For many, feeling overwhelmed is a stifling experience that generates anxiety. Trying to do too much all at once, or in an hour or a day, is like trying to force an entire orange through the top of a funnel. No matter how hard we might push, the fruit isn’t going to fit through that narrow neck and hole.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Feeling Overwhelmed Stems from a Lack of Self-Awareness
Stress and anxious feelings are often created by how we view ourselves and our obligations within the time limits (the funnel).
When we feel overwhelmed, it can seem like we don’t have a choice. I often hear clients say, “I have to…” or “I shouldn’t have…” or “I don’t have a choice.” These words of shame, wrong, or seek to force ourselves as if against our own will!
But who is in charge?
We are.
Truthfully, we don't HAVE to do anything.
When we act—or not—it can feel like someone or something is making us do what we don't want to do!
But even when it might feel like we don't have a choice, we do.
Did you know that relief can be experienced simply by acknowledging that you DO have a choice?
For instance, you may feel overwhelmed by your workload. However, there are a multitude of choices:
YOU CAN:
- Call in sick or take PTO.
- Quit your job.
- Procrastinate.
- Ask for help.
- Request a time extension.
- Delegate some of the tasks.
- Complain to a co-worker.
- Break the work down into bite-sized pieces.
Our feelings are signaling us to something deeper inside of us.
The Real Truth About Overwhelm
You’re standing in the kitchen.
Your phone is buzzing.
The dog needs to be fed, and your children are pulling on you for attention.
And all the while, you're thinking of the unfinished project for a high-value client.
Suddenly, you feel like you can’t think.
Most people think overwhelm is about too much to do.
But something else is happening first.
In that moment, you lose connection with yourself. Everything becomes external—demands, expectations, pressure.
And there’s no space left for you inside it.
There is a way to return to yourself—even in the middle of overwhelm.
But it doesn’t start where most people think.
Not by doing less.
Not with managing better.
It starts in the moment you feel undone.
What’s one moment recently where you felt overwhelmed?
That’s where this work begins.
We start by meeting ourselves in that moment—before the reaction, before the shutdown, before we leave ourselves.
Enter the moment.
Not the whole pattern—not everything at once.
Just one moment.
This is where change actually begins.
I’m building a space where we work with these moments in real time—
where you don’t have to figure it out alone, and you don’t have to leave yourself in the middle of it.
Email support@heartmanity.com and just say MOMENTS in the subject line if you'd like to get on the waiting list. Or feel free to share a moment
