It’s fairly easy to be overwhelmed with a lot of things in life, especially when you’re struggling with a lot of stress and anxiety lately.
You could be overwhelmed with working too much, balancing every aspect of your life, or other significant personal issues.
Whatever it is, feeling overwhelmed is a normal part of life that everyone tends to feel.
You can’t avoid feeling overwhelmed as it’s normal, but what you can do is find ways to help you deal with this feeling. In this article, we’ll be talking about everything you need to know about feeling overwhelmed.
What It Means To Feel Overwhelmed
Being overwhelmed means you can’t function properly as you’re feeling several other emotions in the process.
When you feel this, your mind and emotions just come to a pause just because you can’t process things like you normally do.
This is why you often hear anxious people overwhelmed because when you feel different varieties of intense emotions at once, you don’t know how to react and which emotion to prioritize.
Feeling overwhelmed can be triggered by several factors, whether it’s trauma, difficult situations, stress, or another factor entirely.
When you’re overwhelmed, even breathing properly can be challenging since every kind of emotion is currently what you feel.
When someone feels this, it can disrupt their daily activities and routine effectively until they’re capable of processing their emotions at a normal level again.
10 Things To Do When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed
1. Stop doing everything at once
As mentioned earlier, it’s difficult to do anything when you’re feeling specifically overwhelmed so you need to go easy on yourself – mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Don’t do anything and just let yourself focus on breathing.
This might mean taking a break from work, from your phone, from anything that requires even an ounce of your energy.
2. Talk to a friend
Nothing releases all your confusing emotions better than just venting to someone you trust.
Phone a friend or even just text them and talk to them about what you’re feeling.
Releasing what you feel in the verbal sense will help you get more clarity and calmness with your mental and emotional health.
Choose that one friend you trust the most with your vulnerability and talk to them.
3. Ask for help
This is probably the last thing on your mind when feeling overwhelmed, especially when it’s caused by work tasks or something heavy in particular.
The burden will lighten when you ask someone for help in doing the task instead of doing it on your own.
There’s nothing wrong with asking for help. Despite the misconception, it doesn’t make you any weaker when you ask a helping hand in a certain task.
4. Break down your tasks
This particular point is more specified to those overwhelmed because of so many tasks to do under a certain period.
You should break down your tasks when this is the case into smaller tasks that you’re more capable of managing.
Seeing a huge task can feel very overwhelming and will usually result in you not doing the task altogether.
Breaking down your task is the best strategy you can do to feel less overwhelmed.
5. Do some organizing around the house
If you’re feeling overwhelmed and you’re at home, doing chores can help you manage your emotions.
Instead of sitting still, doing chores allow you to keep yourself busy instead of focusing on the entanglement of your emotions.
As you’re attempting to process and manage through everything you’re feeling, doing chores can be the break you need for your thoughts.
6. Move your body
As mentioned in the point above, sitting still is the last thing you should do when you feel overwhelmed with emotions.
Whether it’s going to the gym, going for a run, cycling, or even as simple as yoga, make sure to move your body when you feel overwhelmed with your emotions.
It’s a great way to get out of your head and gain the clarity you need to think clearly.
7. Realize that your emotions and thoughts don’t reflect your life
It’s easy to think that being overwhelmed is a reflection of a bad life, but this feeling is temporary and it will pass eventually.
In the meantime, don’t be so harsh in yourself in associating your emotions and thoughts with your self-worth.
Being overwhelmed doesn’t mean your life is falling apart entirely. Instead, let the feeling pass and find assurance that you’ll be okay eventually.
8. Learn from your previous coping mechanisms
Reflect on the previous times you’ve felt overwhelmed and analyze how you managed to cope.
What were the activities you did?
What did you feel and how did you manage you cope?
How long does this feeling usually last?
It’s questions like these that will help you with your current emotions.
9. Try to keep your mind occupied
When you can’t find the energy to do anything at all with the activities mentioned above, that’s when you need to do something, even if it’s just as basic as standing up and walking.
The more you sit still, the worse you’ll feel about everything.
10. Read a book
Reading the words of someone else can deflect whatever it is you’re feeling and can even help you gain insight on what to do if you’re reading from the self-help genre.
It’s a great way to deal with your emotions when you’re feeling lost on what to do with them.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article was able to help you gain insight into feeling overwhelmed. The last thing anybody wants to feel is feeling overwhelmed to the point where they’re feeling every emotion that exists simultaneously.
The primary rule you should keep in mind when you feel this is to avoid dwelling on your thoughts and emotions.
No matter how easy it is, don’t believe your negative thoughts as this will encourage self-sabotaging behavior on your end.
Your overwhelming thoughts and emotions don’t reflect you and when you realize this, the easier it will be to accept having them occasionally.
