How To Stop Feeling Overwhelmed At Home

No matter your stage of life, there are times when you can become overwhelmed at home because of to-do lists, life events, schedules, and unexpected problems. In this situation, it often becomes difficult to maintain order and get back on track with a good routine. The question becomes how to stop feeling overwhelmed at home.

 

 

Why do we get overwhelmed at home?

We can get overwhelmed at home by having a to-do list that is too long, surprise events or obligations, or things that happen beyond our control.  None of these things make the feeling of overwhelm invalid, our body and mind begins to respond to the stress that our situation has put us in. It’s our job to respond to the overwhelm well.

 

How to  work through the overwhelm:

A few weeks ago Bennett woke me up to tell me that our laundry room ceiling’s drywall was all over the floor and we had an active leak from the rain. That day was my brother’s graduation and his celebration party that I was partially responsible for, and the weekend had a bunch of stuff thrown into it too. I was so overwhelmed. I cried, and then I said thank you to God that it wasn’t my children’s rooms and that they were safe, and thank you that it wasn’t my kitchen.

We then dealt with the immediate problem (water, tarp, quick clean up, insurance calls). Then we made a list of what needed to be done over the weekend. After that, I picked up all the drywall pieces scattered throughout our laundry room and kitchen and threw them out. I knew that no matter what happened next, at least I could say I did something productive that needed to be done and that I wouldn’t have to repeat it later. It helped to calm me down and refocus. We’re still in the chaos of a laundry room needing repair, but I don’t have to get that drywall picked up again!

When evaluating how we handled the situation and why we were able to get through the day and the weekend without feeling overwhelmed at the house, we saw that did three things without being fully aware of it. But then we realized that it’s how we always try to respond (not always successfully), when things are overwhelming.

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all to stop feeling overwhelmed at home, but here are the three steps that we take when we’re trying to handle overwhelm correctly.

 

First, gratitude!

Expressing gratefulness for what you have and what is happening even if it doesn’t feel positive. It is important to get your heart and mind to calm down to stop feeling overwhelmed.

And I don’t mean to express gratitude to “the air” or yourself. Express your gratitude to God. I believe in an all-knowing, all-loving Father in Heaven who knows what I’m going through. And He is good, even if I don’t understand how. I can say thank you for the tangible and obviously positive things in my life like my children and my home, but what about chaos or disappointment? It can be hard to express gratitude in that situation, but I was reminded that it is okay to say: Thank you God that I know that You know what you are doing.

 

That is an important reminder when I feel overwhelmed. Express gratitude out loud to those around you, for them and the things you have too. I promise it makes a difference!

 

Second, write it out!

Write out a to-do list that has everything that needs to be done in the next several days to weeks. Sometimes when figuring out how to stop feeling overwhelmed at home, you have to figure out the specifics of what is overwhelming you.

 

Organize the list by when you need things done by, tasks you want to do the most or the least, how long each task will take, or alphabetically if you want. Make the list something that you don’t mind looking at. Your goal is to get your overwhelm out of your head and onto paper, but you can’t just ignore or forget what has to be done. This is a great way to get organized at home when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

 

Third, evaluate the list:

 

Some things need to be done daily or almost daily like basic cooking, cleaning, and work tasks. However, some things are a once-and-done thing.

The key to beginning to get organized at home when you’re feeling overwhelmed is to do at least one thing each day that cannot be undone. Or at least not undone easily or quickly. Now most things will need to be done again eventually, but the idea is to do something that will not need to be done again in the next several weeks or months. The task doesn’t need to be on your imminent to-do list either. It should be something though that you’ve been meaning to get to lately. It’s also not meant to be a multi-day or even multi-hour task.

This means that the laundry, dishes, or walking a dog doesn’t count. But writing out one thank you card, hemming or repairing clothing, replacing batteries, or even purging clothes are great. Some of these tasks may not be on your overwhelm list

By accomplishing one thing you know you won’t need to repeat in this season of overwhelm, you can begin to stop feeling overwhelmed at home.

 

Things to do that cannot be undone:

This is just a list of suggestions that Bennett and I came up with. Let us know what you would add to the list:

• Clean the oven
• Defrost the freezer
• Donate clothes
• File paperwork
• Go through and cancel unnecessary subscriptions (or at least review what subscriptions you have)
• Mail letters and/or packages
• Make a batch of bulk seasonings
• Make a batch of homemade laundry detergent
• Make a quadruple batch of a freezable dinner for storing
• Organize a junk drawer
• Organize freezer
• Organize/clean your nightstand
• Organize/purge your cleaning supplies
• Overseed your lawn or plant a porch flower pot
• Paint touch-ups in one room
• Purge clothes
• Purge/organize a linen closet
• Purge books
• Rearrange furniture
• Replace batteries (toys, electronics, remotes, smoke detectors, and watches!)
• Replace lightbulbs
• Replace pictures around the house
• Rotate mattresses
• Schedule appointments
• Sew buttons and repair small holes
• Start a running list of gift ideas for the people you give to
• Wrap a present
• Write letters or text messages

This list is not comprehensive, but hopefully, it gives you a jumping-off point or beginning to get a hold of the feeling of being overwhelmed at home. Let us know if there are any ideas you would add to the list that we missed!

When you’ve accomplished this one task that you know you won’t need to repeat anytime soon, you will see and feel some traction in your home. This list is not going to solve all of your problems at once, but it will help you realize that you can get things done. Use it as a jumping-off point, a motivator, to look at your list from step 2 with fresh eyes and start knocking things off your list.

Do you have a routine or tips that you follow when feeling overwhelmed at home?

 

Save it for later!