We have all experienced overwhelm at one phase of our life or another. Whether it be professional or personal, spiritual or emotional. Personally, overwhelm comes with a dose of shame. For me the shame is in the form of there are so many people who do not have enough, who do not have the choices, opportunities and benefits that I do and try so hard not to take for granted. There are so many who have insufficient leverage, insufficient opportunities and insufficient support systems and here I am feeling overwhelmed or deluged by this thing that I asked for.

The reality that I have discovered over the last few years and has only started to trickle into reality and functionality for me, is that drinking from a fire hose is a very poor way to hydrate myself. In other words, if I can slow the trickle down enough to fill the glass with water I can then manage my hydration in a much more systematic way.

Yes, it comes down to systems. Small, manageable, bite sized systems. This is my way of establishing and building my own boundaries and not allowing the world or society build those boundaries for me with expectations that are impossible to meet.

If we do not take the time to figure out what is truly important to us and place of those items on our priority list that we create each day, each week, each month, each quarter then we become subject to the massive influx of information that clouds the importance of what we’re trying to do. The boundaries that we have set for ourselves no longer are there to protect us. In other words, there is a systems breakdown.

So, here’s an idea that I have been working on recently. Trying to figure out a way to clear time from my schedule each day to create more time to focus on the important things which includes myself. For some people it might be eliminating social media or TV or browsing the Internet. If you got rid of two or three things that are occupying your time you might find yourself with two or three or maybe four or five extra hours in each day. That is a huge return on your investment of yourself. Once you’ve done this you can look back and ask yourself “what did I miss”. You can then add back the things that are important to you.

The end goal of this exercise is to illuminate the unimportant things and free up time in your day to focus on the important things that reduces the chance of overwhelm happening in the first place.

Next week will be part two of my thought process ramble. I will try my very best to think and put into words emotional or mental discomfort. Do I care enough to experience discomfort in the short term to get to the other side where the reward lies. And will I reward myself with the swing of the pendulum in the other direction to take care of myself?