Today we´re resuming the category of untranslatable words and phrases, dedicated to interesting terms that are difficult to translate from Spanish into English and vice-versa, with a concept that´s very close to my heart: overwhelm, which could be translated into Spanish as "la sensación de sentirse abrumado o sobrepasado".

Well, technically, this is only untranslatable in relative terms, given that we do have a direct translation for the verb and the adjective; what´s difficult to convey is the feeling itself, mostly because that word is missing in Spanish:

• To overwhelm = abrumar
• Overwhelmed = abrumado
• Overwhelming = abrumador
• A feeling of overwhelm = ???

The answer given by the Spanish Language Royal Academy seems to be that both "abrumamiento" and "abrumación" are somewhat used as nouns related to "overwhelming" (meaning "act and effect of overwhelming or being overwhelmed"); even though well constructed and valid, they´re not consolidated words, and therefore, they´re not present in the Spanish Dictionary..

To me, both "abrumamiento" and "abrumación" sound horrible, so, even if it takes longer to say it, I´m going to keep referring to it as the feeling of being overwhelmed ("sentirse abrumado")...

So, why am I talking about this topic today? Because this week, to be honest, I´ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed coming back from vacation: getting back to work, the house, the girls, etc., etc., etc. Does this ring a bell? Have you ever felt this way?

Luckily, I was able to identify how revved up I was early on, so I was able to slow down a bit, pause to take stock and then begin to take things in differently, partly thanks to a mindfulness course I started precisely this week (thanks Fernando!), and partly because I know myself and this is not the first time this happens to me... I often feel under pressure trying to do everything and then realizing I can´t.

Interestingly, I hadn´t really named that sensation until this morning when (by coincidence?) I listened to a podcast by Owen Fitzpatrick who was explaining the psychology behind it: the psychology of overwhelm. If you can (it´s in English), I recommend listening to the whole podcast (or rather two, the first part and the second part); for the moment, here´s the main idea, for starters:

Overwhelm happens when we feel like we have to do more than what we can do..

It makes sense, doesn´t it? It´s one of those moments when everything piles up for us: so much to do and so little time... And what happens, usually? One of two things: either we try to do more things faster and end up running around like a headless chicken, or we collapse and become unable to do anything, not knowing where to start.

If we analyze the sentence above, we can see two different aspects being compared: what we believe we have to do and what we can realistically do. The to-do list in our head is always longer, way longer, than what can be done in a day, a week, a month, a year or even a lifetime. Owen explains that the majority of people focus mostly on the second part of the sentence, looking for ways to be able to do more, when the key is also on the first part: do we really need to do it all?

Te podcast proposes a specific technique to manage tasks, and as I was listening to it, my mind immediately found the parallel with how workload is managed within my work environment. For a software development team, the tasks list is also potentially infinite: new features to implement, bugs to fix, application upgrades... Let´s see what steps are involved, and how my team at work handles it (using Scrumas an Agile methodology, and Jira as a tool):

• Write down all tasks, absolutely everything. This doesn´t mean they´re all going to get done; what we want is to get them together in a place that´s outside our heads. In Scrum each task is represented by a story, and they all get listed in the backlog.
• Sort them into different categories, so that they can be better organized. In Scrum, a set of related stories constitutes an epic, a work unit that once finished, delivers some specific value or benefit.
• Break them into manageable chunks, if needed, so that they´re easier to handle. This is done through a refinement process, getting specific about what needs to be done for each task. It´s also important to estimate the time and effort involved for each one.
• Analyze them and connect them to your main goals, what specific objective is each task counting towards? And to what extent? In a professional environment, each story is linked to a predefined project or initiative.
• Prioritize the most important ones: now that we know what the tasks are, how they contribute to making progress towards what goals, and the time and effort associated with each one, we can make sure we do the most important things first and postpone (or directly cancel) the least important ones. In Scrum, the stories are sorted in order of priority, and the team works on them in that order.

What do you think about this approach? You may say it´s not rocket science; it´s not sophisticated, just basically common sense. But it is true that we often forget to use common sense when we feel absorbed by worry, and a simple method like this can help a lot, starting with freeing our head up from having to try and constantly remember everything that still needs to be done.

Another thing that´s liberating is knowing that we´re giving priority to the most important task at each moment, by the way also including things like rest, a good diet, physical exercise, etc. Self-care is what´s going to give us the energy and health that we need to face everything else.

And finally, for bonus points, we can also set free from those terrible thoughts beginning with "I have to..." - we can stop being victims of our self-demands. Stop beating ourselves up for not living up to those unrealistic expectations, and begin to spend our time as we consciously choose so that we can make progress in the direction we truly want.

In Scrum, the team member who sets the priorities and takes ownership of the overall product development is called Product Owner. Are you ready to become the Product Owner of your own life?