I just end up snacking), I work longer days and then can’t unwind in the evening before sleep…so then don’t sleep well.
I find it hard to not let one thing bleed in to another. So work is busy and will be right into September and so for me that means I struggle to find mental and physical resources for my own life projects or goals or chores or coaching or hobbies or my relationship. I get to a point where I want to press pause, I want simplicity, I just want to slow down and manage it all and do it all to the best of my ability.
Another thought I had a little later on about a task at work that has ignited some of this overwhelm: what if I made this task more difficult than it needs to be leading to or taking longer and resulting in overwhelm?

 

Answer:

 

I’m sorry to hear that you’re feeling this kind of strain – in my experience it’s never pleasant.

Overwhelm is an emotion that stops us in our tracks, and if we apply the model to this situation, we can also see that it’s coming from your thoughts about the circumstance. The worst part about feeling this way is that the actions it drives you to take feed on themselves and exponentially exacerbate your overwhelming experience. The great news is that you can change how you think about this, and it doesn’t have to be sunshine and roses. It’s allowed to suck for a little bit, but you don’t have to be stuck in the Chasm of Overwhelm. It can suck and be sunny.

I’d like to do my best to channel Mars here. So what if you miss something or make a mistake and then feel angry? That sounds very human. In fact, I made a mistake the other day and I ran my lawn mower through the basement window. I was more upset with myself than anyone I told about it who would be directly impacted. Try this idea on: what do you think about creating space for yourself to make a mistake or missing something by expecting that it is going to happen, and making a plan for when it does? What would be the worst that could happen if mistake making or forgetting something was what you actually planned for? Notice what your reaction is to this and come back to us.

Give yourself some grace during this period, and prioritize tending to your nervous system. Work gets busy sometimes. Your brain is trying to cope. You can thank it for trying to keep you on your toes and alerted to whatever threats are waiting for you, and move on from those thoughts. You are human. Even though this doesn’t feel good, you can navigate it and you will learn about yourself in the process.