THE OVERWHELM ESCAPE PLAN #164

Overwhelm is a state of emotional, mental, or sensory overload that leaves us feeling inundated, stressed, and unable to cope effectively. It is characterized by an intense emotional response to a situation or series of events that seem too much to handle. It can manifest in various ways, such as feeling anxious, irritable, unfocused, and experiencing difficulty making decisions or completing tasks. In this show I will give you 15 ried and tested methods to deal with feelings of overwhelm.

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QUOTES:

• "Overwhelm comes not from having too much to do, but from not knowing how to prioritize what matters most." Leo Babauta
• "Your self-talk is the channel of your future." Jim Kwik
• "Tie up the loose ends before you embark on a new journey." Shon Mehta
  
  THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY: OUTLANDER: BLOOD OF MY BLOOD
  
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  Please check out my friend Stephen's new show the FILM FIGHTS WITH FRIENDS PODCAST 
  
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  • https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgFwu-j5-xNJml2FtTrrB3AMahatma Gandhi

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This episode is sponsored by Outlander Blood of My Blood. Hello,
and welcome back to Film Pro, Productivity and Success, the
podcast that helps film professionals and other creative people, all
creative people really to live a more focused, effective and

(00:21):
happy life. My name is Cartha Ferguson, and this is
episode one hundred and sixty four, the Overwhelmed Escape Plan
fifteen Proven strategies to regain control. Overwhelm comes not from
having too much to do, but from not knowing how
to prioritize what matters most. Leo Babata unquote. So welcome

(00:44):
back again to this the second of three special bonus
in between a soodes that will sit between season thirteen
and season fourteen of the show. And I don't have
a lot of free time right now, but I did
want to put a few shows out there to help
my regular listeners out and to remind you that I
exist and that the show is still going. There will

(01:05):
be a season fourteen somewhere down the line. Please don't
worry about that. I just have just too many things
on the goal. And there was a slight delay in
even getting these out because I had an injury. I
was working on three or four different projects at the
one time, and it was all a bit of a nightmare.
But anyway, today we're going to be talking about overwhelming.
Overwhelm is a state of emotional, mental, or sensory overload

(01:29):
that leaves us feeling inundated, stressed, and unable to cope effectively.
It's characterized by an intense emotional response to a situation
or a series of events that seem to be too
much to handle. It can manifest itself in various ways,
like feeling anxious or irritable or unfocused and experiencing difficulty

(01:51):
making decisions or just completing simple tasks, and several factors
contribute to it, things like excessive workload or unrealistic expectations,
perhaps lack of clarity and what you're getting asked to
do or direction, insufficient resources or support to get done
what you need to get done, and in some cases,

(02:13):
an accumulation of smaller stressors over time can lead to
a sense of overwhelm, making it challenging to navigate your
everyday life and work. And when we experience overwhelm, it's
essential to take a step back to identify the root
causes and implement strategies to manage stress. Set realistic expectations

(02:35):
and establish boundaries because by doing so we can regain
a sense of control and balance in our lives. Overwhelm
is interconnected with mental health aspects like stress, anxiety, depression,
and burnout. Overwhelm can cause stress and be a symptom
of it, creating a cyclical effect that may worsen your

(02:59):
mental health health, and it triggers anxiety symptoms and can
increase your sensitivity to stressful situations and minor stressors. And
prolonged overwhelm can lead to depression or burnout as it
negatively impacts our self esteem, our motivation, and our well being.
And these mental health challenges can exasperate, exasperate, exacerbate, I

(03:24):
believe as what I say the feelings of overwhelmed necessitating
professional help to break the cycle. Sometimes. One other thing
worth mentioning, though, before I go into the strategies for
dealing with overwhelmed, is that when you're overwhelmed, we might
become more irritable emotionally a distance from others or have

(03:44):
difficulty empathizing with others as well, and this can lead
to misunderstandings and conflicts in relationships as friends, family, or
colleagues can feel neglected or unappreciated, and can actually build
upon on the tension that you're already ready feeling because
of these human interactions and situations and feelings that start

(04:06):
to surround you. And if this is something that you
recognize and suffer from on occasion, then here are fifteen
strategies that you can use to help you to regain
control and find balance in your life. And I'm not
going to go into great detail here, and if you
want to peruse these at a more leisurely paced then

(04:26):
please go to the episode page on film Proproductivity dot com.
If you go there right now, it'll be the one
right at the top of the front page, and you'll
be able to look at all of these written down,
already pre listed, all done, and you can put them
into action yourself. But here is my overwhelmed escape plan
in fifteen points. Number one, prioritizer tasks. Identify your most

(04:52):
important tasks and focus on them first. Make it to
do list or use a task management tool to stay organized.
I've done an episode on brain dumping as well. Sometimes
you just want to get it all out your head
onto a piece of paper or a whiteboard, and then
you can start to sort it out and start prioritizing again.
I've done shows on prioritization. That's a big part of productivity.

(05:14):
Next up is to break down larger tasks. Divide complicated
tasks into smaller, more manageable, more edible pieces, so that
you can make them less daunting for you. Number three
set boundaries. Communicate your needs and limitations to colleagues, friends,
and family members. And here's the big one. It's the

(05:36):
second episode of the whole series. Learn to say no
when you need to. No should be your go to
answer when someone asks you for something, not yes. If yes,
as you're automatic answer, you're going to be overwhelmed really
quite quickly in your life. Number four is to take breaks.
And this is a tough one. I find this all

(05:57):
the time with people that are stressing out, but things.
Step away from your work periodically to recharge and refocus.
Take short walks, meditate, or engage in any sort of
relaxing activity. Number five limit distractions. Turn off the notifications.
I've done it on the phone as I'm recording this episode.

(06:19):
I've put it onto silent. It's not flashing, it's not
doing anything. It's sitting beside me because I'm using it
for internet access for some of the programs I'm running,
but it is not on. Put your phone away would
be even better. Or use productivity tools to minimize interruptions
and maintain your focus. I use things like the Pomodoro technique.
There's apps for this sort of thing that you can

(06:40):
put into your browser. There's another one called Forest. I've
talked about these in the past. Set boundaries on daily
news and information intakes, such as maybe thirty minutes of
social media browsing, for example, to prevent yourself feeling overwhelmed
by excessive content. That is another big, big thing. And

(07:00):
things like Apple that I've got the use I don't.
I don't use Apple devices anymore. Sometimes I've got like
a news speed running straight into your desktop or whatever.
Get rid of it. It's going to be a distraction.
And again, so it's even just looking at social media.
One of my big problems I've talked about it again
in the past is YouTube addiction or watching shorts on

(07:20):
on Instagram or whatever. Sometimes i feel like I've done
a shift before i start working because I've watched that
many videos before I've I've kind of left the house.
Sometimes depends on the day. I don't do it every day,
but I'm aware of it, you know, anyway I'm getting distracted.
Number six delegate share responsibilities with others whenever possible, especially
tasks that are outside of your core competencies or areas

(07:44):
of interest. I talked about it in the last episode.
I had a wee sound mix to do for a
nine minute documentary that I've made. I just paid some
day to do the sound mix so that I was
able to move on to doing the recording these three episodes.
If I hadn't done that, you probably they wouldn't be
listening to this episode now. It would be another few
weeks down the line. Sometimes it's just worth paying somebody

(08:05):
to do it, or delegating somebody to do what you
need to do so that you're not dealing with Sometimes
it's even just little things to hold of, little things,
you know. Number seven, Practice self care. Prioritize your sleep,
prioritize exercise and a healthy diet to support your mental
and physical well being. Number eight Seek support. Reach out
to friends, family, or even a mental health professional to

(08:28):
discuss your feelings and seek advice or encouragement. If you
are struggling with overwhelm. Number nine. Focus on the present,
Focus on the now. Practice mindfulness to reduce anxiety about
the future and your regrets about the past. Focus on
what you can actually accomplish today, and you will feel

(08:49):
better about yourself. Number ten. Classic one here of the
productivity world is time management. Implement time management techniques such
as I mentioned earlier, the Pomodoro technique or time blocking.
I've done an episode in time blocking fairly recently to
help structure your day, increase your focus, and prevent burnout.

(09:11):
Number eleven. Regularly review and adjust Periodically review your commitments,
your goals, and your priorities to ensure that they align
with your values and your objectives. Be open to adjusting
your plans as needed to maintain balance and well being. Again,
I talk about this one a lot. Look back at
any one of the best your Yet plan. It covers

(09:35):
this sort of thing. I've done episodes on this. But
reviewing and adjusting what you're trying to do, focusing on
why you're doing things, and that is quite often value led,
and what your objectives are what you're trying to do.
This is all important. Number twelve. Celebrate the small wins,
acknowledge and celebrate small accomplishments along the way to maintain

(09:57):
motivation and boost self confidence. As Another thing I talk
about all the time is the cycle of productivity. The
cycle of productivity, once you've completed your task is take
a moment to recognize that you've been successful in this.
If you don't take these moments at the end of
each loop of work that you complete to go, I've
done well there, you're going to gradually, over time, lose

(10:21):
the energy to move forward. Pack yourself in the back,
give yourself a celebration, even if it's just a five
minute or ten minute break between what you're doing, as
a reward for working hard. That then encourages you to
work hard in the next cycle, and that can go
one again anyway. At number thirteen, create a supportive environment.

(10:42):
Surround yourself with positive, supportive people who encourage and motivate you.
Minimize exposure to negative or toxic influences. You may have
to rework the people that you pick up the phone
to every day to see how they're doing. You may
have to rework the people you too to work with.
I've cut a few people out of my life in

(11:02):
recent years, and it has all been for the better.
I talk about toxic relationships and a number of shows
early on in the show in the podcast, so get
back into the previous shows and listen to those. They
have always been extremely extremely popular. Create yourself a supportive environment.
Number fourteen. Cultivate a growth mindset. Embrace challenges as opportunities

(11:26):
for growth and learning, rather than viewing them as threats
or setbacks. This growth mindset can help you to build
resilience and overcome obstacles more effectively. And finally on this list,
number fifteen, organize your physical space. Maintaining and organized and
clutter free workspace can help you to reduce feelings of

(11:47):
overwhelm and improve focus and productivity. Again, it's yet another
thing I've talked about a lot on the show, and
that is that if I'm surrounded by junk and it's
piling up round about me, if my desk is really untireddy,
it's half fun tidy. At the moment, By the way,
I've been very, very busy. I'm starting to clear it.
I've got a hooverd floor. My office is kind of
still a mess, but it's significantly better than it was

(12:09):
a couple of weeks ago. It's kind of a reflection
of your internal mind space. If the space you're working
in is chaotic, so try and maintain and organize and
clutter free workspace and implementing these strategies will help you
to better manage your tasks, reduce stress, and prevent these
feelings of overwhelm. And while I was researching this episode

(12:33):
and I didn't save the I didn't save the link.
I could probably find it. If I find it, I'll
put it in the show notes. I came across an
article from the Center for Women's Health, and that came
from Sarah Owens mesw LCSW which states we are meant
to be outside and walking most of the day, but
instead we are inside and sitting most of our days.
Owens recommends going outdoors at least three times per day,

(12:56):
even for just a few minutes. She urges us to
practice breathing and nurture it says nature. There, they've clearly
spelled nuture awareness. To listen for birds and look for flowers,
and embrace the rain when it shows up. Take a
moment to enjoy the world, to appreciate it. I think
that's come up in one of my perls of wisdom
shows to look back at them for more information. And

(13:20):
there's three more elements that have been touched upon within
these fifteen solutions. But I've kind of come up with
these because I was looking around and a few just
didn't quite sit in with the list. So here they
are us three more. Basically is what I'm saying. Connecting
with others is an important one. Regularly connect with loved
ones through text calls, virtual conversations, or in person gatherings

(13:42):
to nurture relationships and support mental well being. That probably
goes hand in hand with stay away from the nutters,
stay away from the toxic people. The next one here
is to play. To engage in playful activities with children,
with friends, or pets to encourage physical movement and joy

(14:02):
in your life. And finally, I want to delve a
little bit more into what was number seven in that list,
which is something along the lines of practicing self compassion,
because you want to develop an awareness of negative self
talk and you want to learn to reframe these thoughts
with kindness and grace, treating yourself as you would a

(14:25):
dear friend. Your self talk is the channel of your future,
Jim quick unquote, And I'm bringing this one up as
it's fair to say that self talk significantly influences our
self image, emotional well being, and our success. The way
we talk about ourselves can either exasperate feelings of stress

(14:47):
and anxiety or help us to navigate these emotions. By
becoming more aware of our inner dialogue and reframing negative
self talk into positive affirmations and thoughts, we can regain
control over our remot we can increase our self confidence,
and we can build resilience. In this in turn, helps
us to marriage feelings of overwhelming allows us to focus

(15:09):
on our goals and our priorities, and remember that your
self talk has the power to shape your reality. Like
Jim Quick was saying there, so choose your words wisely.
Please don't forget to subscribe for more episodes like this
one where we dive into productivity hacks, creative strategies, and
much much more. Your subscription on any one of the

(15:32):
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new insights as I put new shows out that can
transform your approach to work and creativity. Let me ent
today though with some words from Confucius who said, by
three methods, we may learn wisdom. First by reflection, which
is noblest, second by imitation, which is easiest, and third

(15:56):
by experience, which is bitterest. Take control of your own destiny,
keep on shooting and join me next time on film
Pro Productivity and Success. The music that you're listening to
right now is Adventures by a Humitsu and you can

(16:18):
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(16:38):
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