19 Comments
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Victoria Aronoff's avatar

Thank you! I just read "Don't Believe Everything you Think" which maybe you recommended? But it got me thinking that why I feel overwhelmed all the time has more to do with my thinking I'm overwhelmed than what I actually have to do--even if my to do list is 10,000 things that won't ever go away, it's still my thoughts about it that make it overwhelming.

Shira Gill's avatar

Absolutely - the book Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman really helped me with this shift as well! xx

Victoria Aronoff's avatar

Thank you. I will check it out. You have the best recommendations!

Jeanne's avatar

I put out a puzzle on my dining room table and stop to work on it several times a day. Sitting down for even 10 min forces my brain to stop thinking about its To Do List. If I brew a cup of tea, it feels even more effective, like I'm sitting in the British countryside. Hey, whatever works!

Shira Gill's avatar

Brilliant! xx

Carolyn Miller's avatar

Thank you! I resonated with this tremendously and plan to put things into action.

Shira Gill's avatar

Thrilled to hear! xx

Edith's avatar

Thank you! This is right on target and gives me some ideas to try.

Shira Gill's avatar

So glad! xx

J Bea, MSc's avatar

Great post! Transition blocks are lifesavers. The best way to beat the overwhelming feelings is to give my brain time to fully disconnect from a previous task before moving on to a new one.

Ramee Cyr's avatar

Yesss! Thank you for sharing! I have recently added better buffer time between meetings and such and it has helped a lot! I add it and travel time in my calendar! I also add decompression and lunchtime looking out into the lake in after my therapy appointments. Love the social needs listing concept too.

Shira Gill's avatar

Love lunchtime looking out into the lake - so lovely! xx

Becca Lloyd's avatar

I love this idea of prioritizing my time by relationships rather than chasing a list—seems like the secret sauce to feeling like life is full rather than busy!

Shira Gill's avatar

Yes, it's really helped me to start from a place of clarity when it comes to my ideal connection cadence. xx

Juniper's avatar

This was sooo helpful!! Definitely gonna use some of these.

Shira Gill's avatar

Happy to hear! xx

Jojo B's avatar

I use a similar method myself! I also am learning to allow more restorative/quiet/recovery time after bigger social things and also to identify which social things are really for me (this is going to be fun for me!) vs. “I want to go to this bc it feels important to me to go but I know it won’t be that fun for me probably” and pre-calibrate my energy.

Rebecka M's avatar

Love the structured example of how often you want/need alone time versus with friends and family. As a sociable introvert raised by a mother who is extremely extrovert I have come to realise that I feel real guilt for needing so much alone time to feel grounded and sane - trying to work with accepting that is just who I am, but it is hard!