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TRANSCRIPT: Whether it’s the number of comments you receive, or just how often people are giving you advice, it’s easy to feel swamped by feedback. How can you manage that overwhelmed feeling, without shutting down or ignoring the feedback altogether?
Feeling overwhelmed by feedback is perfectly normal. After all, feedback can sometimes include dozens of points—some praise, some areas for improvement—which can leave you unsure of where to start or how to prioritise your next steps. In these moments, it’s easy to avoid the feedback entirely, or to focus only on the easiest but least important issues. But doing this won’t lead to much, if any, progress.
So, how can you break through this overwhelm? One strategy is to pause before jumping into action: you don’t have to do everything in one go. Giving yourself time to digest the feedback can really help you process the information, to identify common patterns, and to decide which suggestions are potentially the most useful and worthwhile. Often, feedback doesn’t feel as overwhelming after a day or two, and you’ll then be able to make more thoughtful decisions about what to do next. Feedback can sometimes feel especially overwhelming if you’ve received it in a spoken format, and if you’re struggling to remember everything that was said. In this case, try to take notes during or shortly after the feedback conversation. This allows you to focus on the advice without worrying about forgetting key points.
Another strategy is to identify the key messages from the feedback. Instead of getting lost in the details, try to boil it down to a few critical points first. What are the most important things you need to focus on, and which might make the biggest difference? You might then turn these points into a shopping list, from which you’ll have a clear agenda for what needs to be done. As you begin to check some of these things off your list, you’ll feel a sense of progress and control.
Lastly, try to remind yourself of past occasions when you felt overwhelmed by feedback but when you nevertheless took action and made progress. Reflecting on how your past efforts paid off can be a good reminder that you are in control, and that feeling overwhelmed is only temporary!
In summary, managing overwhelming feedback can sometimes involve simply giving yourself time to process it, breaking the advice down into manageable chunks, and focusing on the most important points first rather than trying to do everything all in one go.
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