Feeling
Overwhelmed?
Colin
Clews
What
can we do when our workload seems to get out of control?
Most
of us have had days when our tasks suddenly seem to get on top
of us. What started as a large but manageable amount of work
suddenly becomes an impenetrable mass of demands that we just
can't seem to get a handle on.
When
this happens, we can become completely overwhelmed. Our thinking
and judgment become muddled. We can't remember our tasks, let
alone get them organized in our head. And as a consequence, we
'freeze' - we become so stressed and confused that we end up
doing nothing at all.
Of
course, this simply makes matters worse. Not only are we aware
of all the things we feel we should be doing, but we're acutely
aware of the fact that we're not doing a thing about it!
And
that simply stresses us out even further and takes us on another
tour of the vicious circle - stress, panic, confusion and
'freezing'.
Strange
as it may sound, the best thing to do at this point is simply to
stop trying to do anything. Rather than try and organize our
thoughts, it's more important to let them settle. And the best
way to do this is let our brain sort them out by itself.
So,
wherever possible we should distract ourselves with a fairly
mindless activity for 15 to 30 minutes. Go for a walk, do the
laundry or tidy up the desk perhaps. Apart from anything else,
this short break will ease the stress a little.
But
more importantly, it will give our brains the space they need to
start processing all the information that's currently zapping
around our heads. That's one of the great features of our brains
- they do so much of their work on 'automatic pilot'. They
continue to process and organize information even when we're not
thinking about it.
It's
an important point to remember because it means we can give
ourselves permission to take a few breaks, safe in the knowledge
that work is still going on at a subconscious level.
If
we don't have the luxury of taking a break--say we've got the
boss breathing down our necks at work, for example--there are
other steps we can take.
First
and foremost is to ensure that we have a clear idea of our
tasks. One of the things that can fuel our sense of panic is an
unrealistic assessment of our workload. As our thinking becomes
ever more muddled, we no longer see this as a series of specific
tasks--we see it as an ever-growing mountain of challenges.
So
we need to make a list of our tasks. This should include
everything from the largest to the smallest. This is the first
step in putting some order into our thinking.
From
there we should select today's priorities. I always find it
helpful to use a highlighter for this.
Then
we should try and list today's priorities in order of
importance.
If
for some reason we have trouble doing this--maybe the priorities
are not immediately obvious, for example, or we're stilling
feeling too anxious to think clearly--then we should simply
assign them an order at random. At this point we can't afford
more mental gymnastics to weigh the relative importance of each
task. We're trying to simplify things, not make them more
complicated.
But
what can we do if we have our clearly defined list and a clearly
defined set of priorities and we're still 'frozen'?
In
this case we need to do something--anything--to get us moving
again. Choosing one of the simplest tasks from our list works
best. It will make few demands on us and we won't feel
threatened by the possibility of getting it wrong or it taking
too much time.
Selecting
and undertaking one simple task works in two ways.
Firstly,
it gets us moving again--and that in itself can be very
re-assuring.
And
secondly, it helps our mind re-focus.
One
of the reasons we felt overwhelmed in the first place was
because we lost that focus. We didn't know what to do, where to
start or how to proceed. Taking on one simple task draws our
mind away from that jumble of tasks that overwhelmed us and
focuses it on one specific item that we know we can manage.
It
may not be much, but it's a start. Now we can tell ourselves that
we have achieved something. From there we can select another
small task and so on.
Almost
without realizing it, we'll back in the swing of things again.
We'll be working through the items on our list and our sense of
organization, focus and control will have returned.
Copyright
©Online Achievers
This article is re-produced, with permission, from the Online
Achievers Web site at www.onlineachievers.com.
Every month they post new articles and ideas about all aspects
of personal success. These cover everything from health and
lifestyle to study and career.
|
