Feeling Overwhelmed? Start here.
Planning is majorly effective for reducing stress but sometimes it’s hard to push past the overwhelming amount of things you know are on your plate and start the planning process. As usual, we reached out to our community of insightful planners and were so inspired by their advice! If you find yourself overwhelmed by all you know you need to do, start here.
Caity Glass
“I sit down with a tea and do a brain dump, just write everything down, even if it’s not a ‘to-do’ task. Then divide this up and create little step by step plans to walk through. I then make sure that same day to do some self-care and reward myself for taking steps towards improvement.”
Kelsey Quartuccio
“I have major messy brain problems that contribute to overwhelm more than any outside circumstances could. I’m super visual so I usually do mind mapping to break things down and see where they fall in relation to each other. If I don’t have it on paper, I use the MindMeister website (which I also use for general business mapping).”
Nicole West
“I write everything down in a mind map or paper plate so I can see everything that I have on my plate. Then I pick the top three priorities and focus on those first.”
Candace West
“1. Write down all the things I need to do- assignments, projects, housework, etc.
2. Find out which items have deadlines and which no.
3. Organize the items within relation to deadline, importance, and easiness.
4. Try to knock out the task that’s the most overwhelming. Usually that ends up being whatever is due first/is the largest assignment. If it’s large, but not due soon, I try to do things that are due sooner but are smaller and take less time. But for something that is due soon and large I try to break things up. So I’ll say, I can take a break after I finish this paragraph. Or if I’m having a brain fart, I give myself a 15 or so minute break to cool down and play a game and think about something else. I try to stay in the same spot I’m working in, do I don’t get tempted to abandon what I’m working on and do something else.
For reference, I’m a university student with undiagnosed ADHD.”
Gabe McCants Pauley
“1. I stop and think. Sometimes a walk helps or listening to music while I do mindless chores. Once I’m in a better state of mind I write a list (I’m a list person). I try to prioritize. I remember an old Franklin Covey book that talked about list and top “must do” task. This helps because I think about the consequences of not getting a certain thing done. Will anyone die? Will my family be ok? Will I get fired? Then things seem less important. Crossing things off a list helps to lessen my stress.
2. Pushing myself to just start. Sometimes a task can seem so overwhelming that we put it off and procrastinate. I push myself to just start. Break a big task into smaller items and as you cross them off you begin to feel accomplished.”
What do you do to push past overwhelm and get started on planning and knocking out goals? Share with us in the comments below!