But Dawn I am Overwhelmed

One of the biggest problems I see with overwhelm in clients lives, but also my own, are that in dealing with it, most add MORE things to their plates.

I just need to drink more water (yes, maybe….) but now that adds one more thing to track and feel bad about. I just need to be more organized. Again, yes and maybe?!?! You probably do but now you have to find time to organize, figure out what to organize, create systems etc.

I am overwhelmed just typing that!!!!

Here are a few of the things that I do to deal with overwhelm every single day in my own life and also in the lives of my clients. 

To deal with overwhelm? You need to UNDERWHELM. Think about it. If you are overstimulated? You don’t add more. You under stimulate. You walk away from the crowd and find quiet. You shut off the lights. You yell, I mean talk sweetly to your kids to make less noise. So what makes us think that overwhelm needs more added. Here are a few simple ways that I have shifted my life to feel less overwhelmed:

• Cooking. Oh my word when did we all agree to cook every single day. So I don’t. I cook every 5 days. I have a healthy protein cereal in the pantry if I need it, I cook one MASSIVE meal once every 5 days and then I eat a lot of leftovers. I also make sure that I freeze one or two portions of that meal for a later date. And I am not talking making 5 different meals in advance. ONE meal. Last week? I made an easy greek rice pilaf,  greek lemon chicken and a greek salad. And lovingly ate it for 5 days. Some days I added lettuce to be a salad, some days I made it into friend rice. But to be honest? Most days just heated on a plate. This meant that cooking went from 1 hour a week instead of 1 hour or more per day. With that time? I went for a bike ride. Because guess what that does? UNDERWHELMS ME!!!! No noise, no phones, no tv, no chores, no voices, no people. It is amazing.

• Getting dressed. When this task feels like too much, I spend 15 minutes on Sunday morning creating 5 outfits for the week. I put them on 5 hangers and walk away. Easiest thing ever.

• Say no. Say heck no. I know I am known for saying no to a lot and it is true. I can’t people as much as most people. It maxes out my capacity and disrupts my peace and no one gets to disrupt my peace. So I don’t go to all the events. Not even close. I don’t go to the weekend conferences. I don’t do all the restaurant dates. I often invite people over for coffee and host my own stuff so that I don’t run out of capacity. Because I know that when I do everything else gets ruined. My eating sucks, my exercise disappears, the weeds in my garden grow out of control, I have no time to clean my own house or sit and breathe. This all makes me feel a sense of overwhelm and so I just got good at saying no.

• Drop the project. You know…. The laundry room you want to paint or the bathroom you want to wallpaper. Either drop it and move it to a time that it is easier or I do the friend/time swap I wrote about in my newsletter! It doesn’t have to get done. I promise. You are just fine without it.

• Shut it down. I mean shut it all down. Shut off the tv. Read a book. Set down your phone. Go for a walk in nature. There is science backing that!! Put in noise cancelling headphones and take a deep breath.

• Food. Eat simple foods. Comfort foods. Warm foods. Not the time for crazy, new, spicy etc. Let your body breathe.

Underwhelm yourself. Just underwhelm yourself. I promise it works. Call me if you need support with this.