You Need to Conquer Your Chronic Overwhelm
Have you ever noticed that the moment you finally sit down to focus… your body doesn’t come with you?
You’ve cleared the time. You know what you need to do. There’s no crisis. No distraction in sight.
And yet… nothing moves.
Not your hands. Not your thoughts.
Just that gentle hum of constant noise that never quieted. That vague sense of “I should be doing something,” and the equally strong resistance to doing anything at all.
That used to be my normal.
I knew it was procrastination, but I always thought procrastination was a conscious act. But this felt out of my control.
Underneath that feeling was chronic overwhelm. A kind of internal noise that never really turned off. It didn’t matter how much I rested—or how hard I tried to “get it together.”
And what finally helped me break free… wasn’t about being more disciplined.
It was learning how to listen to what that stuckness was trying to tell me—and how to respond to it in a way that didn’t just push through, but actually helped me feel safe enough to move forward.
That’s what I want to share with you today.
PART 1: Why Overwhelm Isn’t What We Think
We often think of overwhelm as “too many things to do.”
But more often, it’s “too many things to hold.”
It’s not just the task list.
It’s the expectations. The invisible pressure. The fears. The unspoken questions:
What if I fail?
What if this isn’t enough?
What if I never catch up?
Chronic overwhelm isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s subtle.
A constant background fog that makes every next step feel heavier than it should.
And here’s the hard truth:
We can’t out-organize that kind of overwhelm.
We can’t fix it by just choosing a better planner or blocking our calendar.
Because chronic overwhelm doesn’t come from having too many tasks.
It comes from not knowing where the stuckness is coming from—and not having a bridge back into motion that feels walkable.
That’s the shift I had to learn.
And it starts with one question:
Where’s the spark?
SECTION 2: Identify the Spark
When you’re overwhelmed, it’s easy to treat the freeze as the whole problem.
But it’s not. It’s just the symptom. The smoke.
The real work is identifying the spark—the root emotion or belief that’s triggering the freeze.
Sometimes it’s perfectionism.
Sometimes it’s fear of judgment.
Sometimes it’s simply too many inputs and not enough clarity.
This is not about solving your whole life in a journal entry.
It’s about noticing what’s active in the moment.
What’s spinning? What feels impossible? What are you afraid might happen if you start?
You don’t have to know the answer perfectly.
But even a blurry version of the truth is enough to shift your emotional posture.
Because when we name what we’re up against, it stops being a monster in the dark—and starts becoming something we can support.
PART 3: Design the Bridge
Once you know what’s sparking the overwhelm, the question becomes:
What would make this feel safer, simpler, or more doable right now?
We’re not forcing ourselves to power through.
We’re building a bridge—one small, specific shift that makes the next step feel accessible.
Let me give you a few examples:
If the spark is perfectionism, the bridge might be: “What would this look like if it didn’t have to be perfect?”
If the spark is fear of letting someone down, the bridge might be: “What do I want to say yes to here?”
If the spark is lack of clarity, the bridge might be: “What do I know right now? What don’t I?”
If the spark is too much input, the bridge might be: “What can I turn down or mute, just for the next 10 minutes?”
This is about designing momentum that meets you where you are.
You don’t need to leap from frozen to productive.
You just need a bridge—something that feels light enough to carry, and solid enough to walk on.
This is the work I guide my clients through twice a week—because this kind of stuckness isn’t about laziness, or lack of motivation, or a broken brain.
It’s about emotional weight, unmet needs, and a nervous system trying to protect you the only way it knows how.
If you're ready to stop white-knuckling your way through your days…
If you’re craving a more peaceful, grounded way of getting things done…
I’d love to support you.
You can apply for a free discovery call here:
No pressure, no performance—just a real conversation about where you’re at, and whether this kind of support could make a difference.
Whenever you’re ready, I’m here.
