Do you ever feel overwhelmed by multiple parts of your life at the same time? It feels like the universe is playing a practical joke—I mean, how can something go wrong with friends, family, and work all at once? How is that even possible in a probability sense?
Unfortunately, it happens more often than most of us like. Sometimes, I feel like my brain is jumping from one problem to another and my thoughts get muddled somewhere in the middle. I just want to mellow in my bed and hope that time helps the emotions pass.
During these moments, I have found several strategies to be quite helpful for coping. Given how many of us have experienced something similar, I thought I’d share my tips with you:
Understand
First, it is important to consider what is happening. When many things pile up, getting lost in the different problems you’re facing is too easy. It is crucial to sit and consider the various components at play to gain a sense of control.
What parts of your life are proving to be challenging right now? Who is involved? What are you feeling? Why do you think this happened?
These questions can help you wrap your mind around each scenario to find some semblance of control!
Reflect: In control
Now, take those pieces you’ve identified and consider which parts are in your control vs. which parts are not in your control.
For instance, let’s say a co-worker was rude to you about a task. However, this task was not something you were trained on. You also know that your co-worker was under immense pressure due to a deadline they had at the end of the day.
So, let us think: what is in your control and what is not?
The co-worker being stressed is not in your control; often, when people are stressed, they tend to lash out unnecessarily. Another example of something out of your control is how you were not trained on this task and therefore, it is difficult for you to complete it to their expectations.
Now, what is in your control? You can control your reaction to the co-worker. You can also take the initiative to receive training for that task to prevent a future conflict.
These are some examples of how you can reflect!
Solve
Finally, it is important to make peace with the parts that were out of your control. Why? Because you likely could not have changed them even if you tried. Unfortunately, life isn’t perfect (just like humans!) and you will sometimes be faced with unpredictable and uncontrolled curveballs. It is best to reflect and cope by focusing on what is in your control instead!
Take those items in your control and implement them to resolve this conflict. Solve these conflicts to the best of your ability while also understanding how everyone is flawed—at the end of the day, you cannot control how other people react to you.
You can only control your actions. Do your best to make peace with this fact and move forward.
I hope this helps! Please share your coping mechanisms with us, too!
All my best,
N
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