Feeling overwhelmed?
Oh my goodness, that feeling of overwhelm is horrible isn’t it! Waking up in the morning already feeling behind…
You want to banish those feelings quick! But how?
Here’s a few simple steps which can definitely help…
We’ll consider three key areas:
- Physical ‘stuff’
- Mental
- Time
Physical ‘stuff’
Declutter
‘Stuff’ seems to accumulate everywhere… and we have to actively remove some of it or we can almost be buried in it!
One of the most difficult things I find when decluttering is knowing what to do with it all. I know from my own experience, and those of others on decluttering groups (yes they do exist!), is that waiting to find the right new home for those books, clothes or treasures is a real hindrance to decluttering.
You can end up with bags of books or clothes waiting by the door for months to go to a happy recipient…
‘Just send them to the Op shop’ your brain screams, while your heart says ‘Oh but they are so precious… just wait for the right person who will love them’.
IT DOESN’T WORK!…. As a friend said to me, ‘Your mental health is worth it… just send them to the shop!’
So sort through the ‘stuff’, and if you’re not using it, ask yourself is this really blessing me/my family, or is it just cluttering up the place?
It can be extremely therapeutic!
Sort it out and organise it
If you decide to keep it… decide where you will to store it. Organising where to keep everything can really help reduce the cluttered feeling and stress.
Put things where you use them
Makes sense but how often do we have things stored in a different place to where we actually use them, and when we need to put them away we put off till later and here we go into clutter-land again!
OK so moving on to our minds…
Our racing brains
Write it down
First step here is to GET IT OUT of your head and onto paper, otherwise those overwhelming thoughts just go round and round creating havoc and stress.
Prioritise
Once the thoughts are out and visible, prioritise them…
- What’s essential
- What’s important but can wait
- What isn’t even an issue!
You’ve made your list so now comes the fun part…
Action
Create those action steps which will help you achieve what you need to.
If you’re struggling, because you actually don’t want to do what you need to – visualize and imagine how satisfied you’re going to feel once you’ve taken the step. You can even set yourself a little reward for when you’ve done it.
Time
(Here’s another biggie!…)
Time, we just don’t seem to have enough to fit so many things in to, so:
Prioritise
A little like in the last section it is about priorities, what is most important to give your time to.
Say ‘Yes’
Say ‘yes’ to the important things and…
And ‘No’
‘No’ to the things that actually even though they maybe good, aren’t a priority and are causing you stress trying to fit them all in.
So there you have it, a quick but hopefully super helpful run down on reducing that overwhelm, and hopefully your stress level.
Let me know in the comments below how you get on and what helps you x
Vathani
So needed to read this…i.need to declutter badly.. feel like my chi energy is trapped..no flow inside.. starting with the kids toy room… thank you Amy…u truly make me feel peaceful..cant wait to see u in person.
Amy
Thanks lovely, glad you found it helpful. I am really looking forward to meeting you too x