Then and Now: When It's All Too Much

 Then: Did you ever have one of those days?

Thursdays are the days the week begins to catch up with me any week, even when I've figured out the school/life/writing/blogging balance for whatever semester I'm in.

I have not yet done that.

Until we can make the world stop when we do, feeling overwhelmed from time to time is inevitable. Knowing what to do when that feeling strikes can help us to take charge and feel a little less out of control. For me, this "take charge" approach includes:

Taking baby steps. When it's all too much, we start feeling the need to slay big dragons. Unfortunately, the pressure to get it all done at once, even if it's self-imposed, only contributes to that feeling of too much to do in too little time. Putting one foot in front of the other and taking one thing at a time can create a sense of accomplishment as we erase all of those little tasks from our to-do lists, one by one.

Prioritizing. As we approach each of those small tasks, it's important to ask ourselves if the baby steps we're taking are leading us in the direction of something that must be done now or something that can wait. While we have the luxury of mixing it up when we're not in a time crunch, we need to focus first on the here and now when we've hit the panic button. When we're overwhelmed, baby steps that make progress on a project due in two weeks may be less useful than the ones we take on the stuff that's due tomorrow.

Using the plan. In an effort to find shortcuts and super solutions, we often get in our own way. When this happens, we need to stop, step back and assess the plan(s) we have at our disposal. If they work on a day-to-day basis, they might just be the life raft we're looking for when seas get stormy. Choose the most appropriate plan and put it into action. Even a semblance of a plan can help us feel less out of control.

In a few weeks, I will have settled into a routine. Until then, it's one baby step at a time. 

Now: Yesterday, I hit the wall of overwhelm, even though it was a Wednesday, not a Thursday. And, while I still stand by all of the baby steps above, sometimes what we really need is to step back and take a break. While we don't always have that opportunity, it's often less out of reach than we realize. Yesterday, I couldn't figure out what was wrong, let alone why I was so upset and overwhelmed. Today, the answer was clear. I was exhausted by a pile-up of tasks and emotions. 

Today was a better day -- much better. But it wouldn't have been without the break I took yesterday to reset. 

Too often, we interpret down time as a luxury or a weakness. Instead, maybe we should embrace it for what it really is: a sign of being human and reaching our limits. And maybe if we were more open to the interpretation, we could cut those feelings of overwhelm off at the pass.

Maybe.