3 TIPS FOR STOPPING OVERWHELM IN ITS TRACKS (PLUS FREE DOWNLOADABLE PLANNER SHEETS!)
I have to be honest, I haven’t been doing so great recently, as my latest studio vlog, linked below, will explain!
The last few weeks have felt like one long ‘off day’; low mood, lethargy and no motivation or inspiration for much at all. Knowing myself the way I do, I was beginning to feel frustrated beyond belief. I knew it wasn’t a mental health flare up, or hormones, so what the heck was it? Why did I suddenly feel so rubbish?
Well, I have put it down to three main things, and I think most of us can sympathise with the first one: lock-down/the state of the world in general right now.
I am a self-confessed ‘sensitive little soul’, but I’d been coping really well, all things considered. However, a year into this pandemic my mind suddenly said ‘that’s it, I’m done’. I felt lost, trapped, annoyed, frustrated, sad and all the other things that we have all been experiencing of late.
The second thing was burn out.
In many ways I have been super lucky through all this ‘madness’, in that I have my own business and am able to do what I want, when I want. At the start of lock-down I made a huge pivot in the business in order to try and survive all this but, as a consequence of basically starting over, I didn’t realise how worn out I was getting until it was too late.
The third big thing, which, upon reflection is probably as a result of the burnout, is that I hit a wall in my inspiration, energy and feelings towards showing up for and within my business. This is definitely not exclusive to me, and I think we all go through these stages whether we are business owners, parents or have jobs we care about! It is hard to switch off and then suddenly, when our energy stores are running on empty our body and mind does whatever it can to force rest upon our weary souls!
I’ll get onto my three tips in just a second, but first here are five things that I have realised recently which I think are important to note:
The world won’t fall apart if you have to take a rest (and you DO NEED TO REST - also reminding myself of that here!)
Sometimes you need to step back in order to evaluate and ‘see the woods for the trees’ in life. So yes, pausing can be good! More on that soon.
You are not a bloody superhero. There will always be an endless list of things to do and you should not be hard on yourself if you can’t get through it all at once.
Prioritise sleep for healing both physical and mental health.
Ask for help.
The last point of the list above is the first of my three tips to help you move forward out of a rut. You can obviously apply these to any area of your life where you feel stuck!
Tip One | Ask for help
Asking for help is NOT a sign of weakness. Repeat that again out loud now ‘asking for help is not a sign of weakness’.
I am a self-confessed deep thinker and can get very lost in my own thoughts. Before I realise what is happening I am chest high in mud and sinking! What started as a big problem becomes huge when left in your head to simmer away.
I left asking for a bit of help until I was literally crawling the walls. But, let me tell you, all it took was asking for friends opinions (or just telling them how I was feeling) and going for a walk with Joe and saying ‘I need to talk to you about my business and what I am worrying about’ for me to feel like a gigantic weight had been lifted. It really was that simple.
The simple act of talking freely and openly to someone you trust and who won’t judge you at all, is often enough to clear your mind and unlock the dusty parts of your brain again.
Simple? Yep! Effective? Very!
Tip Two | Get out and move your body
There is something to this ‘exercise thing’ you know. Personally, I love weight training but, recently, I have been walking for an hour, usually first thing in the morning or last thing before the sun sets, 3-5 times per week. Walking is fantastic because, not only is it good for your body but it is like a little meditation for me! It is the time where I can think about things and the time I am most likely to get ‘downloads’ (ideas and creative inspiration etc).
When I walked with Joe and just waffled on about the business, areas I felt stuck or things I wanted to do that I didn't know how, I just felt at ease in a way that I wouldn’t have done had I tried to have the same discussion at home. Home is a wonderful place, but getting out the comfort zone of home, away from where you have been feeling all of these emotions, can help to free up your mind and allow things to flow again.
Trust me, it works!
Tip Three | Brain dump EVERYTHING that you have in your head
This is an effective way to create space in your mind again. Without getting everything ‘out’ you are using up energy trying to remember it all. I am aware that writing everything out can mean you then have a long list in front of you, but see that as a positive.
Use your ‘master list’ (brain dump) to organise the priorities and to scrap the pointless! Create columns of things that go together and just start to ‘close the loops’ of the niggly things that are bugging you. Having a lot of little bits and bobs still ‘to-do’ can really add a lot of weight onto your shoulders.
Talk to a friend or loved one about the biggest things, and come up with a plan if that will help you.
I always find that reverse engineering something helps me, and this is what I do with large goals. Start by writing the big thing at the top of a page, then all the smaller things you need to complete in order to get the main task done. All you need to do then is start to work on the sub-list until everything is ticked off. This doesn’t have to be all the big things at once from your big mind dump, just pick the most important and work from there.
SO, why have I told you all of this and shared what may seem like three obvious tips to get back on track? Well, I have shared them because they ARE obvious and because when you are overwhelmed you can’t always do the ‘right’ things for yourself. I am all about lists and mind dumps, but I avoided them like the plague over the last few weeks. When I finally went back to it I realised what a weight had been lifted for me!
Try it!
To help you along the way I have created you a free printable, which is a page of my Wildflower collection daily planner pad, that I sell in the shop! One you have received the file you just need to save it and then you can print as many as you want! These planners are one of my best sellers and I will be restocking them soon, so if you want a physical one just click here!
Bear in mind that this freebie may take a few minutes to get to your inbox, but if you haven’t seen it appear after an hour please check your junk mail as sometimes these things end up in there too don’t they! Help your email provider by clicking ‘safe’ when it comes to my emails and you will never miss another offer!
Thank you for reading this post! Let me know, in the comments, what you do to help lift your mood if you are feeling a bit off track, I would love to know.