How to Deal With Feeling Overwhelmed

All of us at one time or another have felt overwhelmed by our jobs, our family responsibilities, or just life in general. After a while, the sense of feeling overwhelmed can get so heavy that you take on the "deer in headlights" look, and just freeze up. This article will teach you how to deal with feeling overwhelmed, and begin to systematically make progress towards getting out of that dilemma.

Difficulty:

Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Determination
• A pen and paper, or some way to write something down

1. Resolve that you will begin to study everything you can get your hands on about time management. Since the most common complaint is that we all seem to have too much to do, but not enough time in the day to do it all, it would behoove us greatly to study the principles of time management in order to effectively deal with all that we're faced with on a given day.

2. 

   Learn how to prioritize. Recognize that all tasks are not created equal; meaning, there are some tasks that are WAY more important to accomplish than other tasks. Learn to recognize which tasks are of high value versus low value tasks. An example of a high value task would be any type of task that has a definite deadline, and if the deadline is missed, it could mean some serious consequences are to follow. An example of a low value task is something like deleting old emails in your inbox...you can live with the consequences if you can't get to it on a given day.

3. Give some serious thought to this quote: "The things that matter the most should never be at the mercy of the things which matter the least." Now re-think Step 2 and make sure that you have identified the task(s) that are truly the most important, and write them down.

4. Now this is the part that's going to take some serious discipline. Once you have identified your most important, high value tasks, concentrate single-mindedly on working to get those tasks done, without breaking focus and without getting distracted. This will be HARD. Resist the temptation to go back to working on low value tasks because they're "easier".

5. Continually ask yourself: "What is the absolute BEST use of my time right now?" This will help keep you on track.

Tips & Warnings

• Start on your most important tasks first. I cannot emphasize this enough.

• You will encounter distractions, unexpected phone calls or visits, etc. This will not be easy. Just be determined to "bounce back" as quick as possible and jump right back on the task(s) until it's done. This will help you make significant progress, and also help you fight off the feeling of being overwhelmed. You will actually feel better just knowing that you're "in motion", doing something that's moving you in the right direction.

Resources

• Brian Tracy International