Why You Feel Overwhelmed
We have all been overwhelmed at some point in our lives. Some people feel it far more often than others. It is not a matter of who feels overwhelmed, but when we feel it. And more importantly, why we feel it.
The common assumption is that we have too much on our plate, and that this is what overwhelms us. But if that were entirely true, many busy CEOs would not be able to function for decades. History is filled with people who worked for hours at a stretch and still felt energetic.
Being overwhelmed is not just about how much you have to do. There are solutions to that. You can delegate, automate, or simply refuse to do what is not important. People feel overwhelmed when they cannot convert the path ahead into the immediate next step.
You know what needs to be done, but you cannot translate that into an actionable plan. What is the next step you should take? Your mind is crowded with too many things, too many possibilities, too many options, but without any mental model to organise them. Being overwhelmed is, at its core, an organisation problem.
It is also connected to how you handle uncertainty. The inability to deal with uncertain paths, often due to past experiences or a deep fear of the unknown, is a root cause of anxiety.
The lack of direction on an uncertain path is why you feel overwhelmed. You now have too many variables to deal with, which increases your cognitive load.
You do not mind walking in the fog as long as you know which way you are walking and where it will lead. The next step is defined, so the uncertainty does not weigh you down.
The brain craves clarity. It wants to know what is going on and how things should proceed. In order to become a high-functioning performer, you need to break your tasks down into the immediate next step. You may want to climb Mount Everest, but what do you need to do tomorrow?
Once you have the next steps planned, measure the progress of each step. Aside from knowing the next step, you also need to track how far you have come. This gives you a sense of progress and certainty about the path.
In the end, all forms of mental stress are signs that your mind craves clarity. It is not just about dealing with too many tasks or uncertain tasks. It is mostly about what you can do about them. What are the next steps?
People often get weighed down by the emotional burden of perceived consequences. What if I fail? What if I make a mistake? What if things go terribly wrong? Questions like these are rooted in your relationship with uncertainty and a lack of clarity about the path ahead.
Instead of constantly thinking about climbing Mount Everest, you need to focus on succeeding in just the next step. Keep doing the next thing right, and the sequence will take you to Mount Everest.
You will gain better clarity about the probability of success by how well you execute your next steps. Keep doing that, and you will not have to worry about doing too many things. Stop seeing Mount Everest. Focus on what you need to do next.