When you feel overwhelmed, the first thing you want to do is stop because you don’t get what to do and how to do it. You just want to leave everything and run away somewhere far. You feel intimidated and you end up doing nothing but the things that you were doing before that don’t get you any result.

Don’t feel bad about it. Everyone feels overwhelmed at some point in their life especially when they start something new like learning a new skill, changing their career, quitting bad habits, or making good ones. It happens to everyone, you are not alone.

When you feel overwhelmed, it’s easy to get stuck in a vicious cycle. You feel overwhelmed, so you don’t do anything, which makes you feel even more overwhelmed, so you don’t do anything, and so on. But the truth is, you can break the cycle.

It’s quite easy to feel like you’re moving too quickly or not moving fast enough when you are feeling overwhelmed. The reality is that everyone feels a little overwhelmed from time to time. 

But have you ever wondered that what separates the people who become overwhelmed from those who don’t is what they do when they feel overwhelmed? Here are some tips to help you stop feeling overwhelmed and start getting what you want.

1. Calm yourself

When you feel overwhelmed, your mind is racing, your heart is beating briskly, and your body is tense. So, the first thing you should do is to calm yourself down. Take a few deep breaths and relax. Count to 10, it will help you regain your composure.

Take a break, go for a walk, listen to your favorite music, run some errands, or just sit quietly for some time. This exercise will restart your mind. 

When your mind is at rest, it works the best.

After restarting, give yourself time to manage your thoughts. When you calm yourself down, your thinking becomes clearer, you make better decisions, and you start making progress. 

2. Be positive

Feeling overwhelmed mostly generates negativity in and around you, which makes it very important to develop a habit of being positive. 

When you are feeling overwhelmed and intimidated, tell yourself that everything will be fine. Tell yourself that you will find a solution to the problem you are facing. And don’t only say it but genuinely feel it. Remind yourself of everything in your life that is working well and you are grateful for.

Being positive in the face of adversity is one of the most powerful ways to overcome it. It will help you to stay motivated, and will ultimately help you to achieve your goals.

When you are positive, the Universe generally responds positively too. The Universe always responds to positive energy. So when you are feeling overwhelmed, it is important to be as positive as possible. This can be difficult when you feel so overwhelmed, but it is very important.

3. Believe in yourself

To get rid of the feeling of being overwhelmed, you must learn to believe in yourself. Believe that you can do what you set your mind to. Believe that you can do anything or be anything.

When you believe in yourself, everything is possible. If you are stuck somewhere or scared of taking an action, just remind yourself that ‘Everything is Possible’. 

When you feel overwhelmed, take a moment to tell yourself that you can do this. Tell yourself that you believe in yourself and that you can achieve whatever it is that you are trying to do. 

Develop a growth mindset and that will help you to overcome or at least give you the power to face every fear, in the process of growing and accomplishing your dreams.

4. Write down your thoughts 

Writing is a good exercise for your mind as it lightens the burden and you get a feeling of peace. When you are overwhelmed, you have a web of thoughts in your mind, this is the reason why you can’t see things clearly and decide what to do next.

Writing your thoughts down on paper helps you to organize your thoughts and feelings. Get everything out on paper so that you can decide what’s useful and what’s not; what you want to keep doing and what not; what ideas and thoughts to work on and what not, etc. You get the idea.

Then, make a list of the things you want to work on and what you want to hold. And start working.

5. Go one by one

When you feel overwhelmed, take small and actionable steps instead of doing everything at once; or it will drive you nuts. Going one by one makes you focused and you feel more accomplished.

Make a list of things that you want to be done and focus on that at one time, complete it and then only move to the next. Try the Pomodoro technique: set a timer for 25 minutes and work on one big task at a time until the timer goes off.

Don’t make the mistake of accomplishing everything at once. You have often heard of the saying, ‘Great things take time’. And it’s true, nothing happens overnight. 

So, slow down and do one thing at a time. This exercise also helps you to increase your productivity and help you achieve your goals.

6. Set boundaries

When you’re overwhelmed, it can feel like there’s no way out. You feel like you’re drowning in a sea of emotion, and it can be hard to see a way out. But there is a way out—you just need to set some boundaries. 

Set boundaries for yourself to the things that help you in some way, and don’t make you feel exhausted. Cut some people, habits, and things that are not serving you anymore in your growth. Actually, there just stop you from going up. Setting boundaries will help you reduce your stress up to an accountable level. 

It is useless to think and waste your energy on things that don’t matter. Say ‘NO’ to the things that are out of your league and the things that you can’t do anything about. Spend most of your time and energy on things that are worth doing.

7. Don’t hesitate to ask for help

When you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, it can be tempting to try to tough it out. But, this only makes the problem worse. Instead, try to identify the source of your feeling of being overwhelmed and ask for help. 

This may sound obvious, but sometimes we don’t ask for help when we need it because we feel ashamed, embarrassed, or incompetent.

Sometimes we can’t see the solution to the problem we are facing, even if it’s right in front of us, because the mind is stressed out. Asking for someone to help can help you see the solution that you are looking for. 

Conclusion

There can be millions of reasons that you can make like 

Lack of knowledge;

You don’t have enough money to start;

You are confused;

Not feeling inspired;

Lack of experience;

Feeling intimidated and whatnot

But what you need to achieve your goals is just one strong reason and you are good to go. So, stop making useless excuses and pay for what it takes to succeed which is ‘Struggle’. Stand up and take action. NOW! 

Here’s what you should read next.

• What to do when you are confused?
• 6 ways to find inspiration when you are lost.
• How to overcome negativity to live to the fullest?

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