How can we address the problem of overwhelm in modern life before it turns every day stress into burnout?
There is a reasonable chance that at some point in the day you will find yourself multitasking. That is reading work emails, perusing social media, ordering a birthday present from Amazon and putting the washing out. Or you might currently have three screens open and you’re shifting your attention to each screen based on boredom, necessity or even guilty pleasure. In which case, welcome to modern life. We are living through a period in which there are so many demands on our attention, that we don’t even notice when we start to burn out. Those demands might be trivial, such as the annoying WhatsApp group notifications to the more serious such as caring responsibilities or financial or work stresses.
Linda Blair, Clinical Psychologist and author of The Key to Clam said that our worries about financial and job security mean that stress has become the common reason for long- terms sick leave in the UK today. The stress can manifest as indecision and paralysis leaving people having trouble finishing any one thing and that leaves then feeling less productive, more ineffective and demoralised. Blair says our attention span has been challenged so much, particularly since the pandemic, that managing modern life has become increasingly problematic.
We are constantly encountering new threats and challenges. The news is all around us and there is nothing that we can do about it. We’re monitoring our kids more than we used to. We feel obliged to answer emails more quickly than ever. We are on call to the multiple demands on our attention with the extra pressure of distracting devices such as our phones and that is making people get overwhelmed. In addition, there are the self-imposed “shouldisms” of “I should learn a language” or “I should go to the gym” or even “I should be able be able to cope”. Modern life has created demands that exceed our capacity to keep up with it all.
Maybe it’s time to switch to low power mode just to conserve our mental energy. We notice when we’re on holiday that we can switch off and focus on the book we’re reading or the view we’re gazing at. We need restoring activities that recharge our mental capacity. These could be exercise (but within moderation), spending time with loved ones, or engaging in enjoyable activities or simply choosing not to reply to emails/messages immediately.
There is something about bringing back some space and autonomy into our lives whereby we choose how to spend our time and energy. This includes getting some good sleep and rest. As Blair says ”once people feel able to focus, the next step is to prioritize the things that you need to do – and the more you’re rested, the easier it is to get them done and get back on track”. If you have got a gigantic to do list and everything on it is critical, then ask what is the best decision to make at that time considering the situation. Sometimes just starting something can help.
Blair, L. (2014). The Key to Calm, Hachette UK