A Leader’s Path Out of Overwhelm

Why This Matters for You and Your Leadership

When I talk with leaders, overwhelm comes up more often than almost anything else. It is that feeling of holding too much, moving too fast, and still believing you should be doing more. And when you live in that space for too long, it becomes the norm. You stop noticing how much you are carrying because it has become familiar, even though it weighs you down.

What worries me most is that overwhelm is tied directly to your mental well-being. When you drift too far away from what is truly important, you start to lose sight of yourself. I know that feeling. I have been so overwhelmed in the past that I almost did not recognize who I was anymore. I disconnected from what mattered most to me. And when that happens, it affects everything. Your work. Your relationships. Your confidence. Your ability to lead.

What Overwhelm Really Is

Overwhelm is not about having too much to do. It is about focusing on too many things at once. It is losing sight of what matters most right now and giving everything equal weight. That is not clarity. That is chaos.

Clarity is not about adding more. It is about uncovering what is distracting you, what is piling up, what is getting in the way of you doing the work that really matters. And overwhelm does not look the same for everyone. What overwhelms one person may energize another. Every person on your team has their own capacity, their own stressors, and their own internal world you may not see.

How to Work Through Overwhelm as a Leader

The most important step in reducing overwhelm is noticing it. When you can recognize that you are running an old pattern, you have the power to interrupt it. And when I notice overwhelm in myself, the first thing I do is give myself some grace. That moment of acknowledgment creates space and allows me to make different choices.

The tool that helps me the most is something I call the Power of Three. Three is doable. Three is not overwhelming. So when everything starts flooding in, I pull back and ask myself a simple question. What matters most right now? Not next month. Not next week. Right now. And then I choose no more than three things to focus on.

Be specific with the timeline. For instance, I might say, for the next two weeks, or for the rest of this day, what truly matters? And those become my next clear moves. When I complete one, I bring in another. But I never lose sight of the top three.

This is what brings my energy back into balance. It grounds me. It gets me back into motion again, and it reminds me that I get to choose where my focus goes.

How to Help Your Team Work Through Overwhelm

Overwhelm shows up in teams in subtle ways. People who usually contribute become quieter. People start checking boxes instead of engaging in the work. You may notice someone whose personality feels a little off, or someone who seems more reactive than usual.

This is your invitation to check in. And not just with, "How are you doing?" but with real curiosity. Sometimes people assume their team knows how to handle overwhelm, but that is not always true.

So share what you have learned. Talk about the Power of Three. Ask your team what matters most this week, today, or even this hour. Give them a clear timeline and clear priorities so they do not feel like everything is equally urgent.

Also, are you aware of what is happening in their lives? Someone may be caring for a sick parent, going through a divorce, or navigating their own health issues. These things affect how they show up at work. Bringing those realities into the conversation does not make the workplace more complicated. It makes the workplace more human.

Your role is not to fix it all. It is to help them sort through the noise so they can see a forward path. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is, "How can I help you work through this?"

What Changes When You Reduce Overwhelm

What gives me hope is that clarity returns the moment overwhelm begins to lift. You feel it in your body. You hear it in your thoughts. You start to move again. You take steps. You create momentum
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And this is readiness. When you reduce overwhelm, even just a little, you reconnect to yourself and to what matters. The same is true for your team. A culture of overwhelm leads to burnout, not because people have too much to do but because they have lost their why. They lose meaning. They lose connection.

Reducing overwhelm restores both.

What Is YOUR Next Clear Move?

In the next 48 hours, choose one area of your life or leadership where you feel overwhelmed and apply the power of three. Ask yourself what matters most right now and choose no more than three things to focus on.

If your organization wants leaders who are ready for what is next and able to help their teams become ready for their next level, I invite you to explore The Readiness Reset keynote and other customized leadership development experiences at www.DebbiePetersonSpeaks.com.