Top 10 signs you're overcommitted

by Julie Sallee for ec magazine

10. You lost your daily planner, and it literally left you in a panicked, out-of-control, hysterical state.

9. You don't take the time to listen to your voicemails until the inbox is completely maxed out.

8. Your Facebook relationship status says "In a relationship with caffeine."

7. You can't even watch a new episode of your favorite show without thinking of what you have to do as soon as it is over.

6. Anxiety attacks are now a part of your everyday routine, just like fast food for lunch and faster food for supper.

5. You constantly find yourself looking at you dog in envy of its simple lifestyle.

4. You tried to say "no," but it came out as "no problem."

3. It has been at least a week since anyone heard your voice over the phone—who has time for a conversation when texting is so much faster?

2. So what if you haven't showered or flossed in almost three days . . . hygiene is secondary to sleep.

1. Sleep? S-L-E-E-P? You must be joking!

Do these sound like you? If so, here's some advice:
• Evaluate what's going on. Where is the pressure coming from? Do your parents have great expectations for you and you feel overwhelmed by that? Talk to them! Don't be disrespectful or argumentative, but do be honest. Is the pressure coming from you? Take a step back and evaluate. Spend some time in prayer. Talk with your parents or trusted, mature Christian advisers. Learn the lesson now that you can't always do everything.

• Learn to listen, take deep breaths, and don't underestimate the power of taking a break from a stressful situation.

• Are you taking too much on yourself? This could be your workload, class load, problems—and sometimes it might even include other peoples' problems. You can't take responsibility for everything in the world and not everything is your fault. If it's school work that's stressing you out, break things down into smaller tasks. Learn some basic study skills and plan ahead. Don't procrastinate. If you're having trouble juggling work, school, sports, or whatever it is you do, understand that there's no shame in NOT doing something. Talk things through with your parents. Pray and ask for God's leadership in the situations. Follow the Holy Spirit's leading to the things that are most important and spend your time there.

• Don't mistake all your accomplishments for self-worth. Sometimes we get caught up in doing a lot of things because it makes us feel useful, important, and someone who is worth something. That's not the truth. Your worth is found in the fact that you are made in God's image and He loves you. You are a child of God; let that define who you are and what you do. If you recognize that you are trying to find worth in the things you do, talk to your parents about it. Enlist a trusted Christian friend or mentor to talk to when you start to feel overwhelmed by your lack of perfection. Do what Scripture says and take negative thoughts captive (2 Cor. 10:5) and erase negative talk from your vocabulary.

Finally, understand this: sometimes, God uses the most broken, disappointing moments of your life to teach you about Himself. Maybe you can't handle whatever it is you're facing—and that's kind of the point. God wants to handle it and display His power in and through your life. That's easy to say, but it's hard to submit to when you're actually going through it. But you can trust Him. He doesn't leave when things get tough.


© 2009 LifeWay Christian Resources
Julie Sallee, "Top 10 signs you are overcommitted," ec magazine, May 2009, LifeWay Christian Resources: Nashville, 2009, p. 8.

© 2008 LifeWay Christian Resources
Mandy Crow, "Overwhelmed: Ways to fight back," ec magazine, December 2008, LifeWay Christian Resources: Nashville, 2008, p. 56-58.

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