Everyone feels overwhelmed from time to time, particularly at work; meeting deadlines, juggling multiple projects simultaneously, and finding it hard to prioritise, organise, and logically work through tasks can be incredibly debilitating. The global pandemic has heightened these feelings, with many people struggling to cope with the sudden changes this has brought to our lives.
For an adult like myself who has ADHD, these feelings of overwhelm are a daily occurrence, and can lead to a feeling of exhaustion by even everyday tasks if not managed. Luckily, this also means that I am now great at overcoming waves of overwhelm which you must do to succeed, be that in business or elsewhere.
Try these 5 coping mechanisms that I have tried and tested and know to actually work to push those feelings of overwhelm away.
1. Make a list
If you start feeling overwhelmed, get a big piece of paper, and write a list of all the tasks you need to complete or worries that are on your mind. Be sure to split larger projects into smaller tasks; it may look like a lot, but this way you have everything out on the table, so you can then slowly start to work through them.
2. Allocate Timeframes
Decide how long each task on your list will take and write this down too. Often, we feel overwhelmed as we have blown the job at hand drastically out of proportion. By allocating each job a timeframe, it helps our brains realise thatwon’t last forever, it will only take X amount of time, and we can manage this.
3. Prioritise
As someone with ADHD, prioritising is hard; I want to spend all my time on what I love, and the tedious tasks never get done. However, try your best to put your list in order of importance. This helps you to compartmentalise tasks, and work your way down the list, crossing off each job as it is completed.
4. Just do something
If you’ve tried hard at facing that all-important but exceedingly boring task, don’t procrastinate or beat yourself up about it. Instead, just do something, even if this is something small like sending an email or making a phone call. Just doing something still reduces the workload you have left.
5. Breathe deeplyBreathing is a powerful tool which can calm our thoughts and ground us. It not only allows our brains to get more oxygen but also lets us take a step back and see the problems we face for what they are, not what we have painted them to be.
