Overwhelmed?

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Are you overwhelmed? Me too! Can you believe that most people feel just like you?

About a third of Americans report feeling overwhelmed in their everyday lives (American Psychological Association reports) and United Press International reports two-thirds of Americans feel overwhelmed by the issues facing the nation. If you are in another country, I’m sure the numbers are about the same. We live in interesting times.

I have no idea what to do about the overwhelm of nations. But I know problem-solving starts at the bottom. It starts with you. If you can solve your own overwhelming situation, then you can look at the nation and the world.

This blog is about my struggle with these things because I am not an expert. Hell, if you ask me, I’m not even good at it. Ask my wife, she’ll tell you. But I thought I’d share what I’ve been learning so you can skip ahead of me and go further faster by not repeating my mistakes.

Mistake #1; my to-do list sucks! I have always been working on a to-do list and have never been able to get it done. I know there will always be more that I want to get done in life than I ever will get done. But I’d like to make a dent in it.

My solution in progress; prioritize and execute. This comes from Jocko Willink at Echelon Front. I don’t spend enough time looking at my list to put the important things on top. At work, I don’t shut my door enough to shut out everything else and focus on my list. If you never work on your list, it never gets done.

Mistake #2; I procrastinate… a lot. At work, I will do some easy task that isn’t really important. But at home, it is worse. I plop in front of the TV and watch something worthless while playing games on my iPad or looking at social media. I’m always telling myself I have plenty of time and I’ll get to that blog and podcast and all the other things I want to do in my private life later… and then later it’s too late.

My solution in progress; What is the most productive thing I can be going right now? This comes from Tom Hopkins’s book The Official Guide to Success. I’ve been asking this more and more of myself lately when I get home and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes the most productive thing is nothing when I’m stressed and pissed from work. And me being stressed and pissed from work seems stupid. I’ve had a great life lately and have a great job. And my new profession doesn’t have lives hanging on the balance of my performance, unlike my past careers. So I feel even worse because of this “first world problem.”

I have to stop and take stock of what I have in life right now. If you really look at how bad it could be, if you are reading this, you probably have a really good life. Remind yourself of the little things and try to push forward. It has been working for me more. I’m warm, fed, dry, and no one is actively trying to kill me. I’m not worried about where my next meal is coming from. I have it pretty good. How about you?

Mistake #3; getting sucked into everyone else’s jobs. At work and at home, I get really upset when something else isn’t getting done. I either sit and fret over it or take it on to get it done myself. Both don’t work.

My solution in progress; I’m learning to let go. It’s taking a long time to learn. Maybe in another 10 years, I’ll have it… hopefully. The true answer is to focus on what only I can do at home and work. Focussing on only what you can do is the problem with most managers and supervisors. There are things that only you can or will do at work and home. You need to do those first. Then you can look at the rest of the things that can or should be done.

Those are the top three mistakes that I make and it makes me overwhelmed in life. What are the things you know are a mistake that overwhelms you? Share in the comments with everyone so we can all learn to move forward faster.

Ben Branam