Feeling Overwhelmed

As the end of the semester arrives, so does stress, a feeling of being overwhelmed by all that you need, should and want to do. Stress comes from impending exams, assignments that are due, as well as from family, friends, work and from yourself. The harder you work, the further behind you seem to get. And then the car breaks down!

It is easy to be overwhelmed when you try to extricate your self from all that you have to do. As you try to get caught up in one class, an assignment becomes due in another. While you work on the assignment, your boss calls you and asks you for some extra time at the store, etc., etc., etc. Panic!

When the world speeds up around you, and you get overwhelmed, try stopping whatever you are doing, calming down and creating an organized plan to get all the work done while, at the same time, feeling good about yourself. A play title that I enjoy sums up the situation quite well--Stop the World I Want to Get Off. Stop your world for a minute and figure out what to do.

Stop and write a list of all the things that you need, want or should do. Don't panic because the list gets to be long or if it seems to be impossible to get it all done. Just try to create a list of everything that you need to do.

Once you have the list, try to prioritize your list into three categories: "A," the things that are most important; "B," the next most important things; and, "C," the least important items that you need to do. For each of the things that you marked "A," what do you really need to do to complete that item? How long will each task take you to complete? When is the best time for you to do the work? What are the things that you are doing that you will have to give up or put off in order to find enough time to do your most important tasks?

Several years ago I worked with a student who was in the process of flunking out of college. He did not have enough time to do all the studying that he needed to do. A major problem with his schedule was work. During most weeks he worked almost fifty hours! He was an excellent employee who was supposed to be working about 20 hours a week. The trouble was that whenever someone else couldn't work, he was asked to substitute. He was working to earn money to pay for college. In college he was flunking all his classes. He worked harder and harder, but on the wrong things. He had his priorities wrong--his job came before school, yet school was his real priority.

Look at all the things that you want to do. Can the most important ones get completed in the time that you have available? If not, what can you do to get more time? Can you reduce your time at work or with your friends or family? What about talking with some of your instructors to get a time extension on a project that is due? The University has a grade of Incomplete, "I," for students who are passing their classes but need more time to do the assigned work. Would an "I" help you and from which instructor?

If, after you try to set priorities and work on the most important items first, you still feel overwhelmed by our situation,, why not come to the Counseling Center to talk to a counselor about your concerns. Counselors in the Counseling Service can help you with your personal concerns and feelings while staff in the Learning Assistance Service can help you with your educational or time management problems. For appointments with the Counseling Service call 301-314-7651; for the Learning Assistance Service call 301-314-7693.

Remember, you can't work on everything at once. First, separate the things that you need to do and then settle down and work on the things that are most important to you.

This article was written by John E. Van Brunt, Ph.D.,
former Assistant Director of the Counseling Center.