Your phone is ringing again. It’s your boss who wants to know why you missed your deadline and you can’t answer it because the baby is crying. All while you are pulling into the drive-thru before your 8-year-old’s soccer practice, which you are late for. Again. This is your life. Complete chaos. Every. Day.

So, what to do? How do you even begin to manage a life like this?

There is no simple solution, but in the middle of everything, there are some things you can do for yourself to manage the overwhelm.

10 tips to STOP overwhelm and take back your life

Realize that you are not alone. Most people have hectic lives in one way or another below are some energetic life hacks that can keep a greater level of calm and shed a new perspective on things.

1. Evaluate your life. This may seem obvious but seriously, sit down and list out everything you have to do in a day. Just brainstorm everything and get it down on paper. If there is a big thing you have to do that stresses you out, break it down into the steps it takes to get it done.

2. After you have each thing written down ask yourself, is this task absolutely necessary? Rate it 1-5 1 being the least important, 5 being the most. Can you scrap or delegate or hire any of it? Be creative. 

3. Of each thing that you can’t scrap, delegate or hire, make a list of the most stressful things about your task. Maybe the most stressful part of your job is getting there or the most stressful part of getting your kids to practice is getting them dressed. Just list out the part that makes you lose your ever-lovin’ mind.

4. Now ask yourself, is there anything I can do about that aspect of that particular task to negate the stress? Maybe you can request to work from home for the first couple of hours of the day or send your kids to school in their soccer practice clothes. Be creative and think outside the box. A tip on doing this is, look at your list like it isn’t yours. If a friend was asking you for advice on their task list, what advice would you give them? We often give people advice that we could use ourselves.

5. You have your set of you-have-to-do-it tasks, close the boxes. Women, in particular, tend to think in a web-like pattern. This is because we are energetically wired this way. It is inherent in our makeup because of the number of things we have to manage on a daily basis but there is a way to work with your wiring to prevent overwhelm.

Imagine that each thing you have to do is a box; work, kids, spouse, traffic, cooking, cleaning, friends. Instead of opening one box at a time in our mind, we open several of them at once, bouncing our energy back and forth between them. This is why we are exhausted at the end of the day but feel like we have accomplished nothing. 

So instead, imagine all of the boxes in a row in your mind. See that they are all open and imagine closing ALL OF THEM. Sit with that feeling for a moment. Everything is contained; all of the energy in your life is put away.

Take a few deep breaths

Now pick ONE box and open it. This box should be whatever you are going to be immediately addressing. Leave all of the other boxes closed. This allows your energy to be directed into one place. You will be amazed how much power you have when it is not scattered.

6. Disconnect yourself. When we think about what we have to do and the people that are related to those tasks, we create a cord between us and them. This allows all of the energy from those people and things to “rub off” on us. If the people we are thinking about are having anxiety, we can start to experience it too. It can heighten our own anxiety, anger, stress, or whatever that other person is experiencing. We often mistake it as our own. How many times have you said, “why am I stressed, angry, etc. today? I don’t even have that much going on!” You were likely taking that emotion on from other people. 

7. Imagine the cord between you and that person or thing. Now imagine pulling that cord out of you and just laying it on the ground. DO NOT cut it off! I’m not going to get into specifics here, but this can leave you in a worse place than when you started. Where the cord was attached imagine white light coming in and filling the space.

Doing this does not disconnect you from that person or thing permanently and it doesn’t hurt them, it just allows you to be unaffected by the drama they are experiencing. You may have to do this repeatedly, but it can help reduce your overwhelm.

8. Breathing through your feet. Being grounded is the key to staying in a stable place. Imagine roots coming out of the bottom of your feet and going deep into the ground. Now, take a deep breath and imagine breathing up through those roots and into your body. This allows the grounded energy to permeate your body and calm any frazzles you have. Doing this morning and night can help you start and end your day in a calm place.

9. Unplug. Turn off all of your electronics, music, everything for at least 10 minutes. If complete silence drives you crazy, white noise is ok or some sort of soothing music with no words. It’s important to give yourself times of rest, even if you don’t completely stop your brain from processing thoughts. Our bodies were meant for periods of rest. A void of stimulus actually allows us to get tapped into fresh perspectives and can increase our clarity and ability to problem solve.

10. Eat healthy foods. I don’t necessarily mean rabbit food, here. It’s more of what not to eat. Things like sugar, caffeine, gluten, dairy, and processed grains can cause brain fog and a feeling of being scattered. Instead opt for good fats like avocado, coconut oil, lean meats, and veggies (cooked or raw is fine). Supporting yourself in times of stress nutritionally can make all the difference between always feeling beat and being energized.

Do you want more help to manage your overwhelm? Click here for meditations and exercises to get you calm, clear, and focused in no time.