In life, you may find yourself wearing many hats or trying to juggle lots of things at once. Think for a minute about all that you do in a day. How many different roles are you filling? While it may be easy to identify the roles you have in terms of family, friendships, or work, it’s likely you are filling many more roles than you acknowledge or realize. For example, your role may be a partner to your spouse or significant other. That’s one role. However, within that role you may also be responsible for the finances of your household, decision making, grocery shopping, scheduling appointments, planning vacations, housework, etc. Therefore, while you may be filling one role, that of a partner, in reality you’re responsible for much more than that. And those responsibilities can lead to a feeling of intense overwhelm, among many other emotions.
As women, we are often juggling many hats at once. That could look like: Mother, wife, friend, caretaker, disciplinarian, family travel agent, chauffeur, housekeeper, caretaker of animals, financial decision maker, business owner, child advocate, and the list goes on. When we truly stop and acknowledge ALL of the roles and responsibilities that we carry on a daily basis, we can begin to see just how overwhelming it all is. Because it is overwhelming and you’re not alone in feeling that way.
“So how do I manage feeling overwhelmed? How do I feel less overwhelmed when I’m so busy or needed by others?”
If you identify with these feelings, here are a few tips to try:
- Acknowledge how much you do, how hard your working, and give yourself credit for it
- Stop trying to do it all, delegate where you can, ask for help if you have it available, and start looking for ways to say “no” to things that are overwhelming
- Be realistic with yourself and what you actually have the time to focus on or accomplish
- Don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t get everything done on your to-do list
- Focus on one thing at a time
- Minimize distractions that may be increasing the time it takes to get tasks completed (such as social media for example)
- Make a schedule, keep a calendar, or create lists of things to help you stay organized
If you are feeling overwhelmed in this season of life and still finding it challenging to navigate this and the emotions it is bringing up for you, it may be helpful to also seek outside support. We at Psychotherapy for Women understand how overwhelming it can be to try to juggle it all, and we are here to help you gain support, learn new strategies, and decrease feelings of overwhelm. Reach out to us today to learn how we can start helping you.
