Do you ever feel like you are constantly juggling too many things? Do you feel like you can’t keep up with the demands of your job, not to mention your personal life? If so, then you are not alone.

Overwhelm is a common problem that many people face today. In this blog post, I will discuss the impact of overwhelm on performance and how to deal with it effectively, so it doesn’t consume your day, your week, or your month.

Overwhelm is the feeling that you are unable to handle what is on your plate. It’s the feeling that you can’t catch up to what is happening in your life and, all too often it can be consuming.

When we are feeling overwhelmed, it often has a significant impact on our performance. We may feel like we are not able to keep up with the demands of our job or our personal life. This leads to stress, anxiety, and if things get worse even depression. Overwhelm can also manifest itself in physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, and difficulty sleeping.

So, how do you tackle overwhelm? Below are 4 actions that you can take when you feel the sense of overwhelm starting to have too big an impact in your life.

1. Try to simplify your schedule and your to-do list.

Prioritise the most important tasks and delegate or eliminate anything that is not essential. The importance of organisation in our days can’t be underestimated. When we plan our day in a productive manner, we can track how we are going with certain tasks and when we are able to do this, our performance improves.

So how can you do this? Simply, by writing down everything in your mind that you are needing to do. Have a brain dump and from there, work out what is most important. If you don’t have a whiteboard, I encourage you to get one. Each week, fill out your whiteboard and write down what you need to do. Get the information out of your head and down onto something visible that you can look at and track and somewhere that you know won’t get lost.

I even encourage you to colour code it. An example of how I brain dump is detailed below:

• Along the top of my whiteboard, I have the days of the week and what appointments I have each day
• Then, in another colour I have what my kids have on each day (their activities etc)
• In another section, I have things I need to do for work. This could include writing blogs, following up on emails, sending out starter packs to clients etc
• Then in another section of that whiteboard I have a personal section of what I need to get done to move our family forward, such as appointments they have, something I need to buy for school etc
• Finally, in my last section I even write down the groceries that we have run out of that I need to purchase

Knowing all this information is accessible for me to view means that I don’t need to remember it and, according to the day, I am able to prioritise my tasks in order of importance. The best part about the whiteboard is that when it’s done, I simply wipe it off, with the aim that at the end of the week the board is a whole lot clearer than when I started the week.

2. Take some time for yourself each day to relax and rejuvenate.

This can be something as simple as taking a few minutes to meditate or go for a walk in nature. Make it a habit to have a break in between your tasks. As High Performers, we know that working in 25- or 50-minute increments works best, and we also know that in between this we need to recharge, reset and refocus. A good way to do this is to meditate. Click on this youtube link to learn how to do a quick release meditation.

3. Sleep and Exercise

It’s also important to make sure you are getting enough sleep and exercise. These two things are essential for good physical and mental health. When we are getting enough sleep, and when we are moving our bodies the increase in not only our mood but how it helps manage our thoughts is second to none.

4. Say No!

Do you take on what doesn’t serve you and is that leading to you feeling overwhelmed? Have a look at what is on your plate and have a think about if you really need to be doing all these activities. Sometimes, less is more. Free up your time. Have blocks throughout your days or your weeks where you can catch up and rejuvenate or do something that you enjoy. What is a book that you could read that will help you learn a certain task you are struggling with? What is a podcast that you could listen to that would help you master your mind.

Tackling overwhelm with these simple strategies will see marked improvements and your performance begin to increase to its full potential!