Filed Under: Overeating
27 February 2025 | Written by Dominic
You sit down to work on your endless to-do list, but before you even begin, you reach for a snack. An hour later, you realise you’ve finished the cookies you didn’t even remember eating. Sound familiar?
Many of us turn to food because we’re overwhelmed. The sheer weight of our never-ending tasks can lead to stress, anxiety, and the need for quick relief. Often, that relief comes in the form of mindless eating, grabbing whatever is available, eating on autopilot, and using food as a way to numb the stress of having too much to do. I often say to my clients, if there’s too much on your “life” plate, there will be too much on your dinner plate.
When we feel burdened by our responsibilities, our nervous system goes into overdrive. Stress triggers the release of cortisol, which not only increases cravings to eat and also makes it harder to listen to our body’s natural hunger and fullness signals.
How the to-do list trap can lead to mindless eating:
- Procrastin-eating: Eating becomes a way to delay overwhelming tasks. Does this sound familiar “I’ll have a few cookies and then start”.
- Stress Cravings: The body seeks quick energy typically in the form of sugar and carbs to cope with stress.
- Autopilot Eating: We eat while multitasking, barely noticing what or how much we consume.
- All-Or-Nothing Thinking: If we feel like we’ve already lost control (with food or work), we may continue eating and “finish the packet” to “get it out the way”.
You don’t have to be stuck in this cycle. Mindful eating can help you, here are 4 ways to break the to-do list + overeating cycle.
1. Pause Before You Eat
Before reaching for food, take a moment to check in with yourself.
Ask: Am I physically hungry, or am I stressed, bored, or overwhelmed?
If it’s stress, what do I really need? (A break, deep breathing, movement?)
A simple pause creates awareness and helps you respond intentionally rather than reactively.
2. Reframe Your To-Do List
Instead of seeing your list as an endless burden, shift your mindset:
Prioritize: What truly needs to get done today? Let go of what can wait.
Break It Down: Big tasks feel overwhelming. Break them into small, manageable steps.
Celebrate Progress: Instead of focusing on what’s not completed, acknowledge what you’ve accomplished.
Choose 3 of your most important tasks (MITs) and focus on those.
Create a weekly to-do list and categorise them into MITs, urgent, important and “if there is time lists”.
3. Use Non-Food Coping Strategies
Food isn’t the enemy but if you’re eating to escape your to-do list, explore other ways to cope:
Breathe: Try a deep breathing exercise to calm your nervous system.
Move: A short walk, stretching, or even standing up for a few minutes or dancing in the kitchen to your favourite song can reduce stress.
Journal: Write down what’s overwhelming you or do a thought download. When you see it on paper can make it feel more manageable.
Pay Attention To Your Energy Levels: Take a 5-Minute Break; productivity isn’t about doing more it’s about working with your energy levels. Short breaks can help prevent burnout.
4. Ditch Perfectionism Around Food and Productivity
You don’t have to eat perfectly, and you don’t have to finish everything on your list. Accept that a to do list, will most likely never be complete.
Instead of striving for control, aim for balance. Listen to your body, honour your needs, and approach both eating and work with flexibility and self-compassion.
Next time you find yourself eating your way through your to-do list, pause, ask yourself what you really need. The answer might be food or it might be to simply get started with the easiest task, it might be to rest, to move, or simply to take a moment to breathe.
Your body and mind will thank you.
✨ Join me for the How to Handle Emotional Eating workshop and discover practical tools to navigate emotional eating with mindfulness and self-compassion — reserve your spot today.
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