Too much to deal with

I’ve been reading, researching and thinking a lot about overwhelm.

Overwhelm means to bury or drown beneath a huge mass of something. And frequently ... it’s our work and responsibilities!

When you see the usage of a word over time, it’s interesting to note when it started, peaked and what it is doing today.

Overwhelm as a word was at its peak in the 1800s. Use tapered off in the early to mid 1900s and the word has experienced a great resurgence of use since 2019. 

I wonder why?!

The Cambridge Dictionary says overwhelm is a verb, of force. To defeat someone or something by using a lot of force.

Alternatively, the emotion defines overwhelm as to cause someone to feel sudden, strong emotion.

At its simplest, overwhelm means to have ‘too much to deal with’.

We’ve all experienced this - a time when things felt ‘too much’.

Rather than just ‘sucking it up buttercup’, ‘soldiering on’ or ‘pushing on through’ in a war with our overwhelm, I think we can do something different...

My book ‘Argh!: Too much information, not enough brain’ is out.

I hope it helps you outsmart overwhelm from some different perspectives.

Struggling, juggling, drowning

The struggling, juggling and drowning experiences of overwhelm can become a frequent or familiar part of our life. 

Yes, the world can be an overwhelming place. 

- We might have an EMOTIONAL experience of being overwhelmed;

- We can experience the ‘too much on’ of WORKLOAD that’s overwhelming, too much to do and not enough time in which to do it;

or

- We might feel like we’re submerged under an endless pile of INFORMATION, reports, books and reading.

At other times we can be 'drowning in it’ from a wicked combination of all 3 : emotions, workload and information!

Argh! This is overwhelm.

And it’s not good for us. Burnout and its health issues are waiting when we let overwhelm become too much, too often. 

We need to find ways to acknowledge our emotions, manage our workload … and filter all of that information. 

I believe our overwhelm can be outsmarted. (We don’t want to get rid of it altogether, because it signals important things to us. But wouldn’t it be good to be less affected by it!)


‘Argh!: Too much information, not enough brain’ is my book is out now.

It’s all about how to make sense of overwhelm, and how to outsmart it.

A high potential for ... burnout

Why is it some people working with some leaders in some environments experience burnout ... yet other don’t?

This difference is stark and at the heart of why some things fire us up ... and others burn us out. 

In this Forbes article by Alain Hunkins, it’s revealed that “engaged employees who have job flexibility tend to work more hours per week than the average employee, while reporting higher wellbeing.

“When people feel inspired, motivated and supported in their work, they do more work — and that work is significantly less stressful on their overall health and wellbeing.”

This finding was echoed in Gallup research. 

Review the article for :
🔥 the 5 causes of burnout
🔥 the 5 signs of burnout 
and, importantly, 
🔥 the 9 solutions to burnout. 

And if you’re a high potential performer with a strong work ethic, bookmark the article and keep an eye on the flames: you could be prone to burning out more than firing up. 

When is good enough... good enough

We can often hesitate putting something ‘out there’ because it still doesn’t feel good enough ‘in here’, in our minds, to us. 

But this could be a sign of perfectionism, preventing us taking action, pressing the button. 

It was so good to speak with  
Nina Sunday CSP on her podcast ‘Manage Self, Lead Others’. We had a great conversation!

🎧 Listen here: 
or via podcast apps like Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, IHeartRadio.

Better still, 📺 Watch the video version: 

We explored when is the right time to accept ‘good enough’ ... and had a few laughs talking about my book 'ARGH! Too much information, not enough brain: A practical guide to outsmarting overwhelm.' 

The overwork of remote work

Productivity might be up but the dangers of overworking are right there too. 

With thinner lines between work time and home time, and the office just a virtual click away, the dangers of overworking have been revealed in the Microsoft Work Trends Index. 

It’s not sustainable ... even if it’s easy to work longer hours. 

It’s not healthy ... even if you forget to take a break. 

It’s not truly being productive ... if you’re exhausted. 

Leaders of remote and hybrid teams must engage in ways that uncover the well-being of that team. 

Look at your working day : 
- do you ‘push through’ or take breaks? 
- do you work anywhere anytime or have boundaries? 
- do you keep going and work through what would have been commute time? 

Change to the nature of work requires adaptability from us humans. But take care... the trends of the last year are revealing our tendency to overwork.