Guide · stress · 3 min read
What to do when everything is too much, without the usual nonsense, if you are new to this
Overwhelm is not a lack of capacity. It is too many open loops and no order to them. The fix is unglamorous.
Start here
Six things, in the order that makes the most difference. The first two do most of the work.
Nothing here assumes you have done this before.
If you only do one thing from this page, do the first point below. It is first because it removes the most friction for the least effort.
What helps
Accept that the rest of the list will still be there this evening, and that this is survivable.
Tell one person what is happening. Not for advice — being witnessed reduces the size of it more than people expect.
Write down everything that is in your head, badly and quickly. The list is not the plan. The list is to stop your brain holding all of it.
What to do when it does not work
Circle the one thing that has an actual deadline today. If nothing does, circle the thing that is making the most noise.
Do that one thing badly. A bad version of it removes more pressure than a good version of something else.
Cancel or move one commitment today. Not everything. One.
Questions people ask
What if the deadline is genuinely impossible?
Then the useful move is telling someone early rather than delivering late. Almost everyone would rather know now.
Is this just procrastination with extra steps?
No. Writing the list and choosing one item is the opposite of avoiding. The avoidance usually happens before the list exists.
Written for people who want the practical version. No accounts, no tracking, no newsletter wall.