How to Eliminate your Overwhelm and Overdrive Tendencies
If you find yourself toggling between overdrive and overwhelm most of the day (or at least most of your “bad” days)…you aren’t alone. Not by a long shot. It’s something I struggle with and most all moms I work with struggle with as well.
Finding that center space of calm, clarity and presence can feel elusive while we are going through our busy days.
I want to continue on last week’s discussion and share a video that helps you go deeper into understanding your own patterns of escape and why they are happening for you. When I first did this exercise I had a huge lightbulb moment- I’m hoping the same for you.
Click the video below and go through this lifework exercise with me…then let me know in the comments your feedback on going through the process!
- Last week’s article on escaping, presence and positive thinking
- This exercise was inspired by the work of Gretchen Wallace
- Teach Your Life To Be Extraordinary class series.
I’d love to hear your insights in the comments…and if you found this useful, please share it!
Thankyou Lisa for this video. It was so timely for me. I am a person who is easily overwhelmed by life and my first response is to detach and escape. I sometimes even just sit on the couch in a dream world and get nothing done. It was an eye opener to me when you said that inactivity causes anxiety because anxiety is huge for me. I tend to give up. I cant even really read and dream much anymore concerning family life but today I’m gonna do just one thing towards change, one thing. Thanks again.
Amy- really great point, one way you know you’re stuck in one side of the spectrum is that dreaming about it doesn’t feel good anymore…so glad this exercise was helpful- and one small thing can make huge shifts!
This was actually really helpful. Writing it out made me realize that many of the things “distracting” me may be important…just not right now. We’re getting ready to move at the end of the month and some of the areas where I would like to focus my attention just have to be put on hold. Temporarily. Thank you for helping me realize this 🙂
Yes, it can feel so good to know that “no” is really “not now” and you can settle into patience!
Its my bed time and the one thing I am working on is going to bed at a decent hour as I feel quite sleep deprived lately, especially since its very hot at the moment. So I haven’t done the exercise. But hope to do that in the morning.
I love this video and have been reading some things and working on understanding myself better especially in this regard. I do realize it is about truly changing one thing at a time, just one thing. Taking time to practice / train myself in that one thing is important as that alone will allow consistency. For me its so easy to do all or nothing and then you feel so overwhelmed. But remembering to build gradually and really gradually is something that I am only just starting to understand. Thank you for this and all the other videos you share.
Your welcome, Shalini! Thanks for your feedback 🙂
Lisa, thank you so much for this video! It was exactly what I needed today 🙂 This morning I was reflecting on this very thing and I was asking God to show me how to come to a place of calm and centeredness even with all the change that I am attempting right now. This video was an answer to my prayer! I took notes during the video and will take the time to do the exercise during my trip to the library this morning. Once again, thank you! This couldn’t have come at a better time!
Fantastic Heidi- hope it is a fruitful exercise for you!
This was great. My first time watching. I absolutely detach when I’m overwhelmed, and this helped me realized that. I care for my 89 and 92 yr. old parents, who are in decline, and my heart is sad a lot of the time. On the other end, I love to write and am working on a book. I feel this is the one place my voice is heard (I also blog), as the sharing part of the relationship w/ my folks has passed. My life is lived in extremes – time writing, or caretaking. It’s hard to find the middle ground. Thank you so much for this.
Mare- thank you for sharing. I do think we need to ability to healthy detach sometimes as a mean to process what feels heavy and painful. Be gentle on yourself. Caring for aging parents is not easy and many of us are entering that stage of our lives while still playing the role of mother to our children…
Great exercise! It is really hard to be honest about the “things you don’t really care about” that can be crossed off the list. That is where I struggle, but I am slowly realizing that I am only hurting myself by being dishonest about what matters most to me. Thanks for the video!
Very clear and helpful exercise. I appreciated your step by step explanation and encouragement to pause the video and actually do it now! Thank you for sharing.
I love making lists and organizing, you were speaking my language. It felt good to organize my thoughts. There were two things on my list that has been important to me for years, and I realized I actually don’t care about them. It was a breath of fresh air. I had an image of Jesus sweeping them out of my mind. Thank you for leading me to be honest and silent for a moment of reflection and purpose. (I pinned your video on one of my Pinterest boards.)
What a wonderful exercise! Thank you so much, Lisa! Writing everything down on paper made all of it seem SO much more manageable. I actually said, “this is doable!” and my overwhelm subsided. 🙂
Lisa this was SO great! I have missed a few days in this journey so far but I’m so glad I took the time for today’s mission. You are So right! I am creating an unhealthy mindset by being frustrated with those things I have but don’t want and feeling anxious that I’ll never get those things I want but don’t have. I will make a point today today to start planning how to eliminate or incorporate/build accordingly.
Lisa, what a great burst of encouragement this was for me today. Particularly loved your use of the word ‘serendipity’, think I’ll write that up somewhere around my house as I look at how to be more present in my daily life and take time to delight in the imperfect, holding my current blessings & frustrations with open hands….also loved how you spoke about having ‘lightness’, sometimes I find myself feeling heavy/weighed down/anxious about the very things that inspire me….there can be an intensity in my approach to my goals/inspirations particularly when my time is limited and there is so much information out there about how to be a great mother/crafter/worker/wife/disciple. Your video made me stop and think for a minute about the magic and ‘serendipity’ of my simple (though sometimes frustrating) life! Thanks so much.
This was a “kick in the pants” experience for me. Just what I needed to hear today. The lightbulb is starting to come on…..I’m beginning to “get it” now.
Thanks!
This was so timely. I’m working through a blog series about using David Allen’s Getting Things Done in the home environment. So many of the examples and steps of this exercise tie in beautifully. Your descriptions took the concepts even further for me and gave me the kick I needed to get started making the lists of all the things that nag my mind throughout the day!
Everything on my list fit under the “want, but don’t have” category, and since I was quite thoughtful when writing the list, there was nothing to cross off—I guess I mentally crossed things off before writing them down. This was somewhat helpful for me because having a list helps me remember what I’m working toward, but not really a “lightbulb moment” for me.
I, too, noticed most of my things were under “Want but Don’t Have”, but that made me take a few minutes more to think about what I “Have but Don’t Want” and make my lists more balanced. I realized suddenly that the “Have but Don’t Want” category was actually where most of my anxiety lies, and even in writing my list, I was “detaching” myself from the issues. I feel so helpless to change so many of those things b/c I’m trying to change external things instead of what I DO have control over.
Thank you for the insight. I have learned over and over again that you can’t get anywhere until you are at least aware of what you’re up against.