Navigating Overwhelm
Unlock the magic of conquering overwhelm with the 'Slay Overwhelm Process,' available to all subscribers. I share practical tools for regaining clarity while navigating life's chaos.
Overwhelm is a universally relatable experience. At some point in our lives, we all encounter circumstances that leave us feeling overwhelmed. While occasional overwhelm can be manageable, when it becomes a daily, perpetual experience, it's time to consider tools and practices that can help you regain control amidst the chaos and refocus on what truly matters for YOU.
The truth is, unless you have a clear understanding of EVERYTHING on your plate – the tasks you're processing, the emotions you're holding, the responsibilities you're managing, or the decisions you're facing – it's nearly impossible to make informed choices. Our human minds can't process everything all at once, not even over the span of a few hours. Sometimes, creating a simple list isn't a solution to overwhelm; it's merely the initial step toward gaining much-needed clarity.
Today, I want to introduce you to what I call the "Slay Overwhelm Process." I've been sharing this method since I began my coaching practice in 2018. It's not a closely guarded secret or a mysterious formula; in fact, you might have encountered similar processes before from other coaches, consultants, or mentors. What sets this approach apart is the power of vocalizing your thoughts and feelings, which can bring remarkable clarity. Working with a friend a trusted loved one or even a coach on this process can be helpful in reflection.
The harsh reality is that conquering overwhelm requires patience, a virtue often in short supply when you're struggling to keep everything together moment by moment. There's an ebb and flow to managing overwhelm, and just when things seem clear, they can quickly become overwhelming again. As Lizzo wisely puts it, "Patience takes practice," and this practice is often the last thing on your mind when you're perpetually overwhelmed.
I've been in the throes of perpetual overwhelm myself, and I want you to know that the process I'm sharing today is merely a starting point. It's a tool that you can return to time and time again. You can download the video, work through the steps, take breaks, and revisit it hours, days, weekends, or even months later. That's the beauty of a tool – it's there for your application, and you determine how to use it effectively.
Remember, overwhelm is a shared human experience, but the severity and resistance it brings vary for each individual. If you're ready to begin, download the PDF, set aside about 30-45 minutes, and watch the tutorial.
SLAY OVERWHELM WORKSHOP OVERVIEW - Watch Video on Loom.com
Video Transcript:
00:01 Hi friend, it's your girl Meg here Light seminar and coach on a mission to help you shine brighter. Thank you for your interest in the slang overwhelm workshop.
00:10 And this video should serve as a way to walk you through the workshop. And so anytime you take a free workshop with me, you'll get any of the assets and this short tutorial-type video to help you do the work at home if you couldn't make it to the live class.
00:29 So here's the workbook that we used in the class. There was a little bit more time for discussion and we were able to share some reflections and that's really the perk to coming to, um, the circle.
00:43 But you can absolutely do this work on your own. So once you have it open, there's a little bit of text in here about how overwhelm ain't no joke.
00:54 and then you're going to go through three main steps that I'm going to talk you through, and you can actually use this video as a way to guide you through those steps and just hit pause at each step and follow the directions of that step.
01:11 So we can dive in here, basically overwhelm is one of those things that sucks. It doesn't feel good. It doesn't serve anything.
01:25 if anything, it's only exasperating what's already bothering us and making new things that are coming into our awareness that much more difficult to hold.
01:35 So the best thing that we can do is try to tackle our overwhelm as it shows up. And so I think that this is a mix of action and surrender sometimes really the best solution is to just lay down.
01:48 Sometimes the best solution is to walk away, to try again tomorrow.
01:53 And I don't think there's any shame in that game. Other times, the way that we can quell our permanent overwhelm is to make lists right, to really put our hands into the dirt of what's happening and get a handle on it.
02:09 So these next three steps might uncomfortable. There might be parts of it that feel good. There might be parts of fit.
02:18 That don't feel so great. There might be parts of it that just leave you blank. And I want to ask you to leave your judgment at the door, right?
02:27 If this could just be a process that is about moving some energy, moving that overwhelm from your head where everything's bouncing around through your heart, out your arm, out those fingers onto a piece of paper so that you can deal with it, right?
02:45 You can materialize it and figure out what needs to happen next.
02:50 So we're going to move into the first step here, which is the illuminations station. And so you're going to make an exhaustive list of all of the things and what do I by all of the things.
03:01 So what is every single thing that's bouncing around in your brain? I often call this a brain dump with my clients.
03:09 So we take out a piece of paper and a pen. We set a timer for five minutes and we start to list every single thing that is making us feel overwhelmed.
03:19 It doesn't have to be an actual task. It doesn't have to relate to just one area of your life. It could relate to any compartment of your life.
03:29 In my coaching practice, we talk about the wheel of life and in the wheel, you know, there's spokes and imagery, each spoke or in each slice is a slice of your life.
03:39 And so what are you housing in that compartment, right? What's, what's living up in that space and what needs to be addressed, what needs to be looked at, what is, you know, something that just might feel unresolved, you know, that we can maybe find some resolution to, or make a plan, to find some
04:01 resolution, to get it all down. As I said, a moment ago, this is a judgment free exercise, right? So, imagine your mind is a faucet.
04:12 We set the timer, we turn it on, it's open and it's flowing, let things come out, let them go, let them be released.
04:23 So if you want to start step one, you can set a timer on your phone and just pause the video here and come back and we'll go to the next step.
04:36 Okay.
04:37 So step two is about letting go of what you can't control. I know gasp,
04:44 Ah, how, how,
04:46 you got the list kudos for that. You've made it past that step. How did it feel? What was it like?
04:54 You know, a little reflection there. That's what we would have done in the class. Then we're going to go into this piece about looking at your list and deciding, what's got to go the first we do this in two parts, right?
05:10 So the first part that we're going to do it in is taking things off the list that you can't control.
05:16 So maybe there's something on your list about your kids or your kids' school or your kid's teacher. You know, maybe there's something on your list about your partner, your partner, partner's job or some things that are just like either none of your business or out of your control.
05:32 Like they're just not in your sphere of influence. Those things have to go first, right?
05:37 If you're not, if you want to keep them top of mind, if you want to house them on it, another piece of paper and you don't have to entirely scratch them out.
05:44 Maybe you circle them in a color ink, but really the idea here is that like to get to the core of what we can work with, you have to move things out of the way.
05:53 And so one of the first things we're going to move out of the way is the things that you can't control.
05:58 So set a timer for five minutes, go ahead and circle those things and come back here and we'll go on to the next one.
06:10 So step three is all about identifying and eliminating. What does it light you up? What does it make you feel good?
06:16 So what's dulling you down. What's dimming you out. What's you know, not letting you shine properly. Maybe it's a commitment.
06:24 Maybe it's a habit. Maybe it's a lack of either of those, right? But what's going to help you start generating momentum is not going to be the things that you feel like, uh, you know, that you are really slogging through.
06:42 And so it's either about finding a better way of being in relationship with those tasks or letting them go. And so what we want to find here is like, identify the things that don't light you up.
06:52 And then from those things, what can you get rid of? What can you say goodbye to, or even like entertained pausing, meaning you don't have to absolutely say 100% so long farewell, but you can at least pause it and see if it's worth coming back to.
07:09 So go ahead and set a timer for five minutes, let go of those things that are no longer serving you and then come back and we'll go into the next step.
07:23 So,
07:23 So after step four is over, this is where I just want you to take a big, deep breath. You've come really far.
07:32 You've put this list together. It should feel, not like so burdensome, maybe just a little bit lighter, a little bit of space.
07:44 And so next I want you to answer, I'm sorry. I want you to answer these questions and like, look at that in terms of like laying them, laying these questions over a specific task, right?
07:58 So what is the, why does this task matter to me? Right? What have I, why have I pushed it off or avoided getting it done?
08:06 Excuse me, how do I feel right now? What are some smaller steps to get any of these tasks done? And what can I do to add smaller steps to my calendar?
08:18 Like how can I add them? How can I track them?
08:23 And so you can do that reflection and then move on to the next step, which is step five, which is like, get down to business, right?
08:31 You have to go through that list and prioritize and list the things like circle. What I, what we did in the workshop is I told everyone to circle the top three things.
08:42 Everybody will have a different way of prioritizing, but if you circle the top three things, that's going to get, you started in some area, right?
08:50 If you have like, if you can look and see that there are compartments of tasks that you've listed, maybe it works better for that.
08:57 You need a container. So you have your work tasks and you have your home tasks and you have your personal project tasks, kid tasks, and partner tasks, whatever and prioritize those things.
09:10 Even if you're prioritizing by bucket is going to give you a sense of how you can create momentum in those areas.
09:17 Now, listen, usually a task usually, and not, I mean, some people are very detailed, but usually in this exercise with how quickly we're going through it, a task has a lot of steps inside of it.
09:30 And so I want you to break it down, take those tasks, those big ones at the top, and break them down into smaller bite by bite pieces.
09:37 Like what are the actual steps that you're going to have to do, right? Because if it's like renew driver's license, it's not just like you don't just hit a button and get a driver's license.
09:50 There's steps involved there's appointments that have to be made there's forms that have to be filled out. Right. So think of it in terms of that schedule, now that you have those bite sized pieces, where are you going to place them in your schedule?
10:04 And this really relates back to what I love about the passion planner process is that you're like mind mapping for the quarter.
10:13 Those tasks are getting broken down into little bite-sized pieces. And so you're coming in with a plan and like, this is a little bit different because we're looking at all of your stuff, but if the bite-size piece planning does work, then the passion planner process could be helpful to you as well,
10:34 to help like, manage that overwhelm in like an ongoing way. Right. I know when I am, in my greatest moments of overwhelm, I'm not using the tools or I need new tools.
10:46 And I mean, sometimes that's a thing too. Sometimes I cycle through tools as well. And then lastly is, is action.
10:55 Right? So find accountability with a friend, a partner, a coach, like we, and start showing up and take action to move out of overwhelm in like 20 minute chunks.
11:08 So you can literally set 20 minute timers. And I understand that time is a privilege and that all of this, like, this is why we're trying to do this in an hour.
11:17 Right. We're trying to, get this done as quickly as possible. And like this tutorial fear should be under 15 minutes.
11:25 Right? So the idea is that if it's 20 minutes a week, if it's 20 minutes a day, if it's 20 minutes, a few times a week that you were like dedicating time to coming in and doing like some task management or some brain dumps, or like looking at what, what are all of the things that need to be done?
11:47 What's within my control. And what's a commitment that I want to continue to, to fulfill or continue to carry out and then getting things into the calendar, right?
11:55 Because that's where the action like the rubber meets the road is in the day to day, right? As a professional procrastinator and a recovering perfectionist, I know how easy it is to push things off.
12:08 This is about developing different habits about looking at it from a different perspective and doing it without judgment, right?
12:15 Like no shame. There's no perfect way to work through this. It just takes time and practice and application and a boatload of surrender.
12:24 I also want to offer you a quick chat or
mini coaching session.
13:21 If that feels like something that would be a value to you, maybe you need a brainstorm. Maybe you want to write an elevator pitch.
13:28 Maybe you need help with your about page or your personal storytelling. Maybe you just need somebody to listen to what's going on and provide some insight or perspective.
13:40 I do business coaching. I do life coaching. I do creativity coaching. let me know how I can help you shine brighter by either booking a session or joining me at a workshop, , in the next few weeks.
13:56 And I look forward to seeing you there with that. My friends be good to yourselves, be kind to one another and continue to unleash your greatness into the world.
14:05 And I'll see you back here soon.
(VIDEO NOTE: I tried to upload this into Substack and the video uploader wouldn’t work. I plan to move this video into Substack.)