It’s all just too much! Overcoming Overwhelm

Feeling stuck, scattered, or completely overwhelmed?

In this episode, you’ll discover what’s actually happening inside your brain when overwhelm hits—and how to break the cycle fast. Learn simple, science-backed strategies to regain control, reduce stress, and start taking action immediately.

If you’ve ever stared at your to-do list and done… nothing—this is your reset button.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Are you ready to finally break free from overwhelm, procrastination, and burnout? If you're ready to focus on what truly matters and create momentum to reach and exceed your goals in business and in life, then this podcast is for you. Welcome to the Efficiency Advantage, the podcast where clarity meets action and purpose that fuels your progress. So here's world-class productivity expert and your host, Coach Julie.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Welcome to the next episode of the Efficiency Advantage. And oh my gosh, it's just all too much. Overcoming overwhelm. This is probably one of the single most common concerns that clients share with me. Their extreme sense of overwhelm. Not just a little bit, but the kind that keeps them from moving forward on anything they have in front of them and the feeling of being paralyzed to even start. If you're one of these people, hopefully this episode of the Efficiency Advantage will help you break the cycle and move forward. First, let's understand what we are dealing with here. Overwhelm is a cognitive emotional state in which the brain perceives demands as exceeding its ability to process, prioritize, or act. Now, when this occurs, the nervous system shifts from productive problem solving into a stress protection mode. When excessive cognitive load, a perceived lack of control, and emotional pressure converge, we become overwhelmed. That's what it is. Now, when there is too much input, too many decisions to make, or too many tasks handled to handle, coupled with not knowing where or how to start, and even the feel of failure or disappointing others sets in, we freeze kind of like an old car. We simply stall. So if you find yourself sitting looking at your list or at the task itself and you're just doing nothing, you're there. But overwhelm is as much a perception issue as a workload problem. So here's what happens in your brain when we hit the wall of overwhelm. First, when tasks feel too large or uncertain, the amygdala interprets this as a threat. Then our stress hormones get elevated, and we get more emotional and we feel the sense of urgency, but we lack clarity around it all at the same time. Then the prefrontal cortex becomes less efficient, and your executive function skills take a mini vacation without your permission. And our working memory becomes saturated, and you begin ruminating on all the unfinished tasks you should be doing, and your mental bandwidth collapses, and your brain is now in a cognitive overload state. And then the atomic nervous system, autonomic, I'll get it right, nervous system starts down the fight, flight, freeze road. And what we end up doing is avoiding the tasks. We go on our phones, we do something completely unrelated that isn't urgent, or we sit and zone out. So to break it down for you, the brain goes into this loop of being stressed, then has reduced thinking capacity, then the issues start seeming larger than they actually are. This leads to more stress, and this loop can just keep going on and on. In order to not become an ostrich and bury our heads in the sand, wishing for it all to magically go away, here are some methods to reduce the overwhelm and reboot your brain into taking action. Before I share those steps with you, I want to encourage you to avoid using negative words or negative self-talk. Stop using words like always, never, I'm always behind, I'm never getting things done, there's too much to do, or I'll never finish these things. If you're constantly saying these things to yourself, it's going to be harder to get through the overwhelm. So put the negative self-talk out of your life. Now, we can begin to get control of our prefrontal cortex and get the amygdala to take a back seat to this drama it created by following these six steps. Okay, you ready? Step number one, write everything down. Or as I refer to it, do a brain dump. Get everything you're ruminating on out of your head and onto paper. Write all the tasks down. And if there's a worry or a fear around that task, well, write that down too, put it in parentheses so you can acknowledge why it's there and why you're kind of cycling into this loop. This is going to reduce the working memory load, literally getting it off your mind. All right, step two, like I mentioned in a previous episode, break down the tasks or projects into small steps. So instead of write report, break the entire project into the tiniest of steps. Gather data for part one, gather data for part two, write objective, make a table, anything that is just a tiny little step toward the end goal. Each little part is a step, and our brains respond much better to clear small steps. Don't forget to begin each step you write with an action verb. Write, gather, email, call, etc. This helps your brain know how it is to function and what it will be expected to do, and it provides immediate clarity. Three, we're gonna reset your nervous system. You can do this by a calming breathing exercise. I really like the 444. And the way you do this is you inhale for four seconds, hold it for four seconds, and exhale for four seconds. Do this like three or four times, and you will probably notice a really nice decrease in your stress all the way around. You can also go take a short walk. Green therapy is a real thing. It's great. So if it's possible to go outside, go do that. Even just a few minutes will make a difference. Change your physical environment. Just going to a different room with different calming energy can do wonders. And be sure to hydrate. All right, make sure you're hydrating. This will also help. These steps help level out your cortisol levels and get your prefrontal cortex back online. All right, number four, don't let yourself spiral and start thinking of all the other things that you have to do. This happens to most of us pretty frequently. And so when it happens to me, I do this too, I ask myself, okay, which needs to or should happen next? Just one thing. It will start to open the floodgate. If it, yeah, it will. It will start to open the floodgates if you stop thinking about just the one thing. And if you start thinking about everything all over again, you're gonna have to do this reset all over again, too. So save your time and energy and start with just one thing. This helps to calm your brain and allows it to move forward. Number five, complete the small tasks. Answer one message, delete one email, open the Word document and title the page. Each time you do this, your brain gets a dopamine hit. And it will motivate you to do more next time. Now, the last thing you can do, number six, is set a timer. You set a timer for even five or ten minutes to focus on the list you made. And then when you have completed a task, every time you complete a task, praise and compliment yourself for what you did. This is going to also spur you on to do more. Now, if you are seriously stuck, you may need guidance or coaching on creating some good structure in your life. This is a very solid way to reduce overwhelm. Create structure. The better you structure your days and hours, the less overwhelmed you will feel. All right. A quick recap for you. One, watch your negative self-talk. Think supportive thoughts and avoid I never get anything done or I'm always behind. That isn't going to move the needle forward for you. Two, write everything down. Get it out of your head. It's doing you no good in your mind. That's actually part of the problem, actually, really. Three, break every task, project, or demand on your time into teeny tiny steps. Four, breathe. Walk outside, change your environment. This helps you to reset your nervous system. Five, stay singularly focused on one thing. Don't worry, the rest of the list won't vanish away. I promise. I'm sure you are aware. It's there, and since you wrote it down, you don't have to worry about forgetting it either. Next, select two to three things to do and do one of them at a time. And once completed, go to the next. And last, well, not last. Next, set a timer for five to ten minutes to do the tasks. Add time if you feel up to it, once the timer goes off. You can have a whole series of little five or ten minute tasks. Hey, you'll get more done than you probably have been thus far. And lastly, praise yourself for completing the task. Yes, every single time. Give yourself that gold star. Please know that you are not alone if you experience paralyzing overwhelm. This is one of the many areas I coach clients through, and I've seen the process I just outlined work over and over again. It really does help. Let me know how this works for you. You can go to askJulie.com and Julie is spelled J-U-L-I, and leave a comment or a question. I want to thank you for listening and subscribing if you already do so. If you don't, well, do that. And then share with someone who you think might get something out of listening here. Thanks again. Have a productive day.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

So that's it for today's episode of the Efficiency Advantage. Head on over to Apple Podcasts iTunes or wherever you listen and subscribe to the show. One lucky listener every single week that posts a review on Apple Podcasts or iTunes will win a chance the grand prize drawing to win a private VIP day with Coach Julie herself. Be sure to head on over to the EfficiencyAdvantage.com and pick up a free copy of Coach Julie's gift. And join us on the next episode.