When Even the Things You Want to Do Feel Overwhelming

Sometimes work is just hard, life is just hard...everything just seems hard. Things are coming at you from every direction and even things that you wanted to do now seem overwhelming in the present moment.

I have said, more than once this week, that it’s all just too much. 

You start to feel like you’re running on empty. 

You’ve read the articles on self-care. You’d love to get a massage. but you don’t even have time to get the laundry done- or it’s done but now has to be rewashed because you left it for too long.

And there isn’t anything to indicate that this will change in the foreseeable future.

When we find ourselves in this situation, it’s easy to become despondent. We realize that even if we did have time for a massage, it would take more than that to undo this persistent level of stress. 

But what if it took LESS than this to start to feel better, to feel more in control, to be able to keep showing up?

It all comes down to nervous system regulation.

When the sympathetic nervous system is activated through a stressful situation, we remain on high alert and become hypervigilant, looking for all the things that can go wrong. 

We can have trouble concentrating or learning new skills.

We can have physical symptoms like chest pressure, palpitations, poor sleep, agitation, anxiety, headaches, neck tension and body pain. 

So to combat this, we need to downregulate the sympathetic response and activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

Can this be done with a massage? Yes.

Can this also be done by taking 3 long, slow deep breaths? Yes.

It may seem too easy, but interrupting the fight or flight response is the key to stopping the stress cycle. There are many ways to do this, some more involved than others, but breathing works fine.

By directing your breath to be slow and deep, you are signaling to your brain that there is no danger. If you were in real danger, you wouldn’t stop to take some slow breaths, you would run. When your body has interpreted all the stimuli around you to be “dangerous", you need to direct it otherwise.

The important thing is to do this multiple times during the day. Do it before you get out of your car at work. Do it before AND after checking your email. Do it when your mind is racing and you are anxious. Do it when you are ready to go to bed.

Drop your shoulders. Unclench your teeth. Breathe.

Now breathe again

All the mental chatter telling you to move faster is nonsense. Nothing is wrong with you if you are overwhelmed. You just need to reassure your nervous system. 

Self-care starts with one breath at a time.

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If you are feeling overwhelmed or despondent, let's talk about how coaching can help. It has helped me through some really tough situations. I am here to support you and help you learn the tools to support yourself. Reach out and we can schedule a consult call: Megan@NursingBeyondtheJob.com