52. Feeling Overwhelmed? Ask Yourself This Powerful Question

This week on The Nurses' Breakroom, Jenny Lytle, RN, shares a deceptively simple question that helps overwhelmed and overworked nurses pause, refocus, and reclaim clarity in the middle of chaos: What do I need most right now?

Whether you're juggling shift changes, life transitions, or just a mountain of mental to-dos, this episode teaches a grounding technique that brings you back to center—fast. Jenny walks through her own real-life moment of overwhelm and how this single question, paired with a calming breathing practice, helped her shift into focus and peace in under five minutes.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why “What do I need most right now?” is a powerful self-coaching question
• How to quiet mental noise when your brain won’t stop spinning
• The Quick Coherence Technique: a science-backed way to regulate your nervous system
• The body-mind connection that helps you break through emotional overwhelm
• How to prepare for a demanding week without burning out

This episode is your reminder: self-care isn’t selfish—it’s essential.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, burned out, or like there’s never enough time, I’ve got something just for you! Head to https://selfcareisntselfish.com to grab your FREE copy of my book, Self-Care Isn’t Selfish: The Compassionate Nurse’s Step-by-Step Guide to Personalized Stress Relief. It’s packed with simple, effective strategies to help you prioritize your needs—without guilt—so you can feel energized, focused, and ready to take on the day. Go to https://selfcareisntselfish.com 

Looking for connection with people who get the stress and self-care struggles of nurses and caregivers? Check out https://thenursesbreakroom.com

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennylytlern/

More ways to connect here: https://linktr.ee/jennylytle

Chapters

• 0:58 Welcome to Nurses Break Room
• 1:25 What Do I Need Right Now?
• 2:38 Finding Clarity Through Movement
• 4:57 Heart Math Quick Coherence Technique
• 6:25 Balancing Tasks and Self-Care
• 7:48 Invitation and Episode Closing

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:29

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Nurses Break Room with Jenny Lytle RN. This week we are going to get down to the nitty gritty and really focus on the big question, and that's what do I need most right now. Last week we talked about being stuck and what that can feel like and ways to get unstuck, and so if you haven't checked that out, be sure to tune in. But sometimes, when we're feeling stuck or when we're feeling overwhelmed, the simplest, quickest, easiest thing that we can do is to just pause and ask ourselves one question what do I need most right now? And this is a question that I use myself and that I use with my clients, and it's so powerful. But it can seem deceptively simple and just prior to this recording, I thought you know what? I'm going to try this because I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. I've got a lot of things going right now and I'm wanting to go to the lake for a little bit and just be able to cool off and relax. It's Sunday right now and tomorrow I start orientation for a new position, or actually a repeated position, and so I know that my week is going to look very different than it normally looks, so I really want this time to just be able to relax and focus on nothing but relaxation. But, like you probably do, I have a lot of other things that I could be doing instead, and I've spent a lot of time this morning and this weekend doing some relaxing but also getting through some of those things so that I would be prepared to have some time to enjoy the lake. But when I was like, okay, you know what, I still feel like I've got all these things to do in preparation for my week and I don't want that to be all stressed out, and so I thought I'm going to try this with myself again, even though I know it works because I use it pretty frequently. Okay, but I just I stopped. I sat down, closed my eyes and thought what do I need most right now? And, to be quite transparent, I asked myself that about 10 times in a row and before I could even get to the what do I need, my brain was already popping in with things you need this and you need this and you need this. And I don't know about you, but that's the way. My brain was already popping in with things you need this and you need this and you need this? And I don't know about you, but that's the way my brain works. A lot of the time there's a lot of noise going on in it and I just kept asking myself that question and then, when I realized that I wasn't really getting anywhere, that it was still that me interrupting myself in my mind with that, I stood up and I closed my eyes and I just started to sway a little bit and move some.

Speaker 1: 3:47

And I've talked about the fact that when we move, that can really help to. When we move our body, it can help to get things unstuck in us, and it it's something that you just have to try and see how it works for you. But it's amazing the way that our bodies and our minds they're very connected. And so I began to sway and just let things bubble up for me a bit. And then I slowed my breathing down and I practiced the quick coherence technique which, if you haven't heard me talk about that, it's a heart math technique that is very simple. You can use it to to just get your breathing and your heart rate into better coherence. And so you're just taking slow, deep breaths in through your nose, out through your mouth. You're just breathing a little bit slower, a little more deeply than you normally would. And as you do that and you get into that natural rhythm, then you begin to focus your breathing into the area around your heart and while you do that, you're thinking of and re-experiencing a feeling of something regenerative, something pleasant, something that you enjoy and that can be a particular memory. It can be a place or a pet, but it's something that, as you experience that, you just begin to feel that sense of peace, that you just begin to feel that sense of peace.

Speaker 1: 5:29

And as I did that, then what came up for me was what I need most right now is to record the podcast, get it edited so that I can work on my social media posts and my emails on the way to the lake, so that I have those ready to go for the week, so that I'm able to enjoy my time at the lake and also not be stressed out during the week, because I have the things ready that I need to have ready. Now, that's not the only thing that I needed to have done, but earlier I got the things ready that I need to have ready. Now, that's not the only thing that I needed to have done. But earlier I got the house straightened up, I got the laundry done, I made sure that my clothes are ready for tomorrow and that I have everything ready to go for tomorrow so that I can get up and shower and head to work without feeling like, okay, I've got all these other things that I need to take care of before that. But this was the thing that felt like, okay, maybe I shouldn't go to the lake because I still have these other things to do.

Speaker 1: 6:32

But working through that question, what do I need most right now? It was twofold what I need is to get this podcast done and get everything set up, and what I also need is that time to relax, enjoy myself and get more mentally and emotionally ready for the week ahead. So I hope this is helpful and I'd love to hear how you work through those times when you're thinking, okay, I've got so much to do and I just don't know where to start right now and you just get that kind of paralyzed feeling or that overwhelmed feeling, and so you can hit reply if you're listening to this on Buzzsprout and drop me a line or feel free to email me at Jenny Lytle, at Jenny Lytlecom. I would love to hear from you. I check all my emails and I respond to everyone. Thank you so much. Until next time, remember self care isn't selfish. It's essential if we want to continue to care for others and live our best lives. See you next week.