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Welcome to the November edition of Power in Action. This month, we discuss the topic of being overwhelmed.
In a previous issue we talked about the trend of being too busy and some tips to manage it. When all of that busy-ness reaches the point overwhelm, however, we are at a whole new level.
When you are merely busy, there is a chance that you are still in control. Once you reach the point of overwhelm, your activities have you. We all reach this point occasionally in our lives and I am not too sure we can avoid it all together.
Preparing your first Thanksgiving dinner for your extended family seemed like a good idea - you just didn't know how much work it really was (and that the turkey needed to thaw in the fridge for how many days?)
Learning about your competitors, expanding your skills, managing your finances, dealing with the added challenges of a tight economy, taking on a hobby, dealing with kids, etc., etc., etc. All of these things individually can become overwhelming at times and collectively the probability is even higher.
There is good news, though. Overwhelm can certainly be managed if you learn how to spot it quickly and practice a few quick techniques to put things back in perspective. Once you become efficient at managing it, your time overwhelm may only last mere moments.
One of the keys to success is setting high goals and working to achieve them. Master your overwhelm today to allow your bar for success to be set higher and higher.
Have a powerful day!
Cecilia |
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Overcoming Overwhelm
Look in any thesaurus and the synonyms for overwhelm are pretty awful: overpower, subdue, oppress, quash, engulf, swallow, submerge, bury, suffocate.
Groan.
To anyone who's experienced overwhelm, and that's plenty of us, those words may be all too familiar. Whether the overwhelm is sudden or cumulative, chronic or acute, the feeling is one of drowning, immobility and powerlessness.
Teri, 36, a married mother of two, has always been a hard worker and it's paid off: In a six-year period, she has been promoted four times. Lately, however, she just doesn't feel the enthusiasm for her work that she used to. She's often tired, impatient and makes more mistakes. She also feels increasingly distant from her husband and kids. On paper, her life is everything she's ever wanted. Then why isn't she enjoying it more?
One clue: Several months ago, Teri started putting in more hours at work. She started burning out as well as neglecting other areas of her life. She wasn't managing her physical and mental energy well.
A less obvious clue: Teri had lost sight of her passions. She worked, mothered and was a wife. But she no longer danced or painted, and she had stopped the political activism that had so fired her up in her younger years. An essential part of her, her passionate nature, had, in effect, atrophied much like an unused muscle.
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