How to Stop Being Overwhelmed by the World Around You

Sep 5, 2021 | 2 comments

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Do you ever have a day when you’re annoyed at everything? Someone humming a song, the construction sounds or just people talking makes your skin crawl. Everyone one tell you you are the one being annoying and irritating and no one is doing anything problematic. You just want to scream at the top of your lungs, “Leave me alone!”

Why does this happen?

The root phenomenon of the situation is called ‘sensory overload’. In simple words sensory overload is when you’re getting more input from your five senses than your brain can sort through and process.

Your brain feels stuck when it is overpowered by all the information and hence not able to comprehend.

Even though sensory overload is often associated with health conditions such as autism, anyone can experience it. After all, it is just our brain getting overloaded with information, which tends to happen every once in a while.

Triggers for sensory overload can include:

Loud noises or music
Crowded spaces
Emotionally intense people or groups
Drastic environmental changes (temperature, light, etc.)
Unexpected or unwanted physical contact (hugs, etc.)
Heavy traffic
Tactile triggers (scratchy or uncomfortable clothing, etc.)
Intense smells
Or anything that is an input for your five senses

Even though these things mostly don’t agitate one, when they do agitate you it’s because you were already overwhelmed by stress, anxiety or being worried about something.

What sensory overload can look like

Experiencing sensory overload is different for everybody but it could look like:

Anxiety and an inability to relax
Irritability
Tantrums (in children)
Restlessness and physical discomfort
Urge to cover your ears and eyes to block out the source of input
Stress, fear, or panic
High levels of excitement or feeling “wound up”
Desire to escape the situation triggering the sensory overload

For me it often looks like anxiety about something, but I don’t know what.

So what to do to get rid of this?

Overcoming sensory overload

It’s pretty simple, you might have even guessed it by now.

You need to reduce the amount of input your senses receive. You can do it by reducing or completely blocking off the input source, or increasing your output. Don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense right now. It will later on.

Here are some of the ways:

Avoid the news

Consuming news bombards us with all the grief of the world, specifically the ones you have no control over. It leaves us overthinking, and feeling helpless and anxious.

Stop overthinking

Speaking of overthinking; even though overthinking isn’t an input from your senses, it’s an overload because the more you think, the more processing your brain has to do. So basically, STOP OVERTHINKING.

Less screen time

You knew this was gonna be on the list and here it is.

What I mean by screen time, is the mindless scrolling we all do. Looking at all the posts, reels and stories gives us more things to see and hear than our senses can digest.

These ways reduce the amount of information we take in.

Sleep

I’ll be honest here. I have no logical reasoning why taking a nap can make you less irritated. But I can guarantee you that it does make you less irritated. Possibly because of the fact that you don’t consciously take in information while you sleep.

Shower

When you take a shower or a bath, all your focus goes to the sensation of water you feel through your skin, inevitably blocking out the sensations from the other senses to some extent. Besides, the fact that showers relax and calm you is no secret.

These were two approaches to block out the information we absorb.

Do a brain dump

It is exactly what is sound. Empty out the contents of your brain on paper. Write whatever thoughts are in your head onto the paper – as if you are thinking aloud. It not only focuses your attention on one thing, but it also allows you to actually see what is going inside your mind and hence you can process it better.

Workout

Just like a brain dump, working out focuses your attention on one task, exercising being the one here. It also releases the anxiety we feel in the form of energy.

The activity doesn’t have to be a workout. It could be anything that brings your attention to one point and releases it in some way.

Brain dumping and working out help you increase your output, thus reducing the final input.

Recap for memory:

When you’re getting more input from your five senses than your brain can sort through and process, you are experiencing sensory overload.
It can be triggered by things like loud noises or music and show up in the form of irritability, etc.
You can overcome sensory overload by reducing the amount of input your senses receive.

Let me know your views about the post and what are your ways of reducing the agitation. Is there anything you would like me to talk about?

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What’s a Better Choice – To React or To Respond?

Aug 29, 2021 | 0 comments

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All of us have been in a situation at least once, where your teacher is dishing out assignments after assignments, your mom is scolding you for being on laptop or phone all day when that’s practically your school right now and the whole universe is trying its best to push your buttons.

To make matters worse, no one understands your plight and tells you you’re overacting, or being angry for no reason.

That really pushes it to the edge.

How can someone expect you to remain calm when nothing’s going your way?

No one in this world can be happy all the time, and it’s okay to feel angry or stressed every once in a while.

But when you let situations get the best of you, that’s an issue.

One might say that how we respond to situations is not really in our control, the situation we face determines that.

However, that’s not really true. You know how?

If how we react depends on the situation, then for the same situation, every single person on the Earth would react the same way, every time they face it.

I can bet you haven’t seen a single situation where every person reacts exactly the same way. Let alone other people; sometimes you yourself don’t have the same reaction to the situation.

When you are composed you react better, as opposed to when you’re already in a bad mood you see things worse than they are.

This just goes to prove that how we react depends on us, and not the situation.

Therefore, how we react to a situation becomes a choice.

There are two sides to this coin of how we choose to respond.

Being able to choose your reaction puts you in charge of what happens after you react.

Some might consider this as a boon because they get to decide what happens with them. They would accept the situation and try to take the best step possible.

But, here’s the catch.

Some might consider this to be a terrible truth because this would mean you take responsibility of your state and have no one to blame but yourself.

Then again, how you see it is your decision. The fact remains the same.

How I see it is that ultimately it is your life and you are responsible for whatever happens. The reigns of your life are in your hands.

Moreover, when you reply to a situation out of your free will, not because of a trigger you are responding to the situation. When you reply to a situation because of the trigger, you are reacting to a situation.

React or respond – the choice is yours.

Recap for memory:

No one in this world can be happy all the time, and it’s okay to feel angry or stressed every once in a while.
How we react depends on us, and not the situation. Therefore, how we react to a situation becomes a choice.
React or respond – the choice is yours.

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Giving is the Only Way to Receive – and It’s Priceless!

Aug 22, 2021 | 0 comments

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You must have heard that “only by giving are you able to receive more than you already have.” speech, or something similar. And no matter how many times you hear it, it can never be said enough.

Let me give you an instance that happened recently near me. I wasn’t the one involved, but I observed it.

My dad ordered Kadhai Paneer for lunch for himself and his colleague.

After they were done, they still had some of the Kadhai Paneer leftover, and since there wasn’t anyone else in the office, they gave it to the building guard.

While talking to the guard he came to know something interesting.

The guard told him that an old sickly man had come by earlier. The man asked for something to go with the few chapatis he had. The guard didn’t have much, just some dal and he gave it to the old man.

“It’s just the way of the world. I just gave plain dal and received Paneer in return”, he said, with what I assume to be gratitude.

Now my dad told me this story, and I was surprised. “Isn’t it amazing?” we both exclaimed!

The guard must have never expected to receive anything, let alone Kadhai Paneer in return for dal. And yet he did.

Many people view the power in giving with no expectation of return. When a person gives and has an expectation of receiving something back, they might start to think that the thing they’re receiving back should be better than what they gave. It’s like you have to pay for something. This way of thinking can lead to false expectations which might, in turn, lead to disappointment and thus not giving at all.

The power in giving lies in the joy that it brings about through your actions, as well as what it can do for others around you.

And you know giving doesn’t have to be elaborate. Giving could include something as simple as a smile, time or your experience. In fact, these things are remembered and valued more than tangibles.

Things you can give include (but are not restricted to):

your time
your expertise/knowledge
hug
smile
compliment
help
something you made
making someone laugh

This defies the thinking that I’ll give only when I have.

These things are free and the joy they give is priceless, and the ones who give these never have a lack of it in their own lives.

And the only ones who are willing to give are the ones who receive.

Recap for Memory

Only by giving are you able to receive more than you already have
There are many ways to give – a smile, a hug, a compliment or your time
These things are free and the joy they give is priceless, and the ones who give these never have a lack of it in their own lives.
And the only ones who are willing to give are the ones who receive.

So why don’t you try it? Give something today with no expectation of receiving anything in return and watch what happens!

If you would like me to know how this made you feel, please leave a comment!

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You Can Be Free and Disciplined at the Same Time

Aug 15, 2021 | 2 comments

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Craving the need to be free from all constraints is nothing new. Be it our ancestors from the clutches of the British, or us trying to break free from the hold of the distracting social media.

Being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want seems to be the ultimate definition of freedom nowadays.

To some that might mean going wherever they want with their friends. To others, it could be blowing up money on something they love, without somebody nagging about it, or worse feeling guilty about it.

You’d do anything to get this kind of freedom, wouldn’t you? I know I would.

But would you be disciplined for it?

Would you ignore your temptations to be distracted and work even when you don’t feel like it?

Now you may go ahead and say, “Wait a minute. Isn’t this counter-intuitive to freedom? To ignore whatever you want to do, without a care in the world?”.

Well it might be a little counter-intuitive, but it isn’t the opposite of freedom.

Discipline seems to be the direct opposite of freedom — but they go hand in hand.

Discipline equals Freedom.

While Discipline and Freedom seem like they sit on opposite sides of the spectrum, they are actually very connected.

When you’re disciplined, you’re able to make time and space for things you want to do. When you’re disciplined, you’re able to avoid distractions and focus on what you need to do.

The reason there is such an aversion to discipline, is because since childhood you have been disciplined others, often against your will. You’ve been forced to take a nap when you just didn’t want to and eat veggies that you didn’t like. But the kind of discipline that gives you freedom is self discipline.

Early in the morning, when you’re in bed and you wanna sleep in, you might think that’s your freedom, it’s doing what you want to. But when you will wake up later in the day, you’ll have to do things, thus becoming disciplined by the circumstances.

How can we apply this to our lives?

Look for the parts in your life where you crave freedom. That is where the answer would lie. Those areas would be the one where you require discipline. If you’re looking for freedom in terms of time, you’ll have to look at managing your time better. If you’re looking for freedom with your money, look at your spending habits and see where you could cut out some unnecessary expenses.

Some areas where most people (me included) could do with a more discipline are

Waking up early
Sleeping on time
Working out (or just moving around in general)
Sticking to deadlines
Limiting Screen Time

Recap for memory:

Getting Freedom but from discipline seems counter intuitive
It’s actually self discipline that’s required
The areas you crave freedom are ones that require discipline

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You’re Probably Underestimating What You Know

Aug 8, 2021 | 4 comments

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Don’t know if it was just me or others too, but when I first saw a polaroid camera, I found it pretty impressive.

I knew in theory that it was just a camera of the old era but I wanted to click a photograph that would be in my hand within seconds.

After my 10th board results, I finally got it as my gift.

I was pretty thrilled by it (still am) and was in awe of it.

But as time went by, the camera felt nothing out of the ordinary to me.

Sounds familiar?

The first time you come in contact with something it just blows your mind, but as time passes, it becomes nothing special.

This happens to all of us with different things, be it a new phone, laptop or what not.

It’s normal for our brain after repeated exposure and experience, which means you can’t get the same thrill out of it as when you first got acquainted with that object.

However, that’s not the case with others who don’t have a first hand experience of the thing.

You have seen that thing multiple times but for them it just ignites the same excitement that it gave you once.

It’s the same case with almost everything, some physical object, an idea or a skill.

One of my friends creates amazing digital art, that just blows my mind, but she literally brushes it off like it’s no big deal.

Since she is doing it for (probably) some time now, it doesn’t surprise her. But to me, the fact that one of the people I know makes something that awesome is fascinating.

This applies to what you know too.

I know that whenever I’m overwhelmed, it’s best to write down whatever is going on in my brain on paper. This allows me to view my thoughts clearly. It allows me to process what’s going on in my own brain.

Once, my best friend was stressed out and I told her the same thing. From her response, it felt like all her stress had vanished just by listening to this idea.

There’s always something you know that you underestimate. Share that with others. It might not surprise you but it might bring them excitement.

Recap for memory:

The first time you come in contact with something it just blows your mind, but as time passes, it’s nothing special.
That’s not the case with others who don’t have a first hand experience of the thing.
Share something you know that you underestimate.

What’s something you have gotten used to but is pretty awesome?

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How to Be a Better Friend to Yourself

Aug 1, 2021 | 8 comments

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You do your best to be a better friend to your loved ones. You spend time with them, be happier for their successes than they are, encourage them when they’re low, advise them, and give them comfort or truth, depending on whatever is needed.

Different people show their love in different ways. Some give gifts, some prefer spending time together. Others show that they care by simply listening to their friends.

But there’s one person you always forget about…

That’s you.

You always manage to make time for your friends and family but rarely take out time for yourself.

After all, the only person who has been with you since the beginning, and will stay till the end is YOU.

This is exactly why you need to be a better friend to yourself.

Others might come and go but you’re here to stay, you’re the only constant.

Moreover, you might expect a certain opinion from your friends and when their opinion isn’t aligned with yours, you feel really unsure of yourself (aka validation from others). This one’s from personal experience folks.

But you’re the only person who knows your own taste. You’re the one that needs to understand where you stand.

You can still ask for others’ opinions, but at the end of the day, what you think should be the deciding factor.

Here are a few of the countless ways you can be a better friend to yourself.

Celebrate your wins

You often downplay our achievements and make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal.

You don’t have to brag about it but patting yourself on the back does feel good.

You don’t have to go all out. Quietly congratulating yourself is also enough when you’ve achieved a goal or done something noteworthy.

Saying “Wow I did it!” is totally cool.

Push Yourself

Encourage yourself to do more and push the limits the same way you’d tell your friends.

Learn to trust yourself. Trust that you can do great things.

Try to get done a little more than you could yesterday.

Be Kind to Yourself

While you try to push yourself, you may not be successful always. At that time, forgive yourself.

Don’t beat yourself. Rather, focus on what you need to do right.

Being kind to yourself also includes all those things that you know you should be doing – exercising, eating right, sleeping on time, all that good stuff.

Spend time with yourself

Allocate time to process your thoughts. Consider how you felt through out the day, what made you happy, what could have you done better, what actually happened in the day.

We tend to live days without ever looking back at them.

One of the ways for me to process my day and thoughts is journaling.

Writing things down on paper allows me look at them with a third person perspective, without my bias.

Treat Yourself

Put a little extra effort to do something special for yourself.

It could be anything from eating something nice to buying yourself something you’ve wanted for a long time. (Keep in mind this is once in a while kinda thing, you don’t wanna be spoiling yourself)

Recap for memory

We try to be a better friend to others, but forget ourselves.
The only person who has been with you since the beginning, and will stay till the end is YOU.
You can be a better friend to yourself in many ways, including being kind and treating yourself.

P.S. It’s international friendship day, and since people already know the value of a good friend, I thought why not touch upon being there for yourself. Plus, it’s just something I needed to hear and it was good timing 🙂

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