Overwhelm — Practice Sheet

01 · Ready reckoner

The wiser way to meet overwhelm

Four moves, in order. The whole practice on a single glance — return to it when it all crowds in.

1

The instinct is to do more, faster — it makes it worse. Sit down. Two slow breaths.

2

Get every task and worry onto paper. Externalising empties working memory and shows the real volume — usually less than it felt.

3

What genuinely must happen today? Circle three. The rest exist, but not right now.

“Only what’s today.”

4

Not “finish the report” — “open the document.” Starting something tiny dissolves overwhelm faster than any system.

02 · Regulate first

When intensity spikes, the thinking brain goes offline. Reset the body first — then the four steps above become possible.

When it all crowds in

Stop moving. Sit. Two slow breaths. You cannot triage from inside the spin — stillness comes first.

Doing more faster makes overwhelm worse. One pause, then one smallest action, is the way through.

03 · Go deeper

A practice for when you have a few minutes to yourself.

2 minutes

1
Set a timer for two minutes. Grab paper.
2
Write every single thing on your mind — tasks, worries, things you’re avoiding.
3
Don’t organise. Just empty. Speed over order.
4
When the timer ends, star the one most important thing — and do only that next.

04 · Reflect

Three questions. Write into them by hand on the printed sheet, or type below — your words save on this device.

What’s actually on my plate right now — everything, on paper?

Of all this, what genuinely must happen today?

What is the single smallest next action I can take?