Navigating Overwhelm
Are you feeling overwhelmed? You’re not alone in that right now. With intimate access to every major world event and the opinions of strangers and loved ones right in your pocket, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. In an evolutionary sense, we cannot process that much information. Additionally, these events and reactions tend to elicit outrage and fear, which skews our sense of safety in the world. Somatic Experiencing offers a definition of trauma as anything that feels too soon, too much, too fast for our body to integrate. Which is exactly what our experience of social media and news is lately - too much, too soon, too fast.
So how do we disentangle ourselves from that cycle? Well, the opposite of too much, too soon, too fast is slowing down. In our attention economy, the idea of slowing down can feel impossible. Everything feels urgent and our responsibilities have demanding deadlines. AND in order to not only survive, but thrive, we need to be able to see beyond the urgency and experience some things at a slower, more intentional space.
What does that look like in practice? First, it can be helpful to start paying attention. Paying attention to when you feel most overwhelmed, where your worries lie, where you feel most incompetent. And paying attention to what feels most meaningful, what brings you joy, where you see beauty, and where you feel connected to others. This can give you a roadmap of where you may benefit from reducing focus and where you want more of your focus to go. I know there are real barriers to taking the time we need and any reduction of overwhelming content or inclusion of savoring the moments of joy/contentment/etc helps. It helps to remind us that there is more to the world than all the scary things we’re reading/watching, while not totally ignoring them, either.
Some suggestions for what this looks like in practice:
setting a time of day for you to check the news or a timer for how long you check the news and/or social media, to reduce your unconscious doom scrolling
setting a time of day where you’re done checking your email and/or phone
putting the hours that you respond to emails in your email signature and sticking to those limits (ex. I respond to emails during office hours 9am-5pm, Monday-Friday)
paying more attention when you’re doing something you enjoy
noticing little moments of connection or admiration - savoring in moments of watching your pets, children, the outdoors, allowing yourself to experience the awe/joy of those moments
making plans with friends or loved ones and trying to be fully present with them in those moments
What is one thing that you can add to your routine or take away?
As always, take what is helpful and leave the rest. I hope you have the week you need.
