Coping With Overwhelm, 15 Minutes at a Time, Without Emotional Eating
Overwhelm is something that we can’t always avoid, and it can be a major trigger for emotional eating, overeating, or bingeing. While it’s great to have strategies for staying out of overwhelm, sometimes–no matter how skilled or proactive or positive we are–overwhelm just plain happens.
A colleague sent me a gift recently. She sent me a timer. She didn’t have to explain what it was for, because I know her strategy. She’s about getting big things done by making them do-able.
That is such an important key. When we are facing something that feels overwhelming, when we are staring up at a mountain, it may feel intimidating to even think about getting started. We can feel so overwhelmed simply thinking about how big the mountain is that we never even begin to climb.
Last year I ran a marathon for the first time. Here’s what I know. If I had stood at the starting line thinking about how I was going to be running for the next 26.2 miles I might not have started. I certainly would have panicked. I started the race by moving forward. I took some steps and then I took some more. I looked for the mile marker that told me I had run the first mile.
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Melissa,
What a good friend, wonderful post and timely (!) reminder. I have ADD, which makes it doubly hard for me to focus on tasks I'm not interested in (balancing the checkbook is a horror, for instance) for long periods of time. Therefore, I avoid. And, like you, the longer the pile sits there, well, the longer it sits.
I once used this practice -- 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off -- and, like you, was absolutely amazed at what I could get done. It is as if removing the resistance itself is the biggest part of each task. But it's a practice I've forgotten. I need to find my timer!!
Thank you!!