How to cope when life is overwhelming

Sometimes life throws situations at us that we have absolutely no control over. We are left wondering how to cope when life seems so overwhelming. The events that have taken place in 2020 have been one of those times. When the WHO declared the Covid 19 outbreak a global pandemic, people's lives changed overnight. The way we work, relax, shop, socialise and travel has all changed to adapt to a completely new way of living.

Nobody has been able to escape the fallout of this year but people have had to carry on regardless. This has left many suffering as a result. Some have felt anxiety and stress as they have had to continue working and doing their jobs when they are fearful of going out whilst others have gone to pieces and felt that they could do nothing and again have experienced high levels of stress and anxiety. The reason for this is the excessive amount of overwhelm that we have all experienced daily.

Why does life feel overwhelming?

The Covid 19 crisis has shown just how vulnerable we are to external factors and how easily our lives can be turned upside down without us having any real control.

It has left many people unsure of how to cope or where to turn and many have felt totally unable to function in this rapidly changing environment in which we now find ourselves.

People have been either forced to work from home leaving some feeling isolated and lonely, while others have had to go out to work when they have felt scared and anxious. Daily routines have been ambushed, and school closures, lack of contact with the outside world, panic buying, information overload, and conflicting advice, have all led to an upsurge of stress and anxiety for a great many people.

What is feeling overwhelmed a symptom of?

Overwhelming thoughts and situations can be experienced by many for any number of reasons even without a pandemic being announced. For those prone to these feelings, many triggers can cause anxiety levels to rise. Work or family pressures can make many feel overwhelmed, simple day-to-day living can also be an issue for many. Someone who suffers from depression, anger issues or lack of self-confidence can also find life very overwhelming.

What to do when life feels like too much

The good news is that there are certain things that you can do even in these uncertain times to help you cope and to make you feel like you have some control of the current situation.

By adopting these five strategies in your life you will assist yourself in dealing with what is happening around you, and who knows you may find that when lockdown is all over, you come out of it a stronger, more centred person.

1. Manage your daily schedule better

It's very tempting at the moment when everything is so different to just switch off from your usual routine, especially if you are working from home or not having to do the school run but it is important to stick to your regular life as much as possible.

Managing your daily schedule better is an excellent coping mechanism. Rather than tipping your life upside down when external change occurs, manage your day as close to normality as possible.

Make sure your sleep-wake routine stays the same. Getting up later and going to bed later is going to throw your body clock out completely and will make it harder to re-adjust when life starts returning to normal. Eat meals at the same time, shower and change out of your pj's, even if you are working from home and you think no one will see you, it will create a more normal feeling in your mind.

Exercise daily, even if you can't practice your usual sport, try something new instead and see it as an opportunity to experiment. The main thing is doing something to get the body moving and to release endorphins into the body to give your mind a feel-good boost.

Keeping your daily routine as similar as possible is really important to your emotional and mental health. The better control you have over your daily schedule, the better control you will have over your mental state.

2. Take a mental break from your life

We all know when there is any kind of catastrophe happening in the world, the media likes to talk non-stop about it and in the age of 24-hour news channels, online social media, and newspapers, there is no escape from what is happening.

Therefore, the best thing to do is to limit yourself how much exposure you have to it. When something is out of your control, listening to 24/7 coverage is not going to help with anxiety so SWITCH IT OFF and do something else instead that will focus your brain in another direction.

This is an area where you have total control. Taking a break from everything that is going on around you and switching off mentally will give you a sense of power which will help you to build your mental strength. Information overload can be one of the most harmful things you can expose yourself to. Learning to take a mental break from life can help you to reset mentally.

3. Make it a priority to look after your mental health

The best thing that you can do when you are feeling overwhelmed is to make looking after your mental health a priority.

Whatever the situation that you find yourself in, make sure that how you mentally react to it comes from a place of logic and reason.

Adopt the attitude that what is happening at the moment is going to allow you to start something new. Most of us say,” If I had more time I would......”, well now can be your chance to start a new exercise plan, learn a new skill, read those books you have been meaning to, and catch up on things around the home or garden.

It doesn't matter what it is you do, just the process of doing something different will take your mind off what is happening in the outside world and will give you something different to focus on.

Again this is something that is totally within your control and will give you a feeling of power over what is happening in the world right now. This is also an excellent time to do something special, such as start a journal which will reflect your thoughts at this time and is also a good way of releasing anxious feelings.

These hints can help any negative thoughts and emotions you have from spiralling out of control. Staying aware of how you are thinking and what you are spending your time doing is a good way to stay in control of your situation and will help you build up the mental strength needed to get through what you are experiencing.

4. Learn to relax your body

When we are feeling overwhelmed, stressed and anxious the mental experiences we feel are felt physically in the body.

Tense limbs, accelerated heartbeat, sweating palms, shortness of breath and irritability are just some of the symptoms. Learning ways to relax your body when you feel stress or anxiety coming on is crucial to your mental and physical well-being.

Whenever you have sensations arising in your body, practice some of the following tips;

• Concentrate on your breathing patterns to slow your heartbeat and start relaxing your body. Breathing in slowly for the count of four and breathing out slowly for the count of four will bring your breathing under control.

• Practice meditation. Sitting or lying in a quiet spot and meditating can relax the mind and body. When the mind is too busy or agitated, it reflects in physical symptoms in the body. Spending quiet time meditating can take back control of the mind.

• Visualize a calm space. Sit in a quiet, relaxing space such as your bedroom and concentrate on finding your happy place. This is somewhere you feel calm, relaxed and happy. Sit down, close your eyes and begin to see your happy place in minute detail. It could be somewhere you loved as a child, a holiday spot you loved or anywhere you feel safe and calm. In detail evokes all of your senses, sight sound smell taste and touch.

• Release physical tension. Physical tension is often brought on by mental tension. To release tension in the body, lie on your bed, or a soft mat in a quiet space. Slowly work through the body starting at your feet, tense the muscles and then release them. Work your way up until you reach your head. As you work your way up your body pay attention to how your body feels.

• Write down overwhelming thoughts. When the mind is busy, overwhelming thoughts can take over. The simplest way to get things off your mind is to write them down in a journal. Write down how you are feeling, what the situation is anything that comes to mind. You don’t have to be a great writer, this is just for you to get your overwhelming and anxious thoughts from your mind.

• Get out in nature and exercise. Anxiety can be erased by being out in nature.

  The act of taking exercise will automatically release feel-good chemicals called endorphins into the brain. There is also something very therapeutic and calming about being amongst birds, trees and the sky.

  You don’t need to go for a full-on hike, even just five minutes is enough time to soothe the senses and instil calm back into the mind.

  If you can’t immediately get outdoors, even looking at pictures of nature can have a calming and restorative effect.

5. Train your mind to think positively

Every feeling that we have and subsequent action that we take in our lives are the result of the thoughts that we have going on in our heads. Therefore, if our heads are full of negative thoughts, we will produce negative feelings which will result in a negative action being taken.

When you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed make a conscious effort to think positively. If you are finding this difficult then follow the tips below;

• Have an attitude of gratitude. Think of all of the things that you have in your life to be grateful for; your health, loved ones, money, a job, where you live, comfortable surroundings, clean water or access to open spaces.

  The more you think about your life, the more that you will find to be grateful for. Gratitude for all that you have in life is one of the simplest yet most effective ways to produce positive thoughts.

• Surround yourself with positive people. Like attracts like so make sure you are surrounding yourself with the right people. If you want to be positive, put yourself in a positive crowd.

• Talk to yourself in a positive way. Cut out the negative self-talk, this is never going to put you in a happy, positive place. Swap negative talk for positive self-talk. If you struggle with this, think of all the good things that other people see in you and start repeating this to yourself. Bit by bit over time you will find it easier to think of your positive attributes and tell them to yourself.

• Focus on the good in your life. We can all slip into a feeling of negativity at times, a bad day at work, an argument at home, being stuck in traffic, whatever it is, the feelings can arise very quickly in our bodies. To get back on track, focus on the good stuff, the things that you love about your life.

Final thoughts

If you are thinking about how to cope when life seems overwhelming, follow the tips above and start applying them to your life. These are procedures that are going to take time and patience but once you have them as routine in your life, you should find that you can cope in a more relaxed and efficient manner when you are feeling overwhelmed.

If you would like more professional help applying these techniques then click on the link, how to deal with feeling anxious and overwhelmed and see how coaching can help you to take back control of your life.

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