The Too High Cost Of Overwhelm
Updated: Mar 19, 2024
Written by: Eva Medilek, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
You may have noticed that when you ask some of your friends or colleagues the simple question of “how’s it going?”, you are getting responses like good but really busy. Hey, this might be your answer when someone asks you this question.
When someone tells me that they are really busy, I tend to probe deeper. How are you feeling with all this busyness? You might be doing a lot and making money, but at what cost?
If you are really busy, and you are feeling vibrant, healthy, and energetic, then you can share this article with someone else. It might not be relevant to you. But if you are really busy and you are feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, stressed, and you don’t have time to get it all done, then I want you to keep reading.
Your busyness is costing you your health, your well-being, and perhaps even your relationships. Yes, your relationships. No one likes being around a tired, cranky, complaining about being a too-busy person. No one wants to work with you either. And you can be sure that no one will want to hire you if you are too overwhelmed to take on even more work.
I know you want to be able to handle it all, but let’s be realistic here, if handling it all is making you frustrated and exhausted, you need a new plan. You need to prioritize. First, get clear on what you want and what makes you happy, and then learn how to work smarter and not harder to prioritize your tasks.
For example, how do you want to feel? Do you enjoy your work? Does it satisfy you? Are you making an impact? If that’s a yes, then great, let’s make sure you don’t turn something you enjoy into something that you dread.
When you are working on tasks and projects that you enjoy and that give you energy, that’s fantastic. What happens when you are asked to take on more and more and more and all of a sudden, you are working longer hours and the joy is seeping out of it?
How do you approach your manager about the toll that the extra work is having on you? You’ve got to do a stakeholder analysis. Find out what’s important to your stakeholders. What are their priorities? Ask them what can wait and what’s important to them. What can you take off of your plate so that you can give your best efforts to the most important tasks in the project?
Stop trying to do everything and focus on what matters most.
Too often, we are trying to do things that just don’t matter that much at the moment. Your success depends on your ability to be clear, prioritize, and set boundaries that move forward and support your priorities. When you say yes, every time you want to say no, you take yourself further and further away from your goal of success.
You don’t need to keep piling stuff on your plate. Eventually, the plate will break and that plate is you. And, if you are thinking, it’s easier said than done, download my 5 Ways to Reverse Burnout, for 5 simple (not easy, but simple) things you can start implementing right away to set up habits that reduce, reverse and avoid burnout. You can download it here at: https://www.evamedilek.com/reverseburnout
Here's to advancing your career, without sacrificing your personal life.
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Eva Medilek, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Eva Medilek is a Certified High-Performance Coach, International Speaker, 1 Best-Selling Author, and Cultural Inclusivity Trainer. She has worked with men and women in the areas of personal development, leadership, inclusive intelligence, and mastering habits for success.
Eva specializes in helping busy professionals have more money, time, and success without sacrificing health, well-being, and relationships in the process. As a keynote speaker, Eva shows you how to generate the energy needed to reverse the burnout we experience from trying to do it all.
Most recently, Eva is a radio talk show host on Voice America’s Influencer Channel. Her show, What’s Important Now; Making Time for What Matters Most brings to light hot topics and guests that focus on important matters facing us today.
She uses her personal experiences along with her leadership, relationship, and high-performance training to teach you how to have it all without sacrificing it all.
