We all feel overwhelmed at times, either in our work life or home life or both. It is a completely natural way to feel when we have lots of demands placed on us, that never ending to do list can feel like too much to handle.

Overwhelm is a natural response to everyday stressors. When all these stressors add up, they make us feel like we can’t cope.

Overwhelm can become a problem when we can’t shake the feeling because this can lead to chronic stress.

Chronic Stress is bad stress and it significantly impacts your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing!


What does it mean to feel overwhelmed?

Think about a cup that is already filled to the brim with water,  every task, worry, or challenge (stressor) you face is another drop of water being added to the cup. It doesn’t take long for the cup to overflow. When this cup overflows, this is when we feel overwhelmed. 

It can feel as though every little thing is too much to handle. 

You find it hard to make simple decisions and it can feel impossible to complete simple every day tasks. 

Overwhelm is a response to too much stress – it is NOT a sign of personal FAILURE!

It is a sign that we need to slow down and take care of ourselves. 


7 Signs of Overwhelm

Being overwhelmed can impact our health, relationships, and performance at work.

If we can recognise the signs of overwhelm and understand how it is affecting us then we can start to look for ways to make changes, taking a step back and taking time to care for ourselves. 

Here are 7 signs of overwhelm:

  1. Racing thoughts
  2. Difficult concentrating and remembering things
  3. Physical symptoms like a racing heart, breathlessness, headaches, or stomach aches
  4. Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up tired
  5. Constantly worrying about things
  6. Feeling low in energy and wanting to withdraw from people or activities you usually enjoy
  7. Feeling irritable

It we acknowledge that we’re feeling overwhelmed, we can start to look for ways to reduce our stress and find balance again.


6 Things you can do when you are feeling overwhelmed

There are so many different things we can do to reduce feelings of overwhelm. 

It’s about finding what works for you. Here are six things you can try:

  1. Journal – take some time to sit down and write down what you are thinking and what you are feeling. This is a great way to get everything out of your head and stop your mind racing.
  2. Set boundaries so you are not always available for everyone and everything
  3. Start saying no more often so you aren’t taking too much on
  4. Focus on what you can control
  5. Ask for help and delegate tasks
  6. Break tasks down into smaller steps

And remember, be kind to yourself. Try something, if it doesn’t work out then try something else. You will find what works for you.