Feeling Overwhelmed? Here are 8 Remedies

At some point, many of my clients—particularly the high-achieving, nothing-can’t-be-mastered-with-hard-work ones—experience a tipping point at work. They freeze-up as if their brain has blown a fuse. They find themselves mindlessly clicking a retractable pen for minutes at a time, or frantically scrolling through documents without even seeing them. Sometimes they feel paralyzed by indecision, even as the urge to do a thousand tasks swirls in their mind. Their brain’s power grid is overloaded, so the result is like summer in the city when everyone’s running an air conditioner—the lights flicker, and then go out.

Sound familiar? When you’re overwhelmed, you can’t function.

Your brain doesn’t just see a to-do list, it sees the threat of scarcity: not enough time, not enough energy, not enough magical ability to fit everything into 24 hours.

It may seem silly; why would you let a to-do list hijack your brain? Simple—your brain doesn’t just see a to-do list, it sees the threat of scarcity: not enough time, not enough energy, not enough magical ability to fit everything into 24 hours. Or it sees the threat of failing, the threat of disappointing others, the threat of feeling incapable.

And guess what? Our bodies react to threats the same way every time: fight, flight, or freeze. That's true whether the threat is a bus hurtling toward us or a to-do list that makes us feel like we can’t breathe.

Usually, we land somewhere between freeze and flight, which shows up as procrastination. But not all procrastination looks the same. It can take more or less productive forms, from binge-watching The Good Place to doing tasks that don’t really matter, like buying stuff online or checking email. Again.

So what should you do if you’re overwhelmed, paralyzed, or procrastinating? After you’ve worked your way through the classic trifecta of go-for-a-walk, breathe-deeply, and approach-the-mess-with-gratitude, try these eight tips.

Tip #1: Ground yourself in the present using the 5-4-3-2-1 technique

This is one of my favorite quick and dirty mindfulness techniques. The best part is that you don’t need any special spaces or tools.—all you need is your five senses. Here's how to walk your way through them for instant grounding:

• 5 - Look around and name five things you can see, right now, from where you are.
• 4 - Listen and name four things you can hear.
• 3 - Notice three things you can touch, like a warm mug of coffee or the feeling of your feet in your shoes.
• 2 - Next come two smells—breathe in the coffee aroma or the pages of...

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