21 Aug Adulting unraveled: Conquering overwhelm like a pro
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in All About Content
Your phone is ringing; you have to fold the laundry, and you have content you want to make. Your family needs X, Y and, of course, Z. Work is stressing you out, your Onlyfans posting reminder shows up, don’t forget you need to go to the grocery store! With all of the things we juggle as adults, it can become overwhelming at the drop of a hat, you know, the hat that has a perfectly acceptable space of its own and is now on the floor because people are lazy. It never ends. Typically, with all of this piled on, not only does it create a hostel environment of sorts for you, but content creation typically gets pushed to the bottom of the “To-do” list. The “Where do I even begin” mindset sets in, you go to start one task, en route you remember the laundry you need to fold actually didn’t make it into the dryer and needs to be washed again… of course! You abandon your initial start point to restart the washing machine, your DMs are blowing up, you didn’t take the chicken out to thaw. It builds and builds until you finally sit down, and unable to actually start any task at all, you arrive at the procrastination station, pick up your phone and start crushing candy to clear your mind. Becoming overwhelmed is not unusual in a typical adult life. After years of dealing with the weight of responsibility, I was determined to find a way to get ahead of it and save myself the gray hair.
I didn’t know where to start; I tried scheduling “downtime” from work to get household chores done, but this resulted in me actually making excuses to continue working or the exact opposite, and I got no work done at all. I tried cleaning the entire house in one day to have the rest of the week free, but this didn’t work for several reasons. One day, when I was feeling particularly buried, I said to myself, “Just keep moving, one thing at a time; just do it!” Now, at the time, I was about 3 cups of coffee in and had a decent amount of energy. This may be why I was able to actually just focus on one thing at a time out of nowhere; either way, I’ve since adopted this policy and even managed to organize all of my tasks in a much more manageable way. This was not an overnight change; I have had setbacks. The point here is that when I am feeling overwhelmed by all of the boxes to check, I start at the top of the list, and as basic as this is, I hold myself accountable. When I am trying to get things done, I don’t waste time or resources. This is something that took practice and self-discipline but eventually turned into a habit.
"THE POINT HERE BEING, WHEN I AM FEELING OVERWHELMED BY ALL OF THE BOXES TO CHECK, I START AT THE TOP OF THE LIST, AND AS BASIC AS THIS IS, I HOLD MYSELF ACCOUNTABLE."
I changed the way I look at my “To-do” list. If something takes less than two minutes to accomplish, I take care of it immediately. I multi-task. Folding a few articles of clothing at a time when I walk by the folding table, same with any dishes (seriously, cleaning as you go when you cook makes a big difference for this). Setting special rings on my phone for anything that I needed to look at immediately so I wasn’t always jumping to see who rang. It is the little things that keep this whole pet together. Taking my responsibilities one at a time and simultaneously all together when factoring in the small things that add up has allowed me to have the free time to relieve some stress (plus making new content that also doesn’t seem rushed now because it no longer is!) and have some relaxation time. Everyone has different priorities and tasks at hand. Taking a true look at all that you need to do and giving yourself that little extra push to get started will certainly result in forming better habits and, in the long run, taking the overwhelming amount of things that need to be done down into a manageable agenda. Again, this takes time; do not get discouraged if you have setbacks!
At the end of the day, it is ok to feel like you have too much on your plate. We all take on quite a lot of responsibility. The tricky part is handling it all. There are still times when I feel like I have far too much to do and not enough time in the day, and I used to believe that doing everything myself was just easier and that I could handle it all no matter what. I have since learned that asking for help is more than acceptable. If you are like me, then you have that guilt that hangs over you on occasion (or constant, I am a culprit of that as well from time to time) when you feel like you aren’t doing enough. You need to let that go. This is much easier said than done, I know! But once you remember that you can only do what you can do and that you are, in fact, a hardworking individual, asking for help will be much easier. You know that. It is not that you CAN’T handle it all. It is that you should not have to. You deserve some downtime. Also, you deserve the house you clean to stay clean (for at least a little while) without everyone missing the hamper, the trash and so on. Tackling your list and actually accomplishing your goals will reset that overwhelmed feeling and set you on a much clearer path. Ask for help when you need it and do not feel bad if you can’t accomplish the entire lineup of things. You are not alone, and this feeling of being overwhelmed will not last forever!
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Your phone is ringing; you have to fold the laundry, and you have content you want to make. Your family needs X, Y and, of course, Z. Work is stressing you out, your Onlyfans posting reminder shows up, don’t forget you need to go to the grocery store! With all of the things we juggle as adults, it can become overwhelming at the drop of a hat, you know, the hat that has a perfectly acceptable space of its own and is now on the floor because people are lazy. It never ends. Typically, with all of this piled on, not only does it create a hostel environment of sorts for you, but content creation typically gets pushed to the bottom of the “To-do” list. The “Where do I even begin” mindset sets in, you go to start one task, en route you remember the laundry you need to fold actually didn’t make it into the dryer and needs to be washed again… of course! You abandon your initial start point to restart the washing machine, your DMs are blowing up, you didn’t take the chicken out to thaw. It builds and builds until you finally sit down, and unable to actually start any task at all, you arrive at the procrastination station, pick up your phone and start crushing candy to clear your mind. Becoming overwhelmed is not unusual in a typical adult life. After years of dealing with the weight of responsibility, I was determined to find a way to get ahead of it and save myself the gray hair.
I didn’t know where to start; I tried scheduling “downtime” from work to get household chores done, but this resulted in me actually making excuses to continue working or the exact opposite, and I got no work done at all. I tried cleaning the entire house in one day to have the rest of the week free, but this didn’t work for several reasons. One day, when I was feeling particularly buried, I said to myself, “Just keep moving, one thing at a time; just do it!” Now, at the time, I was about 3 cups of coffee in and had a decent amount of energy. This may be why I was able to actually just focus on one thing at a time out of nowhere; either way, I’ve since adopted this policy and even managed to organize all of my tasks in a much more manageable way. This was not an overnight change; I have had setbacks. The point here is that when I am feeling overwhelmed by all of the boxes to check, I start at the top of the list, and as basic as this is, I hold myself accountable. When I am trying to get things done, I don’t waste time or resources. This is something that took practice and self-discipline but eventually turned into a habit.
"THE POINT HERE BEING, WHEN I AM FEELING OVERWHELMED BY ALL OF THE BOXES TO CHECK, I START AT THE TOP OF THE LIST, AND AS BASIC AS THIS IS, I HOLD MYSELF ACCOUNTABLE."
I changed the way I look at my “To-do” list. If something takes less than two minutes to accomplish, I take care of it immediately. I multi-task. Folding a few articles of clothing at a time when I walk by the folding table, same with any dishes (seriously, cleaning as you go when you cook makes a big difference for this). Setting special rings on my phone for anything that I needed to look at immediately so I wasn’t always jumping to see who rang. It is the little things that keep this whole pet together. Taking my responsibilities one at a time and simultaneously all together when factoring in the small things that add up has allowed me to have the free time to relieve some stress (plus making new content that also doesn’t seem rushed now because it no longer is!) and have some relaxation time. Everyone has different priorities and tasks at hand. Taking a true look at all that you need to do and giving yourself that little extra push to get started will certainly result in forming better habits and, in the long run, taking the overwhelming amount of things that need to be done down into a manageable agenda. Again, this takes time; do not get discouraged if you have setbacks!
At the end of the day, it is ok to feel like you have too much on your plate. We all take on quite a lot of responsibility. The tricky part is handling it all. There are still times when I feel like I have far too much to do and not enough time in the day, and I used to believe that doing everything myself was just easier and that I could handle it all no matter what. I have since learned that asking for help is more than acceptable. If you are like me, then you have that guilt that hangs over you on occasion (or constant, I am a culprit of that as well from time to time) when you feel like you aren’t doing enough. You need to let that go. This is much easier said than done, I know! But once you remember that you can only do what you can do and that you are, in fact, a hardworking individual, asking for help will be much easier. You know that. It is not that you CAN’T handle it all. It is that you should not have to. You deserve some downtime. Also, you deserve the house you clean to stay clean (for at least a little while) without everyone missing the hamper, the trash and so on. Tackling your list and actually accomplishing your goals will reset that overwhelmed feeling and set you on a much clearer path. Ask for help when you need it and do not feel bad if you can’t accomplish the entire lineup of things. You are not alone, and this feeling of being overwhelmed will not last forever!
