Overwhelm #2: Say Goodbye To Burnout (and Zombie Apocalypse)

In Overwhelm #1, I covered how to get moving again in the face of overwhelm. Today I’m looking at how to support your physiology so you are less prone to get into a state of overwhelm in the first place.

I’m starting with the body because - perhaps surprisingly - your physiology is actually the basis of how you think and process the world. You might think (haha) you do this in your head, but most of your cognition literally happens in the part of the nervous system that is located in the rest of your body!

If your physiology is off, your thinking is going to be sub-optimal too. Before helping you think through WHAT you need to do, I’d like to help you give some attention to HOW you feel when you do it.

Transcript

This is the second installment of my 10 part Overwhelm series, So number two is Say Goodbye to Burnout and Zombie Apocalypse. In the first installment of this series I covered how to get moving again in the face of overwhelm by getting very clear on your next step. Now I'm going to go into to-do lists in more detail in the coming posts, So do stay tuned if you'd like help getting on top of your to-do's in a bigger way. Today though I'm looking at how to support your physiology so you're less prone to get into a state of overwhelm in the first place. I'm starting with the body because perhaps surprisingly your physiology is actually the basis of how you think and process the world. You might think you do this in your head but most of your cognition literally happens in the part of the nervous system that's located in the rest of your body. If your physiology is off your thinking is going to be suboptimal too. Before helping you think through what you need to do I'd like to help you give some attention to how you feel when you do that thinking. So your body's answer to overwhelm and chaos. Anytime you're struggling the temptation is to look for some hidden energy and push through a little bit more. This strategy is deeply ingrained in our culture by the way. So while there is a place for pushing that little bit harder sometimes you just can't do that over and over again when you're running on empty. If you're regularly overwhelmed you have a much more powerful strategy at your disposal that you should be reaching for long before you try and squeeze any more effort out of yourself. Many people never do this because it's counterintuitive but it does really work. When you're struggling to get through your day forget trying harder. The first thing you need to do is take more rest. Rest is your secret weapon. If you can master this as a matter of routine you'll find you're much happier and more productive and you just won't burn out again. And I know that sounds like a big claim but stay with me. We all know we have to rest when we're tired or ill and many of us can't even manage this. Few people really know how to stoke their own fire with active rest before hitting a wall. I know this from hard-won experience. I'm a highly sensitive person. I'm ADHD autistic. I find things overwhelming that lots of people would just take in their stride so I often push through because my expectations are set to doing what's normal for everybody else rather than doing what is right for me. And when I do this after a while over and again I stop being able to function. I can't think straight, I'll have a meltdown at the slightest upset and I can't get anything done even at a very basic level. So I've learned that accessing the body's natural renewal system is the one reliable thing that's going to get me back to my sweet clever and effective self faster than any push. And these days I'm more likely to climb into bed for 20 minutes when things get a bit hard than reach for a cup of coffee. If you are chronically overwhelmed, Strategically using your rest and recovery system is the biggest thing that you can do right now in this moment to turn your life around. And if you have ADHD or you're autistic don't wait for the signs of overwhelm. This really does need to be an essential part of your daily and weekly routine to maintain a functional baseline. And it doesn't have to be sleeping necessarily. Some people rest and reset more through movement and doing things more than stopping. So you find the kind of rest that works for you. So here's a suggestion for what to do. Every hour you're working and use a timer or just the moment that you notice you're getting overwhelmed. Do this. Drink a glass of good water and then move your body or go outside. Have a cuddle. Stretch. Put your legs up the wall. Do a little bit of yoga. Walk around the block. Meditate. Breathe. Whatever works for you. Then incorporate longer blocks of the following activities into your daily and weekly routine as many and as often as you can manage. Heat. Sauna. Hot baths. Cold. Cold showers. Ice bath while swimming. Meditation. Exercise. Breath work. Uplifting social time. Yoga. Stretching. Lifting weights. Massage. Yoga nidra and intentional sleep which is taking naps and having good sleep hygiene for your nighttime sleeps. Your challenge is to do at least one thing from the lists above in the next 24 hours. And let me know in the comments how you felt afterwards. I want to know what you picked. And I'll see you in the next audio. Number three. Sleep your way to world domination. Take care.