Feeling overwhelmed is something that happens to all of us at some point in our lives. When we have too many demands placed on us, it’s natural to feel overwhelmed. It’s not an indication of how weak or incapable we are. We may feel overwhelmed by a new or large challenge in our lives, or we might feel overwhelmed by a multitude of small tasks that can feel impossible to manage, or maybe we feel overwhelmed by taking in too much information from social media. Feeling overwhelmed can mean that we are constantly worried, can’t sleep, have a hard time concentrating, feel stuck, or have a pit in our bellies. When we feel chronically overwhelmed, our bodies have a hard time relaxing, our minds have a hard time making sense of things, and our emotions may seem to be out of control. When we feel this way, it’s a good indication that it’s time to check-in with ourselves and take care of this feeling. 

Here are some things that you can try when you feel overwhelmed:

1. Take a break: If it’s not an emergency, you can take a step back from your situation. You can take some space from the situation by changing your environment by going for a walk or putting down your phone.

2. Breathe: Practice some deep breathing to reconnect with your body, ground yourself in the present moment, and remind yourself that you are safe.

3. Write: Putting your overwhelming thoughts on paper can help relieve the mental load and let the paper hold onto your thoughts. Once you start writing, you will slow down and start to organize your thoughts in ways that are more manageable and easier to tackle. 

4. Be compassionate with yourself: Remember that there is nothing wrong with you because you are feeling overwhelmed. Taking time for ourselves when we are overwhelmed is often the last thing that we do, and being compassionate with yourself means giving yourself the time and space to deal with this feeling. If we are compassionate with ourselves, we can solve any problem.

5. Consider your choices: Once you recognize and accept the feeling of being overwhelmed, you can start to find different solutions. Remember, you can always ask for help, you can take a break, you can delegate tasks to other people, you can start with smaller more manageable tasks first, you can put down your phone, or you can bounce ideas off of someone else.

6. Get enough sleep: When we are sleep deprived, it’s easy to feel dysregulated and harder to accomplish what we need to do. Try prioritizing your sleep and rest so that you can feel refreshed and ready to face your challenges.

7. Take time to do something you enjoy: When we feel overwhelmed we often put ourselves last. It’s important to reconnect with something that you enjoy like being outside in nature, reading a book, doing exercise, or spending time with a friend.

Mindfulness: Try a mindfulness practice that helps ease the overwhelming sensations in your body and calms the racing thoughts in your mind. It’s ok to take this time for yourself especially just for a few moments.