Dr. Nancy Williams

One of the signs of overwhelm is anxiety - that's the wave of panic that hits
when you feel that you have too much to do and don't know where to start
or even if it's possible to get it all done!

It can happen when something gets added to your workload
or you realize you've made a mistake that you have to fix
that will cost you a lot of time.

It may seem impossible to take time for anything that's not work-related,
but that's exactly what you need to do to take away anxiety's power.


3 Ways to Stop the Anxiety of…

It's tempting to blame feeling overwhelmed on your workload
and people who seem to take advantage of your time and energy
or even on the fallout from the pandemic.

Have you noticed how some people are able to get tons done 
and never seem to be overwhelmed or stressed out?

You can bet they're taking responsibility for their work/life balance
and not allowing others to compromise their values and priorities.


Here's 4 ways you may be causing your own overwhelm:

1. You're not setting boundaries.
   Don't feel…

So often feelings of overwhelm come from having too much to do.

Particularly when I was in grad school, I felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of things
I had to do to get my degree.  Every day felt like climbing a mountain.  It wasn't until I became burned out
that I understood just how important it was to manage my workload, time, and energy.  

Recovering from burnout and keeping it from happening again became a priority.
What I learned has not only helped myself, but also my clients to overcome overwhelm 
…

I turned 50 this year and honestly, it was just another day.

The magic of 50 is that my "just another day"
is at a whole different level than it has ever been.
I realized how much more empowered I am
than at any other time in my life.

I started to make a list of all the things that had gotten me to this point.

• to say no and not feel guilty.
• to understand that feeling left out is worse than being part of anything in which you don't feel valued…

The challenges of a multi-year pandemic can be overwhelming during the holidays.

For me, the pandemic hasn't effected the holiday season near as much as the death of my parents.

Even though that was 10 years ago and I'm a grown adult,
I still get lonely and sad, as I suspect many people do this time of year
when confronted with their own stories of loss.

I also still feel joy and happiness.

I've accepted all of this as part of the journey,
and have found ways to cope
that take the sting out of the loneliness.

Saying "no" and holding your ground can be hard for people-pleasers,
especially during the holidays.

Being a recovering people-pleaser myself, I understand that it can even be
physically painful to say "no."

But trust me...
it hurts more to sabotage your own self-interests and values.

Saying "no" may not be natural to you, but it's not too late to learn,
especially when you could be setting yourself up for
self-abandonment in the long run.

In the immediate future, 
if you don't learn how to set boundaries,
you may…

Getting my doctorate was overwhelming.  Surprising? 
No, not for most people, but it was for me.

I was the kind of person who rose to a challenge and loved working hard. 
That irritating person in college who had to get permission from the registar's office
to take extra classes each semester, handed everything in on time, got great grades,
and was happy about all that? 

That was me.

Had I known what the signs of overwhelm were, I may have been able to keep myself
from developing burnout, which cost me weeks of…

When I was a band director, my mother would insist that I send out holiday cards to my many brothers and sisters.  December is one of the busiest times of the year for band directors. She had no idea the stress she was adding with her request.  The stress came from not being able to make my mother happy in this regard, because I had no intention and no energy to do as she asked.

You don't have to do all the things you're "supposed" to do to have an enjoyable and meaningful holiday season.

Many of the things…

Thanksgiving can run the gamut from wonderful to significantly less so, depending on your circumstances.

We can easily feel victimized by the circumstances the last few years have dealt us. 
Depression has skyrocketed. 
Languishing is a term that we've come to know. 
Loss is tangible and ever-present.
Being overwhelmed is the norm.

For many Americans, Thanksgiving is about being grateful, at least for a day.

Going around the table and having loved ones say what they are most thankful for is not going to cut it…

One of my classes in grad school consisted almost entirely of Midwesterners, much to the professor's delight.  He looked forward to our good-natured and polite demeanors topped off with a hearty work ethic.  

One day before class, my colleagues and I were discussing the intricacies of our Midwest culture.

"Maybe we choose our actions carefully because we know we're only one person removed from someone who knows our mother," I surmised.  Being from South Dakota, with an entire state population of under a…