{"id":11120,"date":"2019-10-21T06:00:26","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T10:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=11120"},"modified":"2019-10-16T07:52:44","modified_gmt":"2019-10-16T11:52:44","slug":"reducing-feelings-overwhelmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/10\/reducing-feelings-overwhelmed.html","title":{"rendered":"Reducing Feelings of Being Overwhelmed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-11123\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2019\/10\/clause-3213670_1920-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"clause-3213670_1920\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s been quite the week and I admit, there were moments when I felt overwhelmed. Work deadlines were\u00a0relentless. Family issues needed to be attended to and there was\u00a0little time to exercise self-care. But what happens when you allow a rigorous pace to get the best of you?<\/p>\n<p>Mentally, you are slower, sometimes forgetful or even confused. Other times, you have trouble concentrating because there is too much on your plate and your mind races from thing to thing. We get distracted, don&#8217;t problem-solve well and feel fatigued.<\/p>\n<p>The first question to ask when overwhelmed is, can I take anything off my plate? Is a big project about to be over or can I delegate something to someone else? Can I ask for help to reduce the load? If not, can I break a task down into manageable parts?<\/p>\n<p>A strategy I find helpful when I get that overwhelmed feeling is to simply stop when the day is done. If I can&#8217;t get it all in and I have worked hard, I can pick it u tomorrow when I am fresher. Or sometimes, I just say no to another thing even though I know I can do it. If I need space to breathe, boundaries are a good thing.<\/p>\n<p>Another way to reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed is to let go of perfectionism. I can&#8217;t always do something the exact way I would like because I have too many other things pulling at me. But\u00a0I can complete a task, maybe not perfectly, but good enough to move on to the next thing. While I don&#8217;t like the idea of not always giving my \u00a0best effort, there are times that it is not realistic. During those times, move on and accept that you can&#8217;t do everything perfectly.<\/p>\n<p>Related to letting go of perfection is making assumptions that somehow the sky will fall if you don&#8217;t get something done. Someone may be unhappy, frustrated because they have to wait for you or even impatient, but when your plate is too full, something has to give. And we don&#8217;t want it to be your health! Letting go of the assumption that everything is equally important and the bottom will fall out if it isn&#8217;t done, can be freeing. I am not saying it&#8217;s OK to become a slacker, rather doing your best may mean you can&#8217;t get to it all. And that is OK when you are overwhelmed with too much to do. Prioritize. Delegate. And work at a pace that won&#8217;t kill you.<\/p>\n<p>So much of reducing feelings of being overwhelmed has to do with good time management, prioritizing tasks and knowing when to delegate. When you&#8217;ve done all of that, set healthy boundaries around your time and make your expectations realistic. Now, take a breath and relax &#8211;at least for a few minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s been quite the week and I admit, there were moments when I felt overwhelmed. Work deadlines were\u00a0relentless. Family issues needed to be attended to and there was\u00a0little time to exercise self-care. But what happens when you allow a rigorous pace to get the best of you? Mentally, you are slower, sometimes forgetful or even&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4099],"tags":[2644,3579,17,4523],"class_list":["post-11120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stress","tag-overwhelmed","tag-perfectionism","tag-stress-2","tag-workaholic"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Reducing Feelings of Being Overwhelmed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reducing Feelings of Being Overwhelmed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It&#8217;s been quite the week and I admit, there were moments when I felt overwhelmed. Work deadlines were\u00a0relentless. Family issues needed to be attended to and there was\u00a0little time to exercise self-care. But what happens when you allow a rigorous pace to get the best of you? Mentally, you are slower, sometimes forgetful or even&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/10\/reducing-feelings-overwhelmed.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-21T10:00:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-16T11:52:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/10\/clause-3213670_1920-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Reducing Feelings of Being Overwhelmed","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Reducing Feelings of Being Overwhelmed","og_description":"It&#8217;s been quite the week and I admit, there were moments when I felt overwhelmed. Work deadlines were\u00a0relentless. Family issues needed to be attended to and there was\u00a0little time to exercise self-care. But what happens when you allow a rigorous pace to get the best of you? Mentally, you are slower, sometimes forgetful or even&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/10\/reducing-feelings-overwhelmed.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2019-10-21T10:00:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-10-16T11:52:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/10\/clause-3213670_1920-1024x683.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/10\/reducing-feelings-overwhelmed.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/10\/reducing-feelings-overwhelmed.html","name":"Reducing Feelings of Being Overwhelmed","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/10\/reducing-feelings-overwhelmed.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/10\/reducing-feelings-overwhelmed.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/10\/clause-3213670_1920-1024x683.jpg","datePublished":"2019-10-21T10:00:26+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-16T11:52:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/10\/reducing-feelings-overwhelmed.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/10\/reducing-feelings-overwhelmed.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/10\/reducing-feelings-overwhelmed.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/10\/clause-3213670_1920-1024x683.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/10\/clause-3213670_1920-1024x683.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/10\/reducing-feelings-overwhelmed.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reducing Feelings of Being Overwhelmed"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice &amp; Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11120"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11124,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11120\/revisions\/11124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}