How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed

We, as physicians, have so much demand in so many places. Our work wants us to see more patients and complete more cases. Our administration asks us to attend more meetings. Our department expects us to do research, write grants and publish. We feel pressured to do more to be promoted in time. If you are a mom, the demand is more; you need to take care of your children and family, clean the house, do laundries, and make sure your children get proper schooling. The list can go on and on and on. 

Many circumstances are out of our control, and often we cannot change our circumstance. In addition, we are constantly reminded by others and ourselves with higher expectation.

- we should do more

- we should do things to the perfection

- we cannot make mistakes

Sounds dreadful and hopeless..

But here is good news. Even we can’t change our circumstance, we can change how we feel about our circumstance. Also there are a few things we can do to feel less overwhelmed. Here are 5 tips that can help you stop feeling overwhelmed.  

1. Be compassionate to yourself. 

You know you work hard, try your best, and put others before you. Remember you are human, you don’t have to do everything yourself, and you don’t have to do everything perfectly all the time. Realize that our work will never be done no matter how much and how hard we work. It’s ok to leave things undone or imperfectly done. Know you are doing exactly what you are supposed to do, and you are exactly where you are supposed to be in your life at this moment. Being judgmental and negative about yourself will make you feel more overwhelmed. 

2. Control what we can control.

When you can’t change your circumstance, you may feel helpless and stuck. However, consider possibility that you may think about the circumstance differently. Realize that everything you do is by conscious or subconscious decision. Also realize you can change the decision if it does not serve you. We can change how we feel about our circumstance by deciding how to think about the circumstance. Even when you don’t have control over the circumstance itself, you can still have control over how to think about the circumstance, which will change how you feel about the circumstance.

3. Do Thought Journaling [1]

Thought journaling is one of journaling tools used to clear our thoughts. All you need to do is to write down all of your thoughts on a paper. When we have so many thoughts, it can overload our brain and cause ‘cognitive fatigue.’ [2] This can make you distracted, less focused and less efficient, which can lead you feel more overwhelmed. By doing thought download, you can clear your brain and make room to focus on important tasks. If you want to take this practice one step deeper, challenge your thoughts if they are true. You may be surprised how much our thoughts are ‘big assumptions.’ [3]

4. Pick top 3 tasks to complete each day 3

Have you heard about 80/20 rule? This concept suggests 20% of your task lists will generate 80% of the results, used widely in productivity strategy. Ask yourself the question, “what are my top 3 things to do today to alleviate 80% of the workload?” Then focus on completing those 3 things every day. Don’t give yourself a guilt trip not to finish all the tasks in your to do list. It is impossible and unnecessary to complete all the tasks in your to do list. A ‘to-do list’ is meant to grow continuously as soon as we finish one task. 

5. Set Boundaries and Delegate

Once you implement above 4 tips, you will feel better about setting boundaries and delegating some of your tasks. It is very common we agree to do things that we don’t have to do. Remember that we don’t have to do everything we are asked to do. We need to focus on the things that ONLY WE can do. You can set boundaries by scheduling time for certain tasks in your calendar, or saying no to certain meetings or responsibilities. Review your to do list and identify tasks that can be done by someone else. You can also develop a system or teach others to do the tasks. This will improve the system and productivity in overall, in addition to setting you up free from feeling overwhelmed. 

It is normal to feel overwhelmed from time to time. However, if you feel overwhelmed more often than you can manage, practice above tips and consider working with a 1:1 coach to understand the cause of feeling overwhelmed, and develop personalized strategies to manage your feeling of overwhelm.

Footnotes

1. The Life Coach School Podcast Epi #2 How to feel better, #19 Thought Management 

2. This may be why you feel overwhelmed and irritated all the time. Alexandra Villarreal Feb 21, 2019. https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/this-may-be-why-you-feel-overwhelmed-and-irritated-all-the-time

3. How to Deal with Constantly Feeling Overwhelmed. Rebecca Zucker. Harvard Business Review. Oct 10, 2019. https://hbr.org/2019/10/how-to-deal-with-constantly-feeling-overwhelmed