Coping With Overwhelm

Feeling overwhelmed? Here’s a quick little exercise to try:

Step 1: List out everything you’re worrying about. Get it out of your head and onto paper.
Step 2: Look at your list, and put a star next to anything that’s within your control. What is within your power or responsibility?
Step 3: Look at everything that doesn’t have a star next to it. Consciously decide you’re going to put those worries down for a little while.
Step 4: Go back to anything you starred, and choose one to focus on. Now, take one small step that helps you to move towards a better state with it.

Over time, this practice helps us to tease out what is within our control (even in uncontrollable situations), build our sense of self-efficacy and resilience, and practice acceptance.

New Happy Tips:

When you feel angry, sad, or frustrated about something that is outside of your control, allow yourself to feel and express your emotions.
Remind yourself that you are in control by making a surprising different choice (like driving a different route to work, swapping out your normal breakfast or coffee, or visiting a shop you’d normally never go to.) These different choices can serve as little jolts that help us to reconnect to a sense of personal power.