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Writer's pictureRob Hicks
Oct 21, 20194 min read

Overwhelmed

Panic (not at the disco), anxiety, worry, dread, fear, depression, and stress are symptoms of overwhelm. How do you conquer this?

Some Back Story

There isn't a very long back story to go on this one as I still battle the feeling of overwhelm. It seems to be the nature of life at this point most days, and I am not too sure who made that norm.


Was it me that allowed the overwhelming nature of things to become my new normal, or was it thrust upon me by ever more demanding deadlines and short time frames of others? Perhaps a mix of both?


Can you be overwhelmed in one part of your life and not another, or does it all blend together?


My first real experience with overwhelm I want to say was a few years back as a delivery driver with the number of people calling to have deliveries all at once, and all I could do was one at a time, and in the order I received them. Reality though is it started further back, way back in my days of retail sales for cellular telephones.


The people would flood in, and before you could be finished with customers another would be butting in to try and get their purchase done in the midst of a transaction you were doing, and the store kept filling up. People would get restless, and more pushy and demanding. There were days I would run on whatever I wolfed down for breakfast and caffeine for the day. I would get home and just crash like I was hungover from a night of binge drinking, headache included.


So What the HELL is the Solution?

Well that is the billion-dollar question now, isn't it? I don't have one good solution as I haven't found that seems to work unless you have the sheer will to make it work for you.


One way I have tried to keep work stress and anxiety from coming home with me is by using trigger sounds and actions when I get to the office and leave the office. When I pull up and slide my key into the lock that is when my anxiety and stress are allowed to kick in and be apart of the day. Once I hit lunch I take off for a walk for an hour to clear my head and regroup for the remainder of the day. Since I am not a smoker I sometimes hang out in the lunchroom for a few extra minutes to step out of the "happy bubble of hatred" also know as my cubicle in the mid-morning. Once my day is done I use the sound of the alarm, and the key locking the door to signify that my work stress is locked away deep inside the office never to escape... most of the time anyway.


This one I struggle with quite a bit; however when I work the plan it works out really well. The plan as set forth by auto-reply email is to handle my email at 12 pm PT and 4 pm PT thanks to a handy trick which I mentioned in a previous post by Tim Ferris. This does wonders if I can stick to the plan. Some times I do have an email that is a little more time-sensitive to get sent out so I will, and therein lies the trap. Once you've opened the email program you are now deep into the inbox hole of despair. All inboxes for some reason or another seem to be a vortex of anxious overwhelm.


Another one is the phone, and the voicemail, especially this voicemail system as it ties to the email inbox as well which provides some hilarious transcriptions thanks in large part to Microsoft Unified Inbox Service. With my phone always seeming to be ringing off the hook with "problems" and problems I quite often let it go to my voicemail one to read the rediculous transcription and two I can deal with the call in the same manner as my email twice a day. Again this plan is foolproof so long as you have the will power to stick to it and not deviate from the course. Yes, I fail frequently here as well.


One last one I can never seem to get a grasp on, and I am ok with this, are interruptions by physical people. I can't seem to say 'NO' to those who are standing in front of me and are probably going to cause some of the bigger stress-filled moments. It's weird in most cases I completely welcome the interruptions people bring to me even though it causes my workload to increase and back up as I am taking care of it; however, there is just something to real interactions with people that I really enjoy and would much rather do than sift through endless emails, task lists, and talk on the phone. Working people directly I think is personally where I excel.


How about you where do excel? Do you have any pro tips on handling stress and anxiety at work? Did you find these helpful? Let me know what you think in the comments below I would like to read your tips, and what you found useful.


Remember...


Ride Hard and Live Long.


Sincerely

Rob Hicks


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