40% of people feel overwhelmed by their workload. This is a large percentage of people.
When you’re already stressed, setting new goals could be extremely difficult because you may feel like you don’t have the time or energy to accomplish them.
However, there are things you could do to get around this. Let’s dive in further to see how you can set goals while feeling overwhelmed.
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
– C.S. Lewis
The Science of Overwhelm: Understanding Why We Feel Overwhelmed
Being overwhelmed isn’t just something you think is happening. There’s an actual science behind it. It’s linked to stress and anxiety, which originates from your brain’s response to perceived threats.
As humans, we weren’t always so advanced. The reason we have this built into our systems is because we evolved to deal with immediate dangers.
This means that when we’re in an overwhelmed state, it’s because our brains think something is going wrong. This creates fear and anxiety, which is why it can be so difficult to focus on goals.
Shifting Your Mindset: How Changing Your Perspective Can Help You Tackle Goals Through Overwhelm
Your mind is a very powerful tool. What some may perceive as an overly stressful situation, others are able to see the positives, which doesn’t cause the reaction we mentioned above.
You could do the following:
- View change as progress
- Surround yourself with positive people
- Challenge your limiting beliefs till you no longer believe them anymore
- Develop a growth mindset
- Seek Support
- See challenges as opportunity rather than problems
- Practice Gratitude
It’s not going to happen over night, but shifting your mindset is one of the most powerful things you could do.
How Time Blocking Could Help You Figure Things Out and Calm Yourself Down
One aspect of being overwhelmed is not managing your time properly. People often say things like “I have no time”, but in reality, we all have the same 24 hours.
One thing I often tell people to do when they say they have no time, is to show me their phone activity(I know it’s intrusive, but it tells the truth).
Often you will then reveal if they are telling the truth or not. If their Instagram activity says three hours per day, there is plenty of time to do other things, and freeing that time will help them feel much calmer and less overwhelmed.
I’m not here to judge you, I’m only here to tell you that you need to practice self-awareness and honesty when it comes to relieving your overwhelm.
Here’s something that helps me not get overwhelmed when goal setting. It’s called time blocking.
It’s when you set specific time frames for certain tasks with small breaks in between. This helps you break down your goals into manageable chunks and also allows you to stay focused.
Once I started using it, I was able to get more done in a shorter amount of time while feeling calmer and more productive. I realized what usually would take me a couple days to achieve, would take me half the time.
Time blocking changes your mindset from “Oh, I have to do this whole paper”, to, “Let’s work on this introduction to this paper”.
It creates the ability to take small steps, achieve small wins, which builds momentum and gets rid of that overwhelmed feeling.
Have Realistic Goals
One of the first posts I ever wrote on this blog was, “The Importance Of Setting Realistic Goals“.
You can apply all the strategies in the world to minimize being overwhelmed, but if your goals aren’t realistic, you won’t accomplish them & you will continue to be overwhelmed.
Take a look at this post on how to set realistic goals and achieve them if you need help.
Example Of an Unrealistic Goal
Let’s say you want to lose weight.
If you set the goal of losing 20 pounds in two weeks, you will be overwhelmed simply because of the unrealistic nature of the goal.
Instead of setting that goal, set a goal to lose 1-2 pounds per week for the next 10-20 weeks.
Be Flexible With Your Goals
Another thing that could lead to being overwhelmed is continuously working on goals that no longer make sense.
It’s very important to reflect on your goals and make sure you’re doing something that is worth your energy and time.
If you realize that the goal you’re working on no longer makes sense for where you are in life, don’t be afraid to adjust it or completely let go of it.
This will give you a breath of fresh air, and avoid being overwhelmed.
