Overwhelmed by the gap

When the gap is too big between where I am and where I’d like to be, it can seem insurmountable, uncrossable, impossible. 

It’s a huge step towards a big goal. After all, we’ve been told to ‘dream big’ haven’t we...

While we know every journey begins with a single step, it can look more like a leap or pole vault from where we are. The gap may be too big for us to imagine crossing or closing. 

And then ... ‘oh hello overwhelm, you cheeky beast!’

To identify what brings about our own overwhelm is a discovery that’s worth the work. My overwhelm may be different to yours, which could be different to theirs. 

No deep probing and analysis required; just watch your patterns. 

They are there. 

The next few times you’re overwhelmed hold great insight. These give us the chance to redefine the often generalised use of the word ‘overwhelm’. 

It’s then that breakthroughs for better ways of thinking, working and living will come.

Overwhelmed with information

Have you felt it lately? 

Our sponge gets full - gradually or rapidly - and then we’re ‘done’. We can’t keep taking information in unless we do something to get the existing information out!

Where does your overload come from? 
- A day of back to back meetings
- A new project
- The to do list
- Working from home
- Dealing with uncertainty and stress ... 

All of these things can bring on a state of overload and overwhelm.

The thing is, we don’t have to ‘suck it up’ or ‘push on through’ or ‘keep it together’. These are old ways which battled or fought with the overload. 

There are newer, smarter ways to understand, rework and redirect overwhelm. 

Working smarter, more efficiently

When our to do list is long, we can be keen to find a quick productivity fix: a better app, a new method, a new book. 

But these fixes take a process and just apply it over the top of our existing behaviours, band-aid style. 

All the years we’ve been working, we’ve been forming our own habits and ways of working. That’s how we got like this!

Meanwhile, many teams and businesses have shifted and adopted some newer ways of doing things. 

Some of these are smarter and more efficient vs what we might be doing: slower, requiring more effort. 

How are you changing to smarter ways? 

Rather than stressing over our to do list or day full of meetings, we can rework the work, re-imagining how it can be done. 

There is much to learn about these newer ways. And they can be far more efficient for us than a productivity bandaid. 

Be the boss of your overwhelm

Letting overwhelm get the better of us feels like ‘it’s all over us’. 

Recent months of change have shown us plenty of overwhelming experiences! 

As we traverse a ladder of overwhelm, at times we’re DROWNING; too much to do, too many commitments, so much on. 

Or we may be STRUGGLING. Learning new skills is an example. There’s so much information and many new concepts, it’s overwhelming for sure !

As we get a handle on things, we’re JUGGLING; a lot going on and we catch some, yet some things fall. 

To become the boss of our overwhelm then is worth the journey. 

We turn the tables on it; instead of being swamped, we take control, channel and redirect it. 

This leads us to UNDERSTANDING our own brand of overwhelm and what’s unique for us. 

Armed with this insight, PROGRESSING further, faster is possible. 

This is us ... ACHIEVING!

‘All over it’ is such a different place than the inundation of overwhelm. 

The more we’re the boss of our own overwhelm, the better. 

It’s a powerful place. 

Overwhelm that comes from the future

It’s not even here yet and we’re already thinking about it!

The workshop that’s next week. 
The presentation we have to finish. 
The job interview we’re preparing for. 
The proposal for the client. 
The book to read. 

It’s all in the future ... and our thinking about ‘that which is yet to come’ adds so much to our feelings of overload and overwhelm. 

Running scenarios, preparing options and imagining plan As, Bs and Cs : it all takes time, attention and energy. 

Check to see if you’ve started working on something before you’ve, you know... actually started working on it!

Don’t dismiss all that thinking as ‘nothing’ or ‘just’ thinking. It’s adding to our cognitive overload and our sense of overwhelm. 

No wonder we feel the burden of too much going on!

Catch yourself - and your team - if you’re heading off on a thinking tangent or going deep into a wombat hole that may take even more effort to get out of. 

Notice. 

Noticing where our attention and focus is - in the past, the present or the future - is a powerful behaviour. 

It’s a practical thing to do to reduce the feels when ‘it’s all too much’.