Feeling Overwhelmed

Disclaimer - As always this is my personal opinion. Please do not treat it as professional medical advice. This information is for general purposes only. If you have any particular concerns, please speak to an adult.

Do you ever feel like you have so much to do? Like everything feels like it's piling up and no matter how much you finish, you feel like your pile of work keeps on increasing? Well, you are officially overwhelmed. Welcome to the club!

There is a difference between being overwhelmed and being burnt out. Being overwhelmed is like having emotional stress and you start feeling irritated when your tasks are interrupted, you feel low. You are getting your work done but it just feels like it is all too much. However, being burnt out is slightly different (if you want an in-depth about being burnt out and how to overcome it, read the blog on it!) you can seem to get any work done because you cannot physically and mentally get any work done. You feel tired at all times and kind of just end up procrastinating everything.

Well if you are still unsure if you are overwhelmed or are you just burnt out. Here are some symptoms-

1. You get irritated very easily when your task is even slightly interrupted

2. You find it hard to breathe and your heart starts racing really fast

3. You change moods really easily

4. You feel certain guilt or anger due to the heaps of work you have

5. Feeling very anxious

6. Weird sleep schedule

Well then, I can say, you officially have too much on your plate.

It’s okay sometimes it cannot be controlled and you just have that much to do. It comes with life, you can’t achieve great things without hard work and struggle but then again. There has to be a limit, a point where you know you have to walk away from some of your work. You need to know when to balance it out because you cannot be all work and no play.

An example of what I mean- give yourself a cut-off time for your studies. Tell yourself that you will study up to a certain time and then try to stick to it. That way you do not feel like you have been studying for the entire time and you have something to look forward to, a time to unwind and just do whatever makes you happy.

Causes for why you might be feeling overwhelmed:

1. You have too much work on your plate- its constantly on your mind and it makes you anxious

2. Stress in any other aspects of your life (personal, etc)- can cause a strain on your mental health which leads to feeling overwhelmed

3. You might be too hard on yourself for certain things- I don’t think anyone can achieve perfectionism but thinking you can probably contribute to you feeling overwhelmed

4. You might be not taking too much time to yourself- self-care is really important too so do not forget to focus on that aspect of your life

5. You might be pursuing an impossible task- or an empty task that will lead you nowhere and cause you to feel frustrated and overwhelmed

Now, here are some ways you can overcome the feeling-

1. Talk to someone: I cannot stress the importance of this. try talking to someone who sees things from a rational perspective or someone who can relate to what you are going through, so you know that you are not the only one and not alone. It helps so much to just vent instead of bottling up all your frustration

2. Come up with solutions for your problem: this is way easier said than done. Start with separating the things into two categories- the things you can control vs the things you cannot control. Focus on finding the solution on the things you can control to help reduce your stress. As for the things you can’t, well, all I can say is that you have to go with the flow

3. Find the source of your stress and work forward from there, take advice from someone and figure out what to do. If you can identify what is causing you stress, it will be great if you can find some time on working on that thing

4. Set boundaries for yourself- know when to walk away. For all the people studying out there- study smart. If you study smart, you automatically will make things easier for yourself. Know when to back down and know when it is becoming too much for you

5. Be as positive as you can. Think positive thoughts, I know it would be way easier to say. Finding the small things that make you happy will be so helpful. Keep the mindset- “It’s the little things in life.” don’t rule it out as a bad day because you had a couple of hours. Remember you still have some of the day left, find the small things that made you happy throughout the day.

Here are some quotes to let you know that it will be okay-

1. “Waste time this year. Go for a long walk. Write poems. Read a book. Try a new recipe. Pray. Paint. Work on your novel. Our world is obsessed with ‘productivity’ but the “unproductive” hours are the most soul-shaping parts of our lives.”

2. “It’s okay to make mistakes. It’s okay to not be good at everything.”

3. “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end”

4. “Not everything that ways you down is yours to carry.”

5. “If it is out of your hands, it deserves freedom from your mind too.”

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog. I just wanted to let you know that whatever it is that you are going through, you are not alone. You can always find someone to talk to. You are never alone. I hope whatever it is you are going through, I hope you find a solution. Remember- everything will be okay.

Thanks for reading,

Xx Mahika

(Question of the day: What tv show are you watching at the moment?)

(I’m re-watching teen wolf)

(Ps: follow my Instagram: @blogbanterandbigwords where I share polls and put teasers for my upcoming blogs, you might also find some nice quotes in there)