Overwhelm is being cited more and more as the primary source of stress. Multi-tasking has become a nightmare of competing priorities often resulting in jobs completed at less than our best. In fact research is showing that multi-tasking is proving far less effective than focusing on one job to its completion. But how to get that kind of focus on a job? How can you train the mind on doing just one thing when all those other tasks are screaming for attention?

What you need to do is to capture the attention of that focused mind. Most of us can do that easily with something we want to do, if something is interesting or imperative enough we become engaged in the process. However, often once fully engaged it can become difficult to disengage and refocus on another task. Or even stop for dinner!

If we look at that situation from a right brain / left brain model we see that the person stuck on overwhelm is stuck in their creative right brain. The big picture is all too obvious while the details are hard to attend to. That big picture just keeps screaming for attention!

On the other hand, the over-focused person, the one who can't disengage, has entered into left brain territory and is stuck in those details and has lost sight of the big picture. Who cares why or what else is happening, all that matters is getting this task done.

Most of us have a tendency to one or the other – or even more frustratingly both.

So how to develop the ability to engage fully with a task while maintaining the big picture? As a long time Brain Gym Instructor I know that Brain Gym always helps. Try this next time you feel overwhelmed:

• First drink some water:  Essential to optimum functioning of the body / brain. Water is best sipped slowly often during the day.

• Brain Buttons:  Encourages the ability to cross the visual midline, vital to reading and coordination. Massage or hold the soft points below the clavicle to the left and right of the sternum while holding the navel with the other hand. Track eyes along a horizontal line. Swap hands.

• Cross Crawl:  Helps us to physically cross the visual / auditory / kinaesthetic / tactile midline. Cross the midline by actively touching one hand to the opposite knee and vice versa for a few minutes. 

• Hook Ups:   Activates a sense of emotional centring, grounding and increased attention span. Cross the ankles. Extend arms, crossing the wrists. Draw the arms up towards the chest. Breathe deeply, exhaling fully, tongue on the roof of the mouth. Then unhook arms and legs and sit breathing gently with fingertips and thumbs lightly touching or tapping.

• Positive Points:  Relaxes the reflex to act without thinking under stress. Lightly touch forehead between hairline and eyebrows until tension releases.

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