Why You’re Always Overwhelmed | The Psychology of Priorities & Procrastination

What if the problem isn’t that you’re lazy… but that modern life is designed to overwhelm you? In this episode of Psychology, Actually, Dr Marianne Trent is joined by author Lily Silverton to explore the psychology of procrastination, overwhelm, attention, comparison and why so many people struggle to prioritise what actually matters.If you constantly feel behind, overstimulated or exhausted by competing demands, this conversation may really resonate. ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 Netflix says sleep is the competition 01:07 Why prioritising matters psychologically 01:59 A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention 03:10 Even the Romans felt overwhelmed 04:32 Why modern companies compete for your focus 05:55 The psychology of procrastination 08:30 Emotional avoidance and fear of failure 09:59 Why “future you” won’t magically change 11:47 Breaking tasks down and body doubling 15:02 The Eisenhower Matrix explained 17:22 Why small tasks feel addictive 18:03 Other people’s urgency isn’t always yours 19:20 Boundaries, parenting and workload pressure 22:10 Comparison, social media and self-worth 24:23 When social media becomes self-harm 25:21 “Do you actually want their whole life?” 28:13 Resetting your algorithm and protecting wellbeing 29:28 The Wellbeing Cups exercise 31:01 Why Lily wrote Prioritise This 33:33 Inner Work and deeper reflections Links: 📚 Check out Lily's Book, Prioritise This: https://amzn.to/432A2Su 📲 Follow Lily on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/lily_silverton/ 🫶 To join my podcast membership to get early access to episodes and / or exclusive weekly content head to: https://the-aspiring-psychologist.captivate.fm/support or to the Apple Podcasts App: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-aspiring-psychologist-podcast/id1605628278 or to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOwjrIP_jatiqlAivJE2mgQ/join 📚 To check out The Clinical Psychologist Collective Book: https://amzn.to/3jOplx0 📖 To check out The Aspiring Psychologist Collective Book: https://amzn.to/3CP2N97 💡 To check out or join the aspiring psychologist membership for just £30 per month head to: https://www.aspiring-psychologist.co.uk/membership 🖥️ Check out my short courses for aspiring psychologists and mental health professionals here: https://www.aspiring-psychologist.co.uk/online-courses Ask Marianne your most pressing psychology career question and she will send you a FREE bespoke reply! Grab your free psychology success guide here and fill in the most pressing concern box: https://www.aspiring-psychologist.co.uk (scroll to the bottom of the page) ✍️ Get your FREE Supervision Shaping Tool now: https://www.aspiring-psychologist.co.uk/free-resources 📱Connect socially with Marianne and check out ways to work with her, including the Aspiring Psychologist Book, Clinical Psychologist book and The Aspiring Psychologist Membership on her Link tree: https://linktr.ee/drmariannetrent 💬 To join my free Facebook group and discuss your thoughts on this episode and more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/aspiringpsychologistcommunity Like, Comment, Subscribe & get involved: If you enjoy the podcast, please do subscribe and rate and review episodes. Hashtags: #overwhelm #procrastination #priorities Mentioned in this episode: Sponsored by WriteUpp Tap to Pay This episode is sponsored by WriteUpp. Their Tap to Pay app turns your smartphone into a card reader, helping private practitioners take secure payments without additional hardware. Use code MARIANNE30 for a free 30-day trial and 30% off your first 6 months at this link: https://writeupp.com/?refid=142336