What to Do When You Feel Overwhelmed - Part 2

We all experience the feeling of overwhelm from time to time. I think there is a growing negative spirit to this age that is encouraging this deep feeling of being overwhelmed. When we feel overwhelmed, we start to act like victims rather than living in God’s victory. The feeling and spirit of being overwhelmed is not what God wants for us.

In Psalm 18 David says about the Lord, “He brought me forth into a broad place.”

When we feel overwhelmed we can trust that God wants us to move out of that feeling and to help us defeat that foul spirit. He wants to give us victory. “Overwhelmed” is an enemy he wants us to defeat. God will lead us out but we do have our part to play.

Last week, I introduced five questions to ask yourself when you are overwhelmed. Here are another five you can ask when you feel overwhelmed to help you fight get over the feeling, defeat the spirit and get moving again:

6. Am I spending time on things that are counterproductive or sideways energy? Cal Newport calls this pseudo work. It is work that does not really move the needle but looks like we are being productive or working. It is answering e-mail instead of working on your homily. It is talking to a volunteer about sports to build the relationship rather than really coaching them. Sometimes we chose pseudo work and sometimes we fall into it without recognizing it. We need to recognize what is most important, what Stephen Covey called the big rocks and invest our time and energy in those activities first.

To use another analogy, eat that frog. Eat that frog means whatever is most important for you to accomplish in a day, do it first thing. Don’t wait to put it off. Just get it done. If you have to eat one frog, eat it first thing. If you have to eat two frogs, make that your first two activities. I find this analogy works for me. When I identify the one or two major activities that need to be done in a given day and can do them first thing, I feel the emotional weight lift. Even if the rest of the day nothing else gets done, I can feel at ease because what absolutely had to be accomplished was accomplished.

7. Is there something I need to delegate and get off my plate? Sometimes we need to get activities off our plate. We are doing a task that we don’t enjoy and really aren’t competent in doing. Someone else could do it better. When we feel overwhelmed, it might be a great opportunity to delegate or give away one of my tasks to someone else. God might be calling me to give it away.

8. Is there a friend I need to reach out to? Galatians tells us to bear one another’s burdens. Sometimes we start to feel overwhelmed because we are carrying burdens all alone or on my own. Just sharing with a friend can lighten our burden and take the edge off. I have a personal burden I’m carrying. A couple of months ago I reached out to a friend and had breakfast. It was difficult to share. I felt like a failure, but he encouraged me. Sharing your burdens with the right person can be game changing.

9. Am I carrying too much of the world’s problems or problems that are not my own? While we are to bear other people’s burdens, we can’t take full responsibility for their problems or their feelings. Sometimes we start carrying too much the weight of others. We need to set proper boundaries with them.

Or sometimes we focus too much of our thoughts and mental energy on problems in the world that we cannot solve. If you are a news junkie or are on social media often then you will certainly experience this. Our souls are not meant to handle all the problems of the world. We were only created to handle so much. We are not the Savior of the World. I like what author John Eldredge advises in those times when we hear devastating news that we can do nothing about. In his book Get Your life back he encourages this prayer, “Jesus, I give everything and everyone to you.”

10. Do I need to do some deep soul work? We might have pains from the past that need to be healed. We might be carrying the weight of unforgiveness. Obviously there is no quick or easy solution to this one. But if none of the other questions have helped you diagnose the problem and given you a helpful prognosis, it might be the Lord is leading you into deep soul work.

These are now 10 questions to ask when you are overwhelmed. I pray that as you ask these questions of yourself and take appropriate steps, that God will lead you to a broad place.

Rooting for you,
Tom