Try this next time you feel yourself spinning out into overwhelm

At the time of writing this I am in that pre-holiday mad rush, where I seem to have a herculean amount of things to do before I catch my flight tomorrow morning. The to-do lists have to-do lists and I seem to be adding more to-dos to the lists than I am ticking them off.

And so, inevitably, the blind panic is starting to set in.

This happens every time I have any kind of looming deadline and the countdown is on. No matter how much I tell myself that flying into a panic literally will not help, that whipping myself up into a frenzy will only make things worse, my reptilian brain does not care.

It firmly believes that hitting the emergency fight-or-flight button is the only way I’m going to get through the 7,568 things on my to-do list by tomorrow morning.

And so before I know it I am fizzing with adrenaline, pacing around the house leaving half-finished jobs in my wake and hammering away at my laptop, leaping haphazardly from one open tab to the other.

But the problem is, when I’m in the grips of fight-or-flight, I never seem to realise it’s happening.  I literally wrote a book on how to unplug from a life of panic and urgency and even I fail to spot the signs when I’m already in it.

It’s like that part of my brain has switched off. And actually, that is literally what has happened. 

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When we’re in a fight-or-flight state part of our brains DO switch off.

Our IQ drops and we can no longer access the higher-thinking parts of our brain: creativity, intuition and rational thinking.

Which is why it is such a thoroughly useless state to get into when I have 7568 things to do in a very short space of time.

But luckily on my to-do list was write my Friday newsletter and as my adrenalised brain could think of nothing to write, I found myself scrolling through old newsletter drafts and ideas and thankfully I stumbled upon an old piece I’d written a few years ago called ‘Overwhelm Sos’.

The moment I saw those words, the penny dropped.

That’s what had been going on.

I was overwhelmed 🙄

And so I followed the steps from my Overwhelm SOS, written by a much calmer Selina from the past. And do you know what, it worked a treat.

I went from wild eyed and frenzied, to calm and relaxed in less than half an hour.

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So here are the steps I followed that helped me get out of overwhelm and back to feeling calm and in control (in less than 30 minutes)

Keep these steps in your back pocket and use them next time you feel yourself spinning out into overwhelm:

Step 1: ✍️ Write down all the to-dos that are spinning around in your head. Part of the problem right now is that you are trying to keep a track of your to-do list in your brain and you need them all out of your head and onto the page

Step 2: ⏰ Take a look at the list and see if there is anything on that list that can be done in 2 minutes. If so, do it now. A couple of quick wins will make you feel like you are back in control.

Step 3: ✏️Organise all the remaining to-do lists into groups of to-dos that you want to tackle at the same time, for example to-dos relating to a particular project or to-dos relating to house admin 

Step 4: 👉Decide which of those to-do lists you want to focus on now and choose 3-5 to-dos that you’ll focus on getting done first

Step 5: 🗓️ Book all the other groups of to-dos into your calendar or give them a time and date for when you’re going to focus on them. For example you might book an hour of house admin to-dos to get through tomorrow morning and two hours next Wednesday evening to work on the to-dos on a particular project. If you’re working within a shorter time frame, give your to-do lists times like ‘this evening’, ‘2-4pm’ or ‘on the way to the airport’.

Step 6: 🤔As you address each list of to-dos ask yourself if there is anything you can do to lighten your load? Can you delegate any of those to-dos? Ask for help? Or leave some to a later date?

Step 7: 🤯As much as to-dos will be cluttering your mind, you may also have worries, concerns, doubts and fears jostling around in there too, keeping you feeling overwhelmed. In fact sometimes those are the BIGGEST causes of overwhelm. So you might need to get all those thoughts and fears and concerns out and onto the page too. 

Step 8: 🤸🏽‍♀️Now that you’ve cleared everything out of your head and acknowledged how you’re feeling, it’s time to release any remaining panic, overwhelm and stress out of your body. If you’re fizzing with adrenaline, getting your body and your heart pumping with some form of energetic movement or exercise can really help to release that pent-up energy. Water can help too - a cold shower or hot bath is an effective way to calm the nervous system. And getting out in nature, leaning your back against a tree or getting your bare feet on the earth can ground you back into a place of calm and relaxation in no time. 

Once I’d followed these steps I was able to make my way through my to-do list with ease. 

And with the creative part of my brain fully functioning again I was able to write this post. And not only that, but enjoy writing this post. 

And so with all the to-dos ticked off my list and this newsletter scheduled, I can now switch off fully and enjoy a whole week of holiday with zero work and very little responsibility. And I cannot wait. 

I’ll see you on the flip side!

X Selina