Since you can’t finish everything at once, what will you do?

There I stood in the mirror, stressed. So much to do and so little time.

I need to finish my website. Need to run to Home Depot for some gardening stuff. Then do yard work that I hate tomorrow morning. Oh! I need to finish some stuff I’m dreading for work over the weekend so that I can at least lighten the load on Monday. What time does the game come on again? Should I try to finish that logo before it comes on? Sigh…I should’ve finished it like a month ago. I guess I’ll research vacation spots sometime tomorrow so I can plan this trip soon. Oh shoot, I forgot to put my vacation time on the work calendar— let me do that now…

The list of to-dos is constant and can be draining. At least in my mind, it is. The fastest way to stress myself out is to think of everything that I need to do, should do, could do— all at the same time. This is a sure recipe for disaster and mental shut down.

As ambitious as I try to be, a disproportionate mix of anxiety, procrastination and imposter syndrome all magically combine to randomly throw me off track. As compassionate as I try to be to myself as I am toward others, I sometimes still hold myself to unrealistic standards. As much as I try not to take life too seriously, I do.

I think about my endless to-do list scattered among notebooks, digital checklists, calendar reminders, and popup notifications. I stress and think and stress and think until I get tired of stressing. I literally say to myself, “STOP! ENOUGH!”

I realize that I can’t do everything at once. I can’t put the weight of the world on my shoulders. I can only do my best (with faith) and do one thing at a time. Then do another, and eventually another. So I started with this post. Check. ☑️