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“Overwhelmed” Images – Unsplash.com
Introduction
I experience this feeling far too often. Whenever I’m trying to be productive, one of three things happens:
- I start working and master my productivity for the day.
- I try my best to be productive; but am distracted by something.
- I just call it a day, and do nothing. (very rare)
But, recently, I feel that my judgement and concentration has been more clouded than ever. It’s harder to think straight, trying to get good work done is now harder than it’s been in the past year, and focusing ain’t as consistent as it used to be (at least for me).
Sure, there’s no doubt that we humans do burn out. That’s to be expected. Of course, we’re not robots that can just run on autopilot, getting tasks done easily and efficiently, and saving time for ourselves and everyone around us. That’s not how we work, and thus, you must never treat yourself that way; because, in the end, you’ll be the one that suffers the most.
Inside of this post, my goal will be to answer this question, and hopefully help some of those who are experiencing this same feeling of confusion, overthinking, and helplessness.
Are You Feeling This Too?
If you’re in the same boat as me, then that means that recently (or for however long); you’ve been feeling confused, lost, and unsure of what to do right before trying to get some work done.
It’s a feeling that specifically goes hand-in-hand with overthinking, but it isn’t exactly that. It’s that feeling that makes it seem like your mind is clouded, foggy, and unclear of any answers, guidance, or directions as to what to do next or what next step to take on your journey to success (whatever that form of success be).
The hardest part about working (now) is actually getting to work; and having a clear idea as to what you need to do. Although you might still have the same motivation as you’ve ever had to do work, your concentration just ain’t the same no more. Somehow, every single time, it vanishes.
I have no clear word or phrase to describe this, so feel free to call it whatever you wish. However, for the sake of this post, we’ll call it clouded judgement.
What’s Causing This (& How To Counter Them)
Your clouded judgement could be happening for a variety of reasons, but we’ll firstly dive into the main ones before hopping onto the side ones that might be causing it.
Main Reasons
- Lack of information. Before you start working, and if you want to avoid feeling lost or unsure of what to do next (a cause to your overthinking), you need to always plan out what you do beforehand. To-do lists are a great example of this. Every time, before you start working for the day, know what you’re going to do. Even if it isn’t in the form of a list, order it in some way. Have an idea of what you’re going to do for the day, and let that guide you.
- Actually being overwhelmed. When you’re overwhelmed, you feel defeated. There’s a massive obstacle in front of you, and you have no clue as to how you have to deal with it. You’re lost, you’re confused, and most of all, you’re hopeless. And for that reason, you go to option 1 and just do nothing. To make it short, if there’s too many things for you to do, your brain will enter panic mode and start questioning “how are we gonna get all this done in time?”. Don’t let that happen. If you plan out work for the day, be reasonable. If you time constraints that you’re aware of, yet you’re still doing this to yourself, what are you doing?
- Mental Fatigue. This is probably the biggest one yet. Chances are, you are someone that knows your limits, and if you know that, then you for sure are the type of person to plan out your day before it even starts. That’s where mental fatigue joins in the party. To describe to you how this feels, when was the last time you felt like your brain was fried? or the time at which you felt like you had overworked your brain to the point where all it wanted to do was sit down, do nothing, and pay attention to nothing? That’s what we call mental fatigue, or mental overload if you prefer to call it that too. This is where knowing your mental limits comes in handy. Of course, you should always work yourself to the point where you brain can’t take it anymore (that’s a sign of hard work), but don’t push it past that. This sign is a clear indicator by the brain that you shouldn’t continue. I mean, you could, but it would’ve been for nothing. For example, if you experience this while studying, you will hit a wall and suddenly see that you can’t retain a word from that chemistry textbook. Your best bet is to take a power nap (or mentally rest in some way), and then get back at it.
Side Reasons
- Complexity. I remember a few months back, whenever I’d be at home, ready to study or get to work on an assignment for school, there were times I just had absolutely no clue what to do. And therefore, I would just end up staring at the paper, contemplating my life, and thinking about anything I could; as long as it distracted my mind). To counter this, my best tip would be either breaking it down with tutorials, materials, videos, and tools online, or using AI to automate some part of the process (whatever the subject be) to ease the workload and as well as to help answer your questions.
- Stress & Emotions. I experienced this first-hand just around a month ago. My emotions were so in the gutter, and I didn’t necessarily have a valid reason as to why. I just felt terrible, and the only comments that my mind gave me were negative and hateful. Although you should never feel good for yourself when you know you’re in a bad spot, you shouldn’t feel negative at all times. That stuff hurts. My tip in this situation would be to kill the stress using a useful calming technique out there.
“Your Clouded Judgement Is Slowly Destroying You”
My Current Experience
Out of everything in the list above, I fail to meet the first, most basic requirement to any productive routine: a clear organized list of activities.
I used to do this everyday right as my day started. Now, I fail to be consistent with this part of my routine. Of course, the easy fix is to start documenting everything and planning what you’ll do before you actually do it. Easy to do, and requires no effort.
Conclusion
A clouded judgement, hand-in-hand with a mind that just keeps on overthinking sucks. It’s one of the biggest mental restraints that’s preventing you from getting good work done throughout your day. Fix this, and you’ll see how much easier you can get stuff done.
