Peace of Mind Organizing

Feeling overwhelmed

13 February 2009

So far this year, things have been running really smoothly. I’ve been gliding through the days, getting lots done, meeting some terrific people, making some money. Kind of idyllic, in fact.

All of a sudden, in this past week or so, that gliding has turned into stumbling. I’m starting to experience that overwhelmed, swimming-head feeling of being overwhelmed. I’m feeling like I have more to do than I have time. And I’m watching clutter spots sprout up around the house. Worse yet, I’m not doing anything about them! (I wrote about the paradox of the organizer with the messy house two full years ago. Not a whole lot has changed!)

So here it is Friday. I don’t have much time at home today since I’m leaving to work with a client in a couple hours. And I’m torn. I have two pretty unencumbered days this weekend. Do I spend the time clearing my mind by decluttering, plowing through my inbasket, and working on taxes?

Or do I give myself a break and spend my time relaxing via knitting and watching TV and just not worrying about the other stuff?

I’m a huge advocate of relaxing and taking time out for myself. But I think this weekend needs to be about balance. I need to balance clearing my mind through work and clearing my mind through relaxation. I’m thinking the way I’ll accomplish that is by making as brief a list as possible of things I could do that would make a big impact on getting rid of my overwhelmed feeling. I’ll make one for Saturday and one for Sunday. And if when I accomplish the activities for that day, I’ll get to spend the rest of the day with my feet (or, rather, my knitting needles) up.

And to keep myself honest, I’m going to report on Monday how that worked out. Something tells me that the accountability will help.

Tagged with: clutter, empowerment, priorities, relaxation, self-care, time management

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