“To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing.”—Eva Young

Good morning! When was the last time you felt truly overwhelmed? Maybe it was last week, or last month, or maybe it is right now, this very minute. Have your “to-dos” piled up so high that they are robbing the joy from your days and taking the skip from your step?

When we are overwhelmed, we can often trace the feeling to one of four sources:

1. When we fail to allow enough time for the unexpected, tasks pile up and all of a sudden we find ourselves anxious or struggling to stay above water.
2. There is some specific “to do” that you just don’t like doing. That single to-do is ignored more than any others, until it gets to a point of crisis, and must be dealt with.
3. The project seems insurmountable—since we don’t know where to start, we just don’t start.
4. Like today’s quote, we confuse planning with doing, and spend too long in the planning phase and not enough time in the action phase.

Regardless of the source of your overwhelmed feelings, the quickest way to release them is through action. Spending even five concentrated minutes on a task helps us to feel we have control over the “to-do” versus it controlling us.

Your Turn:
Make a list of the things that are overwhelming to you right now. Choose one to work with this week. Each day, set your timer for at least five minutes and take focused action. Notice how the action begins to make the anxious and overwhelmed feelings dissolve.

Today’s Affirmation:
I do not succumb to feelings of being overwhelmed. Instead, I am inspired to take action.

Going further: Choose one area of your life where you need to stop planning and start acting. Visit www.online-stopwatch.com and set the stopwatch for five or ten minutes. Then stop thinking and take action.