What's Next?

 Isn't it interesting how quickly we can lose sight of guiding principles once we open the door to overwhelm?  This past week provided a reminder of exactly this, and I feel grateful for the gift of wisdom that I received as a result.

Coming into the homestretch of my current school semester, I find myself moving between feelings of elation and overwhelm, sometimes within the same day.  It feels like just as I gain some ground on my understanding of coursework, a new idea is presented and I am back on my heels again.  And then life throws a couple of curveballs, and deadlines start to approach, and suddenly my ability to feel balanced begins to slip away.  Rigidity takes over my mindset, and instead of finding ways to accommodate these competing pulls on my attention, I start to shut down.  Worry about how I will accomplish everything that is coming my way builds up until I somehow manage to check some boxes off my to-do list, and things simmer down again.  Although I manage to get through these choppy times, I don't like the person I become while I am working my way through these stressful moments.

I was sharing this with a friend on the weekend, and as I was relaying what I had going on, she very calmly nodded and said, "Just do the next best thing".  I was floored, and at the same time knew she was absolutely bang-on in her suggestion.  You see, this concept is not new to me.  As a business coach, I have given this very same advice to folks I have been coaching when they have been dealing with the overwhelm of trying to manage too many things at once.  Chunking down long task lists, deciding which one or two items are the most pivotal and putting energy towards those ones first, then moving on to the next, and so on, are all best practices I have often shared.  And yet, when it came to me, I was unable to recall this simple strategy.  I was unable to let go of the need to find solace in controlling all moving parts, and was equally unable to give myself some grace around not being able to hold onto everything all at once. 

As I absorbed what she said, I felt my body ease, my shoulders slide away from my ears, and for the first time in a few days, I stopped worrying.  Instead, I thought about what the next thing was that I needed to attend to, and focused on that and only that.  Once that was all done, I repeated this exercise, and before I knew it, all that I needed to get done was completed.  I share this because I know I am not alone in this tendency to lose perspective as the demands of life start to pile up.  It is so hard to not look at everything that needs our attention instead of focusing on the one thing that needs our attention now.  I know myself too well to think that this one moment of clarity will change my tendencies going forward.  What I will make an effort to change is how I approach overwhelm the next time it sets in.  Instead of attempting to manage my entire to-do list at once, I will pause and ask the simple question, "What's next?" and will focus my energy there.