How To Deal With Overwhelm, Part II
Let's recap. When you suffer from overwhelm, you have 3 options:
You can become better at organizing yourself
You can choose to do fewer things
You can learn to delegate tasks to other people
Today, we will look at option 2.
I.
You can simply not feel overwhelmed if you have very few responsibilities. Even if you are bad at organizing yourself (option 1), you'll be okay.
Vice versa, you can be an absolute productivity ninja — if the number of projects you are dealing with is too high, you will eventually max out.
II.
So, if the solution to overwhelm is that simple — just take on fewer responsibilities — why are we still stressed out?
The problem is that as much as we dislike stress, we dislike choosing more. Because by making a choice, we are not just choosing one thing — we are also saying "No" to many other things.
And this we cannot have.
III.
We are greedy, we want it all.
We indulge in this fantasy that our resources are unlimited — our time, attention, and willpower. We want them to go much further than they do.
IV.
So, how do you gain a more realistic notion about what you can actually take on without feeling stressed out?
One great mental model is what I call the gold medal analogy.
Imagine an athlete telling you, "At the next Olympics, I am going to win a gold medal in track and field, gymnastics, and boxing." Now, no matter how talented this person is, I think we can all agree that this is not going to happen. They are being delusional.
But this is exactly how many of us go about life. "I want to be fit. I want to be successful in my career. I want to be with somebody attractive. I want to have a fulfilling family life. I want to enjoy my hobbies. Oh, and I also want to travel the world."
You are trying to win gold medals in several different sports. It doesn't work.
Pick the thing you want to be exceptional at. Make peace with the fact that you won't medal in most other areas of your life.
And once you do, that feeling of overwhelm will dissipate.
A lot more things I want to say about this, but I'll keep it short today. We'll look at option number 3 — delegation — next week. That's the one I struggle with the most, but also the one that interests me the most at the moment.
Talk soon!
Niels