What To Do When You’re Feeling Stressed Out & Overwhelmed

While a normal amount of stress is healthy and nothing to be concerned about, too much of it is debilitating and can act as a trigger for additional health problems, ranging from mental health conditions to physical illnesses. It’s important to recognize the warning signs for when you’re feeling overwhelmed and to take action sooner rather than later.

What you don’t want to do is ignore your emotions and hope that this discomfort will pass because, quite simply, it’s not likely to unless you know how to reduce it. Accept that your life and situation will only get better when you take back control and are in the driver’s seat of your health and wellness.

Identify the Cause

A good starting point for what to do when you’re feeling stressed out and overwhelmed is to pinpoint the cause. Rack your brain to discover if there have been any major life-changing events recently and how you think these new circumstances are affecting you. It could be that you started a new job you dislike or are continuously fighting with your spouse with no sign of resolution in sight. These can be very difficult circumstances to deal with and the reason why you’re constantly on edge. When you know what’s bothering you, then you can come up with a plan of action for how you want to address the issue so you can move on.

Find Ways to Relax

It’s extremely important you find ways and make time to relax when you’re experiencing a lot of stress in your life. For example, read a book or head outside with one of the best e cig mods on the market and allow yourself to collect your thoughts. Continue to make more time for soothing activities that don’t require a lot of extra energy or effort on your part. Figure out what it is that makes you smile and puts you at ease and do more of that going forward. Learn how to actually relax and put your feet up and be okay with doing nothing for once if you want to feel better.

Cut Back on Your Commitments 

Take a look at your calendar and start saying no when people start to request more of your time. It’s a wise idea to cut back on your amount of commitments and obligations when you’re feeling stressed out and overwhelmed. Be picky about how you choose to spend your days and don’t take on so much that your life begins to spiral out of control and you have no downtime. It’s worth you sitting down and seeing what you can eliminate from your schedule so that you can improve your wellbeing and begin to feel calmer.

Talk through Your Worries with Others

There’s nothing wrong with reaching out and asking for help from others when you’re experiencing a great deal of stress. Being overwhelmed is a feeling many people can relate to so be willing to open up and about your troubles and share what you’re going through with people you trust. If they’re a good friend, they’ll listen without judgment and offer up any helpful advice they have for you. Be more vulnerable when you’re feeling stressed out and overwhelmed, and you’ll likely quickly find that you’re able to release some of the tension you’ve been harboring and improve your situation.

Take A Vacation

The reason you may feel frazzled and out of sorts is because you’ve been putting in long hours at the office. One solution that could help you the most in your case is to use your vacation days and getaway to a location where you can catch up on sleep and sit by the beach for a few days. It’s a great opportunity to unplug from your electronics and clear your head so you can think straight. You may not even realize how overworked you are until you’re able to step away for a while and get in better touch with yourself. Take your family along as a way to reconnect with your loved ones or go by yourself and use this time as a chance to focus on your personal wellbeing.

Practice Deep Breathing Exercises

Your breathing is typically the first aspect of your body that’s affected when you’re stressed out and overwhelmed. It’s easy to get worked up and lose power when you’re not feeling like yourself. Get in the habit of practicing deep breathing exercises when this occurs and notice how quickly you’re able to calm down your body and halt racing thoughts. The best part is that you can get in touch with your breathing no matter where you are or what you’re doing and no one even has to know. Try it out before you’re about to give a big speech when you have a tough day at work or are dealing with kids who are acting up.

Make Self-Care A Priority

When stress hits, it’s common to forget about taking care of yourself and push your self-care activities to the side. You may be so focused on how bad you feel that you forget to pay attention to improving your mental, physical and emotional health. It’ll be well worth your efforts to attend to your needs such as getting plenty of sleep, eating well and fitting in daily exercise. Make wise choices like scheduling a massage after work instead of going out for a happy hour and staying up late. Push all else to the backburner for the time being and simply put all your energy into working on yourself and your stress will start to decrease slowly.

Conclusion

Your life situation doesn’t get better by chance, and your stress levels aren’t going to diminish on their own. It’s up to you to take control and put measures in place that will help you to feel less overwhelmed and more like yourself again. Finally, be glad to know that it is possible to experience more happiness and peace in your days when you proactively manage your stress and anxiety.