Feeling Overwhelmed as a Manager? Here's What Usually Sits Underneath

You are feeling overwhelmed as a manager, and you notice it. That you notice it is good news, because plenty of people run for years on high tension without realising it. The causes I see most often are the drive to perform, delegating too little, and simply too much work. In this article I walk through those three. After that you get four things you can start this week. A conversation with your manager, the "yes, and" technique from improv theatre, asking for help, and a five-minute body check each day.

Noticing It Is the Best News in This Article

Many managers run on high tension for years without realising it. They only notice when their body makes the decision for them. Sleep that falls apart. A heart rate that will not settle in the evening. A Monday morning when they suddenly cannot get out of the car.

You feel it now, before the problem grows too big. That is the stage where a lot is still possible.

The Drive to Perform: The Voice That Is Never Satisfied

The first cause I see often is the drive to perform. Behind it sits your inner critic. The voice that says you should work harder, do better, go faster.

That voice compares. With the manager of the team next door. With the colleague who got "senior" in front of their title first. With your university friends who already carry an impressive title. With a version of yourself who should have it all under control by now. It keeps precise track of who got which review and how yours measures up.

Regular readers know my starting point. All human behaviour has an explainable cause, including the behaviour that harms you. This comparing is part of that. The urge to do it better than the rest is deeply human and easy to understand. But it rarely gives you what you hoped for, and it harms you in the meantime. I look at that without judgement. Once you recognise this pattern in yourself, you get the chance to do something about it.

A glimpse behind the curtain. You get the promotion. Two weeks later and you're aiming for the next big goal. Meanwhile that voice does one thing very effectively. It keeps your body in overdrive mode all day.

In coaching, I help you recognise and weaken that voice.

Delegating Too Little, and the Fear Underneath

The second cause is work you will not let go of. You hold on to tasks that someone else could handle just as well.

The reason managers name first is quality. The fear that the team will do it less well. The fear of mistakes you get called on later.

There is often something underneath. The fear of becoming redundant. If you give the work away, where does your value sit then? I see this in managers who deliberately keep information to themselves. They share slightly too little, so everyone has to come through them. For a moment that feels like grip. It produces a calendar where you are the bottleneck.

A simple rule of thumb helps. Give a task away once you think your team does it at eighty percent of your quality. That last twenty percent they learn in practice, as long as you give them the room. Spend time on learning sessions with your team. Go through mistakes together, so they get better faster. That works better over time than doing everything yourself.

Delegating hurts at first. You give away control and accept that something happens differently from how you would do it. That is where the growth happens.

Sometimes It Is Simply Too Much Work

The third cause needs no psychological reading. Sometimes the volume of work is the problem.

You step in for a sick colleague. You are in a start-up or scale-up where tasks and responsibilities move in every direction. You have picked up three roles in half a year without anyone ever deciding on it.

My advice then is a clear conversation with your manager. Concrete, with your work on the table, and with a question about priorities.

That conversation is nerve-racking. The fear is that you come across as someone who cannot handle the work. Look at the alternative for a moment. Working on until you collapse and are out for months. My bet is that the conversation is better for your career.

The "Yes, And" Technique From Improv Theatre

In improv theatre one basic rule applies. You never reject your fellow player's offer, you build on it. 'Yes, and.'

That works well the moment your manager gives you a new task while your week is already full.

"Yes, I'll gladly do this, and which running project can I pause for it?"

You say a wholehearted yes to the work. At the same time you hand the priority question back where it belongs. In one sentence you make clear that your capacity has a limit. Managers who do this a few times notice their own manager starts thinking along better.

Ask for Help, Even When It Makes You Feel Weak

Asking for help is the hardest step for many leaders. You are the one expected to help, not the other way around.

Ask anyway. Your team, who often knows better than you think where the time goes. Your manager, about priorities. A fellow manager going through the same thing, with whom you can be honest.

There is a side effect. A manager who asks for help gives the team permission to do the same. That saves you a lot of surprises down the line.

The Five-Minute Body Check Each Day

Finally something for your body, because that is where the tension ends up.

Take five minutes a day. Sit down and scan yourself from top to bottom. Your jaw. Your shoulders. Your chest and how deep your breath reaches there. Your hands. Your thighs, which often sit tighter than you expect.

The moment you feel tension somewhere, you relax that spot on purpose. That is all it is. Do it for a few weeks and you start noticing the tension earlier in the day. That is the moment you can step in, well before your body takes over.

What You Can Do Today When Feeling Overwhelmed as a Manager

Start small. Pick one task you give away this week. Book that conversation with your manager. Put those five minutes in your calendar.

And take a look at that voice telling you it all has to be harder. In leadership coaching we often work on exactly that, because the drive to perform rarely goes away through better planning. For leaders at director level, executive coaching is a logical deepening. If you want to train concrete skills in a focused way, a 1-on-1 leadership program is a good next step.

Do you recognise yourself in this? Interested or curious? Let's chat. Plan your free introduction here. Zero obligation. Then we look together at what sits underneath your stress.