It’s just one of those days (or weeks or months) where everything seems like too much. You have a massive deadline at work, and your house is a mess. Plus your family seems to need all of your time, and you can’t remember the last time you got to do something you enjoyed. Sound familiar?
When life feels like it’s too much to handle, you might not just be stressed; you might be overwhelmed. Feeling overwhelmed involves being flooded by unmanageable thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations related to specific problems. Recognizing and addressing overwhelming feelings as a natural response to high demands can help regain balance and relief.
Read on to learn more about how to recognize your feelings of being overwhelmed and how to regain control of your life again.
Signs That You Are Overwhelmed
Being overwhelmed can affect nearly every aspect of your life, from the way your physical body feels to the way you respond to people around you. These are some of the symptoms of being overwhelmed, broken down into categories of how it might affect you:
Emotional Symptoms
- Feeling anxious or constantly stressed
- Experiencing irritability or mood swings
- Feeling helpless or hopeless
Cognitive Symptoms
- Difficulty concentrating or focusing
- Racing thoughts or constant worrying
- Trouble making decisions
Physical Symptoms
- Fatigue and low energy
- Headaches or other unexplained aches and pains
- Changes in appetite or sleep patterns
- Racing heart
Behavioral Symptoms
- Procrastination or avoidance of tasks
- Social withdrawal or isolation
- Decreased productivity and performance
Why You Feel Overwhelmed
Any stressor or unprecedented life event can make you feel overwhelmed. This is especially true for people who haven’t learned helpful skills to deal with stress. Being overwhelmed often happens when many stressors seem to pile up and become too much for your usual coping mechanisms. These are some of the most common reasons someone might feel overwhelmed:
Excessive Workload
People’s jobs are one of the most common reasons someone feels overwhelmed. Here’s how your job might be making you stressed:
- Too many tasks or responsibilities at work or school
- Unrealistic deadlines and high-pressure environments
- Lack of support during busy seasons
Major Life Changes
Anything that radically changes your daily routine can easily make you feel overwhelmed. For most people, these things are often:
- Significant life events such as moving, starting a new job, or going through a divorce
- Adjusting to new roles, such as becoming a parent or caregiver
Financial Stress
Money may not buy happiness, but being unsure about your financial future can certainly add to the stress in your life. Financial stress could be making you feel overwhelmed if you’re experiencing:
- Debt, budgeting issues, or unexpected expenses
- Concerns about job security or income instability
Health Issues
Your physical health greatly impacts how you feel every day. A major health challenge can easily turn that all around. Even small discomforts can contribute to feelings of being overwhelmed when they’re added onto something else. You might have stress from health issues if there are:
- Chronic illness or ongoing health problems
- The major diagnosis that adjusts day-to-day life
- Mental health conditions like anxiety or depression
Relationship Struggles
The people in your life also heavily impact how you’re feeling. Happy connections can make you feel better, even on the worst days. However, when something isn’t going well, you might feel worse off. Your relationships could be adding to your burdens if you’re experiencing:
- Conflicts or tension with family, friends, or partners
- Lack of support or feelings of isolation
Environmental Factors
The places you live, work, and visit can also impact your stress levels and contribute to feelings of being overwhelmed. These are some ways that can happen:
- Living in a chaotic or cluttered environment
- Exposure to constant noise or other stressors
- Natural disasters or bad weather
- Lack of daylight
Time Management Challenges
Sometimes the problem isn’t necessarily with the world around you but the way you’re currently handling life’s stressors. A lot of people end up feeling overwhelmed with life when they’re struggling with time management in these ways:
- Difficulty prioritizing tasks and managing time effectively
- Overcommitting to activities and not having enough downtime
- Missing deadlines and feeling anxious about the future
Societal Pressures
There are times when feeling overwhelmed doesn’t come from any particular life event. It can also happen when you’re feeling unceasing pressure to perform or to be a certain way. Some things that exacerbate these feelings include:
- Societal expectations and pressures to achieve and succeed
- Comparing oneself to others, especially on social media
What to Do When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed
When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it might feel easier to shut down. But there are some great coping strategies you can use to regain control of your life and ultimately help you feel better in the long run. These are some of the best ways to handle feeling overwhelmed:
Prioritize Tasks
Sometimes you feel overwhelmed when there’s too much to do, and your to-do list seems endless. One effective approach here is to focus on prioritizing the things that matter most. Organize your to-do list by importance and let the little things go.
On top of that, try to focus on completing one task at a time. When you’re thinking about everything you have to do, it’s overwhelming. When you’re only thinking about the one thing you’re actively working on, you can stay focused on that. Then when you complete one task, you’re ready to move onto the next, slowly reducing your workload to a manageable level.
Practice Self-Care
When you feel overwhelmed, one of the first things you stop doing is taking care of yourself. Unfortunately, that compounds quickly and ultimately adds to your stress. Instead of forgetting about your needs, remember that practicing self-care is pivotal to reducing stress and feeling less overwhelmed.
Remember that self-care is more than just taking bubble baths. Ensure you’re getting enough rest, nutrition, and exercise. All of that will only help you feel better and help you approach your situation with new clarity. Don’t forget about taking time to do things you enjoy. Participating in your hobbies can help you feel more recharged and ready to take on the challenges you’re currently facing.
Set Boundaries
Saying “yes” to every opportunity that comes your way is a one-way ticket to being overwhelmed. No one can do everything. Eventually, it will only feel like too much, and you won’t even enjoy the opportunities you committed to. To avoid this, practice saying “no” and setting appropriate boundaries.
Protect your time and save your energy for the opportunities that you are passionate about. Avoid committing to anything that’s going to drain you or that you’ll spend days dreading.
Seek Support
High levels of stress aren’t something you have to handle alone. Talk to friends, family, or a mental health professional. Share your feelings and seek advice or help. You might be surprised by what you can learn from the people around you about managing stress.
Reaching out to a support network also reduces your feelings of isolation. It reminds you that there are people around you who care about you and want you to succeed. That can be a helpful reminder when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Use Stress-Relief Techniques
When you’re overwhelmed, there are some things you can do immediately that can help you feel better and reduce physical symptoms: stress-relief techniques. Here are some strategies that you can use to help calm your nervous system:
- Meditate
- Journal
- Do deep breathing
- Go on a long walk
- Spend time in nature
- Do yoga
Organize and Plan
Being overwhelmed can make it feel impossible to get started on anything. To combat that, try organizing and planning out your days. Make a list (in priority order) of what you need to do that day and plan out how you’ll accomplish everything. Having a plan for the day can help you feel like your life is more manageable.
Take Breaks
All work and no play doesn’t help anyone. Trying to go, go, go for too long will only burn you out. To help avoid accumulating more stress, take breaks to relax and do something you enjoy. Then when you return to your tasks, you’ll be feeling more rejuvenated.
Sometimes it’s helpful to be proactive about scheduling breaks. When you have a busy week coming up, set aside specific times in advance for when you’ll be unwinding for a bit.
Reflect and Reassess
When you’re feeling overwhelmed, sometimes it helps to take a step back and look at the big picture. Think about what your stressors are and why they’ve accumulated like they currently have. Is there something you can do to prevent that in the future? Is there something you can cut out to avoid excessive stress?
Think about your priorities and consider how you can stay true to them and avoid becoming overwhelmed.
Change Your Perspective
While you’re re-examining the bigger picture, consider your own attitude and perspective. Instead of dwelling on the stress, think about what you’re grateful for. Take some time to reflect on what’s going well in your life right now and to focus on that.
Changing your perspective from the negative to the positive can help you change how you think about being overwhelmed—and help you avoid it in the future.
Reframe Your Overwhelm
Stress comes and goes, but there are steps you can take to make those hard times less difficult, and these steps are a great way to get started! But even good advice is hard to incorporate if your perceptions are limiting.
Download Reframe to reframe your perceptions of whatever is overwhelming you.
Reframing perception will change the way you think about and experience stress. It will provide you an expanded perspective, and it will open you to receive a greater abundance. Download Reframe today!
