The anxiety kept ramping up last Wednesday as my normally manageable “to do list” kept getting bigger and bigger.

This was not do to procrastination. Unfortunately, after a full week of little to zero rest and an abundance of nasty viruses floating around our neck of the woods, I was taken down hard for three straight days.

During those days (Sunday through Tuesday last week) I forced myself to do a couple of immediate necessities, but that’s all I had the strength for.

On Wednesday, operating at about 65% of my normal capabilities, I started taking stock of everything that had been falling behind. My emails to answer, my interviews to do, my stories to write, my podcasts to schedule, the social media posts needing done for several entities, and the list goes on.

That doesn’t even include the family schedule which is an ongoing task day in and day out. I’m going to post a “day in the life” story soon, so don’t sweat each of the details.

So, it was last Wednesday, when I wasn’t operating at 100% and staring down a list that was feeling more insurmountable by the minute that I began feeling the anxiety creep up to the surface.

I started feeling guilty for having been sick. I started feeling like I just wanted to crawl into bed for another three days. I started feeling shaky and stressed and like a huge weight was pushing down on me. I could feel a spiral into a deep, dark place coming on.

Thankfully I caught myself and began to use a tried and true calming technique taught to me by a wonderful mental health professional.

I closed my eyes and I started to breath slowly and deliberately. Inhale slowly through the nose, hold for a couple of seconds, and then exhale through the mouth. Repeating in a methodical way until I was calm and ready to think logically.

First, I told myself “you’re still sick, pick some low hanging fruit, get it crossed off the list and then go rest again.” After all, I’m no use to anyone if I’m still sick in a week because I didn’t rest.

Second, I made a new and manageable list that was spread over a few days (I tend to complete tasks all seven days each week to allow for easier daily workloads). Prioritizing items that were absolutely necessary to be done each day and then adding the rest in where it made sense.

I tend to do this weekly and have a fluid to do list for all the organizations I work with through employment or volunteer, but when you have three days missing, it throws it out of whack.

Third, I reminded myself that it’s not the end of the world if not everything on the list is completed as long as I worked hard and tried my best to get it done. I did manage to knock off 90% of the list as of Sunday night, so I was in decent shape heading into Monday morning.

This morning (Monday, April 14), I woke up and did a little more from the list to pretty much complete the must-dos from the three days I missed and the subsequent catch-up days.

Having an old school work ethic can be an incredible boon most of the time. But, when the work ethic and how much you’ve taken on causes too much stress, it’s important to take a few breaths and reassess the situation.

It’s usually not as bad as it seems in the moment. Take it from someone with experience, you have the power within you to manage the seemingly unmanageable.

If this helps even one person today or tomorrow or whenever, I’m happy I shared.

Ciao for Now!