Feeling Overwhelmed? 6 Simple Steps to Get Organized

Move past feelings of overwhelm and get organized to do the task.

Everyone is bound to start feeling overwhelmed from time to time when they think about how to get organized and complete certain tasks.

Personally, when I feel overwhelmed, I avoid doing the task. But avoidance doesn’t complete the task.

Of course, I rationalize my avoidance by working on and completing everything except for the one thing I’m supposed to be doing. I tell myself I’ve been super productive (which is true), but that one initial task remains undone.

I’m also good at focusing my thoughts. The task creating this overwhelming feeling gets put on my back burner.

It stays on my mind, but it doesn’t haunt me until the end of the day when I admit to myself that this task is outstanding.

Recognizing this gives me a stomach ache. I put the dreaded task on the top of my to-do list for the next day, say my prayers, and hope for the best.

That never works.

The more I avoid the task the more onerous it becomes. Thinking about how to organize when I feel overwhelmed is almost self-defeating.

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My thoughts become cluttered with dire predictions of things that may — or may not — happen. The task grows more and more complicated in my mind until I become exhausted just contemplating it.

I review the options in my head. That is overwhelming because there are always a lot of options. In Kate Varness’ book, Who Am I Now? Realign Your Home And Life, she talks about answering some questions.

She asks her readers to think about the problem at hand and to think about pain points.

Varness reviews case studies, the problem facing the person, the pain of remaining the same, the pain of changing behaviors, and the benefits experienced from a change.

The sections continue with visualizing success and action plans.

Visualizing success helped me because, in my case, the task I needed to do recently could not be avoided forever. So, I switched books and took the advice I read in Dr. Alicia Clark’s book, Hack Your Anxiety.

Her advice is to make the thing that is creating your anxious thoughts work for you.

Put your nervous energy to work. Dr. Clark advocates paying attention to whatever the task or thought is that is creating the anxiety and dealing with it.

I put my nervous energy to work figuring out how to get myself organized to complete the task, even with cluttered thoughts.

It turns out that the task that was making me feel overwhelmed was much more straightforward and easy to complete than I had anticipated. My cluttered thoughts had truly created a monster out of this task.

Once I decided I was going to do it, I did some investigating online and realized that with a few clicks on my computer, I could put this task on the completed list. It took only 10 minutes.

Imagine that! I spent days feeling overwhelmed at the thought of doing this task. What a waste of time and energy!

Instead of letting the feelings of overwhelm derail you from getting organized and completing a task, you can try a few steps. They worked for me and maybe they will for you, too.

Here are the 6 steps to take to get organized when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

1. Breathe.

Take a deep breath and acknowledge to yourself that you are feeling overwhelmed.

2. Find Out Where It’s Coming From.

Write down on a piece of paper the task or project that is creating this feeling.

3. Take Note of Deadlines.

Do you have a deadline by which time this task must be completed? If so, write that down.

4. Find Out More.

Do you need to do research to learn how to do this task? If so, assign a day and time to do the research.

5. Figure Out How Much Time You Need.

Based on your research, how much time do you think you need to dedicate to this task?

From my experience, it could be much less time than you anticipate.

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6. Make Time.

When will you start this task? Write the day and time down, and be accountable to yourself.

I can tell you from personal experience that feeling overwhelmed because you’re having difficulty motivating yourself to get organized and complete a task is debilitating.

It doesn’t look debilitating to others.

In my case, I’m always doing something and being productive. Maybe this is true for you, too.

The lack of progress in one particular area or another can lead to delaying other projects. Don’t let feeling overwhelmed prevent you from getting organized and completing the task.

This guest article was first published by on YourTango.com: 6 Steps To Get Organized When You’re Overwhelmed By Tasks.