I’m feeling overwhelmed, which is not a great feeling. It’s similar to how my favorite flower pot must feeling right now, under several feet of snow. (Can you see her terra cotta self peeking out from the snow?)
The next 20 days are full and closing in. I’m guilty of taking on too much and underestimating the time it will take to get it all accomplished. These two things don’t go well together, by the way. That said, I need to be as productive as I can and feelings of overwhelm stink and aren’t helpful. So, here’s what I’m doing:
First, we all have the same 1440 minutes in every day. It’s good to remember this. Second, I’m so thankful (ok, this may be forced, but I’m faking it until I make it) to have so many opportunities going on.
Third, I’m doing a brain dump on a new level. Brain dumps are always helpful. Just getting everything down on paper (or whatever suits you) really helps. But the usual brain dump didn’t help in the way it usually does. So I had to create an advanced brain dump exercise.
- I made a list of the areas of my life with tasks needing attention. I had 8 areas.
- I made lists of everything that needs attention in each area. I used 8 different pieces of paper for this.
- I divided each list into what needs to get done before I leave for Sleuthfest in 20 days and what can be done after I return.
- I created a calendar just for the next 20 days and plugged each task into the calendar.
- I realized what didnt and couldn’t fit. I had to move those tasks from the before list to the after. This happened to several tasks.
I’m feeling better, and more realistic about how many pockets of time I have available.
Does anyone else have ideas of how to defeat overwhelm?
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