If you are feeling overwhelmed, this may very much be because you are simply over-open.
Let’s check, and you will see what we mean.
1. Find a short block of time where you can be uninterrupted. Sunday works well, but really, any time you can reflect on your situation is good.
Open your journal, your calendar, your to-do list, or whatever you use to take stock of your responsibilities and time.
2. Bravely look at your commitments that feel overdue for some sort of closure:
- What have you started but not completed?
- What have you not yet touched, but are looking forward to?
- What have you not yet touched or finished, and are dreading?
- What is draining your energy because it remains unresolved?
- Write it down. Get it out of your head and onto the page.
3. Now sort, with radical honesty:
- Am I finishing this? (What’s the plan?)
- Am I scheduling this? (Put it on the calendar.)
- Am I releasing this? (End it. Take it off the list.)
With radical honesty, you are closing loops.
And from there, you can begin again. Turn to the week ahead and schedule only what really matters. Leave some space. You will feel the shift as you go. Your energy will start to come back to you.