Last week I felt SOOO over stimulated. There were to-do's outside the wazoo =) and everyday felt like a tidal wave in my mind. I know pretty much all of us have those kind of weeks. It's just a part of seasons, starting new things and wanting to accomplish a lot. Over the past few months, I've been putting little tools in my "belt" to handle the overwhelm in healthier ways.
I think most of us just need the tools to re-access when we're over stimulated and need a 5 minute breather. If you're like me, the stress levels can rise pretty fast if I'm not aware of all that factors involved and know how to re-steady myself.
I wanted to give you practical advice today - just a solid list of ways you can get grounded again in the middle of your day.
The first step is the hardest: to be able to say out lout, "I'm over stimulated and need to regain focus." This is by far the most difficult for me. Verbally expressing what my needs are DOES NOT come naturally for me. It feels like pulling my own hair out to understand what I need and then be able to say it is like ______ (shaking my head over here cause' I don't even know how to describe it.) Do you relate? If you do understand what I'm talking about, then listen up.
Understanding our needs comes with being self- aware and bypassing the temptation to talk ourselves out of needing _____ (fill in the blank). I didn't realize how crucial it was for me to understand myself until I became a mother. As soon as I became a mom, I felt like I was in a needed pressure cooker to verbally express my needs and NOT talk myself out of them for fear of looking weak. Slowly learning how to address my overwhelm has allowed me to bridge the gap and really honor myself by acknowledging what I need.
So, that's your first step today. It's learning how to detect when you're feeling over-stimulated.
Some helpful cues are:
* How is your stress levels?
* Are you feeling anxious?
* Are you able to think clearly and make decisions accordingly?
* Are you snapping at others around you and why?
* Is you mind foggy and not able to think about what to do next?
After you evaluate yourself and where you're at, here's where you get to decide what to do. YOU GET TO DECIDE! You have the power to decide where you're going to go from there...
First choice: Continuing to go throughout your day over-stressed which leads to xyz.
Second choice: Re-directing your mind and heart
And how do we that?
Here's where your solid list of tools comes into light. I pray that at least one is highlighted to you!
* If you're driving, when you arrive at your destination, sit in your car for a few minutes in silence. No radio. No scrolling on your phone. Just close your eyes and sit there while you become aware of your breathing again.
* If you're at home with your kids, tell your children that mommy needs a 5 minute rest. Go into your bedroom. Set your timer. And just be. Take a moment to pray. Sit in silence. Whatever will "fill you up."
* Get outside and take a walk as soon as possible!
* Put a workout on at home or get to the gym. Exercise is a stress destroyer and you'll be amazed by how much clearer your mind will be at the end.
* Text a friend and just say, "Hey, I'm having an overwhelming day or week. Can you pray for me?"
* If you feel like you're on social media all the time, TAKE A BREAK! You absolutely need to set boundaries for yourself with this, friend. Social media is such a time sucker and attention sucker.
* If you're addicted to the news, TAKE A BREAK! The news is so over-stimulating and we were never created to take in THAT MUCH INFORMATION!
* Whip out that old journal of yours and write down all your thoughts. Writing things down is so therapeutic and allows us to be even more aware of what's going on inside of our hearts.
* Brain dump and write down all your to do's for this week and then organize them by day and time blocks to them done.
Choose one of more of these to implement this week!
