Have you ever spent 10 minutes looking for your phone only to realize you were holding it in your hand? Have you ever walked across your house and forgotten why you made the journey?  Maybe you’ve missed a special event like a birthday party, dinner, or meeting, not because it wasn’t on your calendar, but simply because you forgot. 

I’m going to be the first to admit, I have done all of these (and more). While I’d like to blame my strange behavior on a glitch in my memory or a random “mom moment”, I know it’s the result of overwhelm.  Overwhelm is the standard of the day, and every morning we put it on like our favorite jacket. 

We know we are “over”-leveraged, “over”-worked, and “over”-committed; we don’t need a blog post to let us know this, we need help to move in the right direction. 

Every pain point, or “over” aspect in our life, requires a strategy to put it “under.”  

While I’m not a strategy expert, I am acquainted with the first step - realizing the need for change and asking the questions that can help to move us forward.  

 What I’ve found in my own life are the decisions I make need to be run through 2 filters: 

1. Values - All of us have values, whether we realize it or not.  Values are like an internal “code” set by our belief system.  We can have a high value for financial security; this directs our decisions with money.  We can value spiritual health;  this value can lead to attending church or setting a devotional time. 
2. Priorities - Priorities should be directed by our values.  If we value bodily health, we will make exercise and meal prep a priority in our lives.  If we value family, we will create space for family time.  It’s okay, and necessary, to prioritize areas of our lives in a top-down approach.  This will keep the lower-priority items from crowding our time and upending our priorities. 

I want to ask you - Do you know your values? Are they written?  

I would encourage you to take the time to do this.  Here’s a quick way to do it:

Set aside 30 minutes to simply sit. think about and write about what you value most in life.  Think about the things that are non-negotiables in your life.  

• Time with your spouse
• Having fun with your children
• Your health
• Financial stability
• Emotional health  

The decision about what you value is all yours. If you’d like more info on values, you can sign up for a free masterclass called The Well-Equipped Woman.  In this class we have a lesson by Kisha Gaines called, “The Importance of Your Personal Value System.”

Now that you’ve determined your core values, you can begin to prioritize the main aspects of your life into categories.

• Family
• Work
• Spiritual life
• Physical health
• Finances 
• Recreation, etc. 

Maybe you realize how overwhelmed you’ve become because of the misalignment in your priorities. This happens when what you value the most is not receiving an appropriate amount of time - or none at all.  

Can you imagine having family at the top of your priority list but your schedule reflects a priority of work? 

One of my fellow Wisdom Well collaborators, Drew Zerick, wrote a great blog about rightly prioritizing your commitments - check it out here. 

After evaluating priorities, what can you do now to change the level of overwhelm in your life? Is there an activity or a commitment that you need to cut? There may be a commitment that you need to finish, but remember next time there’s an ask to commit, you can say “No” if it doesn’t align with your priorities.    

Even when our values are set and we align them with our priorities, there are seasons of overwhelm, simply because life is not linear.  In these seasons, you may find yourself frantically searching for the sunglasses on your head or the credit card in your back pocket. It’s okay to have these moments and seasons, but these are also the times to stop and evaluate. Is what you’re rushing to attend a distraction from what you value most or is it a part of what you value most?