How to Break Free From Overwhelm Now and Achieve More

Do you ever have days when your mind feels like it’s going to explode? So full of ‘stuff,’ churning over everything you need to do, you can’t think straight? Fretting over the things you have started but not finished, and wondering where to start? Next, the fog comes in, clarity disappears as that dreaded feeling of overwhelm washes over you. Next, you wonder how to break free of overwhelm? Finally, you feel like a giant band is pulling you away from this feeling towards anything that will help you feel better, and takes the pain away. So you fall into a non essential, mindless task, commonly known as procrastination. Doing a task, often, against your natural will, that soothes that feeling and brings you a moment of relief.

If you can relate to this, I am guessing you are accustomed to the horrors of overwhelm? That familiar pattern that has now become a habit and stops all forward progress. Furthermore, like any habit, if it doesn’t serve us, we need to find a way to change it. So, the question is, how can you break free from overwhelm and get back into intentional action?

If your task is hard or challenging you may find yourself getting distracted

While getting organised and managing our time is key, why is it that more often than not we know what we should be doing, yet we don’t do it?.  There are many reasons for this, and ultimately we are brilliant at getting in our own way. Furthermore, as our brain searches for danger signals in the environment, we find ourselves easily becoming distracted by our gadgets and notifications. Moreover, as we are motivated towards pleasure and away from pain, if the task at hand is difficult and the thing that distracted us isn’t, guess where we stay?

Additionally, when we allow this to occur we create a habit of avoiding what is important and wasting time and eroding our goals.

The first step to change is to become aware. Aware of your feelings and thoughts and what you are doing when you fall into overwhelm. This takes conscious effort and sometimes, time. Only then can you find a solution to break free from overwhelm. A solution that is one part of better managing your mindset.

Four steps to break free from overwhelm

Now you are more aware, you are ready to use this simple four step formula to interrupt your cycle of overwhelm and avoidance. Simply remember the word FREE.

1. F = Focus is the first step to break free from overwhelm

Stop doing what you are doing and focus on your breath. Take a few deep breaths and notice your body starting to relax. Breathing consciously helps interrupt your stress hormones and stops the uncomfortable feelings. Now you create space and calm to think more clearly. When you are calmer, make a list of all the unfinished “things” in your life. Everything that needs to be done and is causing you to fail to break free from overwhelm. List them into categories such as work projects, household tasks, people to call and incomplete tasks. Moreover, write them all down on one sheet of paper that you can readily see.

Take time to review each project separately and break it down into small steps

2. R = Review

Next, review each unfinished task or project. Take each task or project and write down all the steps necessary to complete them. Let’s imagine that you are stuck writing an ebook as the very thought of it causes you fall into overwhelm. The steps might look like this:

1. Create an outline of the e-book. Write a draft title and number of chapters.
2. Make a heading for the introduction, write bio and endorsements
3. Schedule time to contact someone to write a bio
4. Research to find an editor or copywriter
5. Find an illustrator (if you require illustrations)
6. Schedule time to write chapter 1 – with a deadline
7. Schedule time to write chapter 2 – with a deadline
8. Investigate options for publishing the book

To break free from overwhelm requires you to realise your brain is a focusing tool, not a storage bucket

Writing out simple steps helps break the huge task into smaller steps. And smaller steps or mini-goals are way more appealing to the brain. Moreover, our brains are designed to focus on things, ie goals, not about things. Your brain now has a simple goal to reach, so you can focus on this small next step.

Finally, remember your brain is not supposed to be used a storage bucket. Its primary function is to focus on things, not about things. Create a habit of writing things down and breaking tasks into simple goals to aim for. Simple yet not something many people do.

E = Evaluate

Now it’s time to evaluate which task you can do right now considering your energy and time available. Moreover, make sure you take action instantly. If it took you less than two minutes, find another one and get into action. Otherwise, make sure you schedule the next one or two tasks into your diary this week.

Decide to take small steps consistently and tick off each step

4. E = Enter

Decide to enter into an agreement with yourself that to schedule one to three tasks every day and do them no matter what. Moreover, make these non-negotiable and commit to doing them. The key point is to prove to yourself you are an action taker. This is part of training and developing a mindset for success. Small steps taken consistently create great results. Furthermore, ticking off each task means your brain will reward you with a motivating shot of feel good dopamine. Ultimately, both these will help you break free from overwhelm and ultimately become a far better action taker. One who is intentional about what you do in your valuable time.

Why the FREE formula to break free from overwhelm works

This formula works because it closes the unfulfilled loops in your mind. Having unfinished or unactioned tasks is like having a head full of incomplete contracts or commitments with yourself. Furthermore, it space and clogs up your bandwidth as you waste more energy thinking about what you need to do. These thoughts literally play on your mind, churning around in your subconscious mind, depleting your energy, creating stress and clouding your vision.

Finally, overwhelm detracts from your own sense of happiness and calm. You move further away from achieving and accomplishing more of what you want. All of this leads us back to the FREE formula. Take a breath and follow the steps in the formula. I guarantee you will feel lighter. Additionally, you create space for clarity which precedes leads to action and new ideas.

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