I often talk about being moderated, driven, and pursuing your goals as a working woman. However, there also times when being overly driven and motivated can create significant overwhelm in your life. I know I’ve found myself in overwhelming situations more often than I wanted to as a result of wanting to cram as much in my schedule as possible. As a working mom, I wanted it all to fit in. The family, the career, the side hustle, even the worship and praise. It had to all fit in. Until I started getting so tired, irritable, and out of sorts, that I couldn’t recognize myself. It doesn’t help that in the age of female empowerment and social media, we are constantly egged on to continually hustle and do whatever it takes to succeed.
Overwhelm happens. As a matter of fact, it happens to many, if not most women. However, it doesn’t have to. We don’t have to live as victims into a continuous sense of never being on top of our schedule or our lives in general even when our to do list mountable feel like there never going to be enough hours in the day, they are ways to beat overwhelm:
Acknowledge the situation
When busyness becomes a badge of honor, it can be easy to deny the fact that we’re overwhelmed. Instead, we start thinking that being constantly tired and at a of loss is a normal state of being. It begins with acknowledging the problem before we can actually solve it. Are you not feeling yourself? Do you feel constantly exhausted and not in control of your time, do you feel like you’re constantly on the go and never have a minute to stop? These and so many others are clean signs that you may be overwhelmed.
It took a long while for me to acknowledge that I was indeed overwhelmed. As a recovering people-pleaser, saying “yes” to every request was the norm for me. When overwhelm started settling in, I was first in a state of denial, feeling guilty for not being able to handle it all. It actually took having the honesty and humility to admit to myself that I was in over my head to start changing things.
Identify the sources of your problem.
The next step is to recognize what is causing your sense of overwhelm. It may be that you have unreasonable expectations as to your schedule or the demands of your life and work. Most often, it is the case. Identifying the source(s) of your overwhelm is a powerful tool to target what needs to changed.
After admitting to myself that I was indeed overwhelmed, I had to identify what was causing such an imbalance in my life and work. I recognized that my then-lack of organization, as well as my inability to prioritize, were to blame. It was clear then that I had to double down on organizational skills, and do less while having more impact and…less overwhelm.
Start making small changes.
The mistake we often make when trying to beat overwhelm as working women is to make too drastic changes all at once. Instead, start by making small changes to your daily schedule. I know I had to begin small to keep from being panicked at the idea of reducing my to do list. What that meant for me was to try to target the most critical aspects of my work and life first, one day at a time . What does it mean for you? What small changes can you start implementing on a day-to-day basis?
What this meant for me was to re-evaluate my daily routine. I realized there were many commitments that did not have any impact on my productivity or the overall goals I was setting for myself. Realizing this was allowed me to start making small modifications to my schedule, such as waking up earlier, re-evaluating my involvement in certain non-critical projects, and backing out of projects I could not commit to.
Identify what matters to you
The main reason why we get overwhelmed is that we simply try to do too much. We get away from what’s really important to us to try and control everything else. This is why it’s so important to come back to your list of priorities and identify what matters most to you. Is it your family? Is it your work? Even within your family and your work, what aspects are most important to you?
For me, it was coming back to the essentials, such as spending fruitful time with my loved ones, or focusing on work that really mattered to myself and others. It wasn’t until I clearly and unapologetically pinpointed these that I was able to pursue my goals more proactively.
Give yourself grace
Beating overwhelm is not an easy process. You may encounter feelings of guilt, self-doubt and self questioning all along the way. It helps to forgive yourself and allow yourself some grace, patience and understanding through this process.
For me it meant condemning myself less for being overwhelmed and trying to change on a daily basis. It also meant not being overly harsh with myself on days when I still felt under pressure. It also meant being willing to move on from failures, and apply the lessons learnt going forward.
Now your turn: how do you beat overwhelm in your work and life as a working woman?
To your success,
The corporate sister.
