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Are you feeling overwhelmed? Maybe on the verge of burnout? The non-stop demands of work and life can make it hard to keep up, but the conventional advice seems to suggest we can just “organise” our way out of it.
Not so. When we’re feeling overwhelmed, todo lists and PostIt notes aren’t the answer. What we need is to take a step back – to pause and nourish our soul. Our first instinct is often to do more, but what we really need is rest.
In this week’s quick dip, Rachel outlines the steps we need to follow, using the acronym STOP. S for our soul, T for time out, O for out-of-office, and P for the parasympathetic: our rest and digest system.
Dealing with overwhelm by throwing more at it – more thought, more action – just hastens our journey to burnout. Our decision-making suffers, and we can end up making choices that worsen our situation.
So if you’re feeling like you’re against the wall, take a moment to pause. Think about what truly rejuvenates you, and make a plan to incorporate those nourishing activities into your routine. Even just a small break can make a big difference.
Show links
More episodes of You Are Not a Frog:
- The 3 Lies Which Hold Us Back – Episode 226
- What to Do When You are Overwhelmed – Episode 132, with Gerrie Hawes
- The Power of Pressing Pause – Episode 157
Free downloads:
Download the episode’s podsheet. You can use it for reflection and to submit for your appraisal as part of your CPD.
Reasons to listen
- To discover practical strategies for managing feelings of overwhelm and burnout
- To understand the importance of listening to your body and prioritising self-care
- To address the physiological and psychological response to overwhelm
Episode highlights
What advice would you give your best friend?
Overwhelm as a group threat
Overwhelm as a physical threat
Feeling trapped by “shoulds”
Take a pause
Waiting for your soul to catch up
S is for Soul
T is for Time out
O is for Out of Office
P is for Parasympathetic
Free toolkits
Don’t take the second arrow
Take your holiday to rest
Prioritise your rest now
Episode transcript
[00:00:00] Rachel: A few months ago, I was at my coworking space, looked into a tiny little booth, having a zoom call with my psychiatrist. It was a review of my ADHD. And we were talking about the medication, how I was getting on how it was making me feeling, and all the other sort of stuff that you have to ask during a review like that. [00:00:18] Rachel: But after a few minutes, I noticed the questions had stayed away from the ADHD, and she was starting to ask me things like. How has your mood right now? And…
