Sometimes certain situations in life cause more stress and anxiety than usual: Going to a job interview, planning a wedding, grieving the loss of a loved one, a medical scare, moving or buying a house. How we deal with these situations is very personal, and what can be terrifying for some, is a walk in the park for others.
But what if we are constantly feeling overwhelmed in our day to day life, with foggy brains and a general feeling of being ‘on edge’ the entire time? In today’s frantic and fast-paced society - unfortunately - this is very common. We are drowning in information and have access to more news, drama and social media than is useful to us.
We tell ourselves we need to ‘stay on top of things’ all the time, respond to text messages instantly, work through all our smartphone notifications at once and reply to emails within 12 hours.
Luckily there are ways to limit our information overload, to better cope with our to-do lists and avoid these feelings of overwhelm.
EMAILS
You may have heard of a ‘smart inbox’ before? A smart inbox means better time-management for your emails. I encourage you to:
Set a certain time per day (or even per week, if your job allows) to access and action your emails. How often do you open an email, read it, and then decide you don’t have time to action it right away? You then mark the email as unread, move on and do exactly the same to the next email. If you set aside an hour or two per day to action your emails there and then, you are using your time much more efficiently.
Before you handle urgent emails, filter non-urgent emails to sub folders that you can access at a later stage. Call your folder Secondary Emails or Second Inbox or something that works for you. Often you can tell by the sender or subject line whether you’re dealing with rubbish, urgent news or something that’s important but can wait. By filtering these messages you are getting rid of the psychological block that an overly full inbox can create.
Delete any messages you know you will never (have to) read. Don’t just put them in sub folders if you know you won’t open them.
Avoid clicking on an email twice! Tackle any urgent emails immediately during your dedicated access and action time.
Use the last 15 to 30 mins of your dedicated email time to go through your secondary inbox.
BE SMART WITH YOUR SMARTPHONE
The very device designed to make our lives easier can also make our lives a living hell. Ok, that’s a bit dramatic, but it’s not too far from the truth. Whereas smartphones are incredibly handy when it comes to navigating your way to a new location, and phoning home when your train is delayed (wait, you can phone with a smartphone!?) they also cause stress, overwhelm and other physical issues.
Fortunately there are smart ways of using your phone, so you can reap the benefits of a digital detox.
Don’t start scrolling the minute you wake up. Use an actual alarm clock instead, and only switch on your phone when you get to the office. (Challenge accepted?)
Don’t continue scrolling late into the night, as the blue wavelengths from your phone will literally tell your brain to ‘stay awake’. If you want better sleep, lock your phone away from 7pm onwards.
Limit the number of notifications you receive on your phone and apps. Rather than constantly hearing ‘pings’ and seeing banners on your screen, set aside a time to check all incoming messages, social media posts and emails. Your notifications are a major distraction and in order to gain mental clarity and peace of mind throughout your day, you require a certain amount of stillness. Multi-tasking is a myth.
Use the ‘do-not-disturb’ function. It’s brilliant! Switch it on when needed or schedule a daily do not disturb time. You can even choose which apps you’ll allow to function throughout and who can still call you in case of emergency.
NEWS
Most ‘news’ these days is often very negative. I’m not saying to stick your head in the sand and completely ignore what’s going on in the world. Nor am I telling you to not be compassionate for the people, communities or animals involved.
However, I think it’s important to limit what you expose yourself to. Just like your emails, I encourage you to filter your news, and ensure you also read about things that make you happy and nourish you. Travel articles, the latest yoga journal or wellness magazine, perhaps posts about mindfulness or home interiors. Not everything you read needs to be negative.
GOSSIP AND DRAMA
Just as you limit your exposure to the world’s news headline, make sure you stay away from unnecessary drama and negative (self) talk. Workplace rumours, negative colleagues or that one friend that won’t stop badmouthing her partner (but doesn’t do anything about it!). All of this can drain and deplete you. Choose what and who you engage with, and don’t be afraid to say no or walk away from negative conversations.
TAKE BREAKS
We cannot think or act clearly if our mind is drowning in to-do-lists, ‘urgent’ emails and projects. Even though you may think you are more productive when working through your lunch break (or hope that your boss thinks so!), you most likely are not.
Make sure you take your lunch break, preferably away from your desk - or better yet, away from the office. Go for a walk - in stillness - and avoid scrolling your lunch break away on your phone. Also try to schedule several mini-breaks in your morning and afternoon to move your body and give your energy levels a boost. These desk stretches might help you keep your spine happy and healthy as well.
MORE SELF CARE
Take time to nourish yourself and don’t feel guilty about it. You’ve earned it! If we don’t properly take a time out for ourselves, our body will do it for us. When we’re exhausted and stressed, our immune system takes a hit, leaving us vulnerable to aches and illness.
Society might have ‘taught’ us that we always need to perform, be successful, and work harder. What if I told you it’s also perfectly OK to go slow, and that self care is absolutely vital for a happy mind and healthy body.
If you find it difficult to establish what depletes you or drains you of energy, and what makes you more resilient to life's strains and stresses, it might help to write it all down.
I encourage you to make a list of the 'things'/people/activities in life that nourish and balance you (yoga, meditation, a walk in nature, journaling) and those that deplete you (constant mobile notifications, unhealthy habits, social media, TV, drama and gossip).
Try and implement more of the calming and nourishing moments in your life, and let go of those that no longer serve you. It might not happen overnight, you might not feel 'unstuck' immediately, but give yourself time and be patient, and see what unfolds for you.
MORNING AND EVENING RITUALS
Create a morning ritual that sets you up for a joyful and productive day and an evening ritual that helps you relax into the night.
Without going into full details, you can refer to my previous articles on sister website Retreat Here: How to improve the quality of your sleep, and Create more energy with this morning ritual.
Of course, we all have different roles and responsibilities in life, and what works for some might not work for others. Hopefully one or more of the above tips and tricks will help you cope better with today’s information overload so you can avoid feeling overwhelmed all the time.
I’d love to hear your feedback!
Much love xx
