I have declared a temporary ceasefire. I am taking a short break from the battle with all the demands in my life. I have been officially overwhelmed.
For one thing I never realized there was all this work associated with retiring. And I technically am not even retiring, just leaving a job with a pension and going more full time with the counseling center.
Bringing up the topic of the 12-hour webinar I have to watch before our training this spring. That has been an experience! It took me a couple of weeks to even get onto the site. Did low vision have anything to do with that debacle? Uh, maybe. Maybe I only scanned the directions because they were pretty text dense, lots of reading to find the info I needed. Maybe I tried to log onto a wrong lesson because I didn’t see it right. Maybe….
Oh, alright, low vision can make things that were easy before quite a bit harder. And THAT does not help to reduce the feeling you are overwhelmed one little bit.
What to do about that? Well, I am a dogged sort, so I primarily have just put my head down and ‘bulled’ through it. I wrote two reports and edited another this weekend as well as listening to 3.5 hours of the webinar. It all took a huge chunk of the weekend but I feel better.
I really was not sure what else I had done – or even perhaps what I should be doing – so I decided to see what the ‘experts’ say. Off to the internet!
Forbes magazine, not surprising, focused on the corporate office setting when they wrote their seven tips. Their “only do what only you can do” sounded to me like “prioritize”. Maybe also delegate.
I prioritized report writing over cleaning the house. (I am sure you are shocked!?). Reports have deadlines. Also, someone else theoretically could clean. However, the pups lick my face when I suggest it and my husband ignores me. I guess that is better than the other way around.
Psychology Today gave a list of 8 tips. They suggested taking care of body and soul before anything else. Eat Pray Love is not just a movie with Julia Roberts. It is part of a recipe for reducing stress. [Lin/Linda here: it was first a best-selling novel, by the way.]
Psychology Today also suggested that wonderful panacea mindfulness. Stay in the present and don’t borrow trouble. The only problems you can truly deal with are the ones in front of you here and now.
Several articles including Psychology Today really like the word “no”. Saying ,”no” is an art I have problems with. Either it sounds really fun and interesting or someone has been good to me and I don’t want to disappoint them or I am afraid if I start saying “no” the word will get around and I will never get asked anywhere again. Know what I am saying?
Vision loss and increased dependence have made it so I am a lot more aware of being agreeable and pleasing people. This is not always good for combating the feeling of being overwhelmed. Tis a dilemma.
Last but not least, Psychology Today suggests giving yourself some time off. Something I am going to do in about five minutes!
And that is what I learned this evening about dealing with feelings of being overwhelmed. Hope it helped.
Written March 25th, 2018