Overwhelm - Repatriation Part 2
It’s probably not too surprising that I’m currently experiencing a good bit of overwhelm. To catch you up, my family and I are leaving Amman, Jordan, our home of 10 years, in just 14 days. You can read more here if you’d like.
As a life coach, I work with people who feel overwhelmed quite often. I know a lot of strategies and tools and can apply them quite well when I’m in the coach’s seat. But now that I’m the one who needs to do the work, I realize I’m falling into a familiar procrastination tactic: research.
One thing I’ve learned about myself is I waste A LOT of my life searching for the BEST way to deal with something. Organizing…packing…I’ve even researched the best way to relax on vacation! Maybe you have different struggles in life, but if there are any other enneagram 5s in the house, you know what I’m talking about.
One day last week I sat down to drink my coffee before my 3 and 5 year old woke up and found an email titled “ Plan for Your Spinny Brain.”
“Perfect!” I thought as I excitedly opened the email. “Now I can figure out the way to deal with everything on my mind!” Procrastinating Erin never thinks she knows enough.
It was the December 2021 edition of the Latest Lazy Letter from Kendra Adachi, author of The Lazy Genius Way, and I was pumped. I love her tagline: “Be a genius about the things that matter, and lazy about the things that don’t.” I just knew she would have the perfect advice for me.
I opened it with great anticipation, scrolled down to find the answers I was looking for:
Do a brain dump.
If this term is new to you…to do a brain dump, take a piece of paper and write down everything on your mind. It’s a simple, yet incredibly effective way of unloading your stress that you carry around in your mind.
“That’s it?” I thought to myself. “That’s nothing new! Come on Kendra, I was expecting something more original…A brain dump was the first thing I thought to do!”
Then another, calmer voice in my head asked, “but…did you actually do it yet?”
Oops.
Here’s the thing: In order for strategies to actually be effective…you actually have to do them.
Genius, I know. You’re welcome.
Kendra’s advice was spot on. Now, to take action. I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down everything that came to mind. It was a looooooooong list., but here are just a few items:
Choose and pack up the things we want to keep (whatever we can take on an airplane…no container)
Sort, organize, donate or sell the rest of our stuff
Help our very social 5 year old understand that she can’t hug all the people coming to buy stuff from us (or our “customers” as she calls them)
Figure out how to feed the family while simultaneously selling and packing up everything in our kitchen
Have as much fun possible with our amazing friends before we say “see you later”
Eat all the falafel. mansef and mutabal possible
Keep our toddler and preschooler alive (this is not specific to the transition…just life…but it feels like a full time job!)
Figure out what “leaving well” means for us and politely ignore the advice of others telling us “better” ways to do it
Try to find the perfect balance between planning for COVID cancellations, changes, and new requirements and not letting it rule our lives
Having everything on paper made life feel much more manageable. I could sort out the things that were actually in my control and make a plan to keep going. I prioritized the urgent and got to work.
So what I’ve learned about managing overwhelm actually applies to most everything in life, for me personally. Here’s my mantra…
You already know enough. Now do something.
Can you relate? Please tell me I’m not alone.
So if you’re feeling overwhelmed and your mind is spinning, try putting it all on paper. Then find one small action you can take in the direction you’d like to go. You don’t have to figure everything out (I keep this on repeat in my mind). Just one step in the direction that feels right.
Thanks for coming along this journey of repatriation with me. See you back here soon.
