Busy Busy Busy!

I may not be moving mountains, but I'm moving a few small hills anyway. The many projects that I've started are starting to come together. Maybe not 100% complete ... but getting closer.

A friend was telling me that she stopped making herself those endless to-do lists. The lists were overwhelming her, they never ended, they added pressure to get things done and she never felt the satisfaction of completing the list because there were always new tasks to add onto it (kind of like this run on sentence!). In fact, she said she feels that she gets much more done without that list. And she felt better about doing what she could, when she felt like doing it.

As she was telling me this, I realized that I had also stopped writing lists. It wasn't a conscious decision - it just happened. As my many Christmas projects started piling up on me, I just kept at things at a slow but steady pace. I didn't write anything down ... I just followed my whims. And bit by bit, one by one ... things are getting done. And I haven't felt the pressure that I usually place on my own shoulders. Amazing.

I made lists of the ideas that I had, a few months ago. They are buried inside of a scribbler some where. I'm not quite ready to open that scribbler up and see how I'm progressing. I much prefer to keep going at the pace that I am. I've had fun so far. If I start adding pressure, it will take away from my joy.

Being overwhelmed is the biggest obstacle to accomplishing anything. I see it continually, when Kurt has a big homework assignment that he is faced with. Instead of just opening that book and devoting himself to his work for 15 solid minutes, he will wander around aimlessly and utter, "How am I supposed to do all of this? It's too much. I can't do this. How can she expect this to be done in 1 day?" He is so overwhelmed, that he fails to see that you start any big job by taking that first step. Then ... you take another.

There are days that I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. Trying to do too many things at once. Feeling overwhelmed and overburdened. There will be a state of helplessness that overtakes my being. Then I will tell myself, "Just keep taking a step in a forward direction. Every small thing you do, is lessening the load. Forward steps ..." It can take a while, but as long as a person keeps doing one small task, big jobs become smaller. The overwhelming becomes manageable.

But I think my friend's way is the best. Toss the lists. Just do something - whatever it is that you feel like doing that day. But just don't stop all together.

Being busy without being overwhelmed has me accomplishing more and feeling happy about whatever it is that I have managed to do. It's a good feeling.