Overwhelmed? There's a Light at the End of That Tunnel!
I gave myself a pep talk this morning. I need it and it seems to have worked. I went to bed last night feeling sorry for myself. I’m in renovation mode at home so things are a mess and we’re suddenly dealing with potentially expensive repairs. I’ve had two sick children this week. I have company coming this weekend. And, my to-do list for work is a MESS. Like…a big one! I thought I’d earned the right to feel sorry for myself. But what good will that do me?
So, what did I do? I started counting my blessings, made an action plan, and then I did something productive for myself. A few months ago I was given a review copy of Alphatudes the alphabet of gratitude. This is a book that could change anyone’s outlook. I haven’t written my formal review of the book yet but it is now my desk side companion. I highly recommend counting your blessings when things feel abysmal.
One of the things I get paid to write is resumes. I see a lot of people who are having a real rough time finding work and earning money. Many of them share their personal stories on their resume questionnaire. Thinking about joblessness certainly puts things into perspective for me. Sure, some of them are doing a new resume to get a better job but many have been out of work for months or even longer and are facing serious stress because of it. When I think about that, I don’t feel as bad about my huge list of money-making tasks ahead. Getting through a long to-do list is going to be productive financially and will probably bring some more profitable future jobs my way as well.
“Make Money from Thin Air…”
A writing friend said something once that helps put things into perspective and makes me feel grateful every time I recall it. I can’t remember where she said it but Courtney Ramirez once commented to the effect that freelance writers can create money from thin air. So true! I love that I can sit down and make money by doing something I love. It’s not always an easy life but it could be much worse!
So today I made a decision to get some stuff done so I could breathe easier.
- I made a list of priorities to accomplish. Knowing what really needs to be done helps me focus instead of feeling overwhelmed.
- I am going to set timers today to stay on target and I’m going to feel good after each checkmark.
- I’ve chosen to to let the stress go and enjoy some r&r time this weekend when company arrives.
- I’ve decided to do something for me today. (I did that just before writing this post.)
I took 30 minutes and made a big checkmark on something that’s been procrastinated on my to-do list for a while. I spent $8.81 on myself and moved my old blog The Writer’s Blog to its own domain at http://thefreelancewritersblog.com. It’s not done yet but it’s moved, at least. It has been sitting on Blogspot since 2007 when I started it. I’ve been planning to eventually move it for a few years but never took the time. Less than 30 minutes, less than $9, a beautiful WordPress magical ‘import’ button… and it’s done. That feels pretty darn good. It also puts things even further into perspective and reminds me that things that feel like mountains to climb could, in reality, take you just a few minutes to accomplish. Off I go to tackle that to-do list with passion and gratefulness. Have a fantastic day!
photo: http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=234266
Article by Dana Prince
Dana Prince is a writer, web marketing consultant, and prolific blogger. She’s so prolific that she’s actively seeking a 12-step program for blogoholics. (Really, she's only pretending to seek such a program. Mostly, she just likes to talk about her addiction.)
Dana has written 43 awesome articles for us at Get Paid to Write Online
Twitter: @danaprince | Facebook
{ 8 comments }
Twitter: shurleyhall
June 18, 2010 at 11:19
Way to go, Dana. That blog definitely deserves its own piece of internet real estate.
Twitter: danaprince
June 18, 2010 at 11:38
Thanks, Sharon. I know how easy it is to do that and yet I procrastinated for years. Glad it’s finally done!
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What an encouraging post, Dana! It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed, which can make us lose our perspective. Thanks for sharing such positive and encouraging advice! So often we need reminders like these to help restore the right perspective, which in turn helps us become more productive. But, even more than that, it helps us live the writing life with gusto! After all, we are really so fortunate to be able to do what we love!
Just love Courtney’s quote, by the way!
Thanks to the reference for Alphatudes- I periodically write a gratitude journal, taking a few minutes every morning to note the positives in my life. It helps.
I look forward to seeing your ‘new’ home.
Walker wants you to read Tips on How to Start Blogging, Part 2
A post worthy of framing and reading every day. I also love Courtney’s quote! Thank you, Dana.
Hi Dana,
Great post – and something that I can (unfortunately or fortunately?!) relate to at the minute.
I’m a pretty positive guy. I always think the glass is half full and tend to treat problems as tasks, looking at them more of a puzzle that I need to solve.
I came back from holiday earlier this week, though and just felt…ugh. I’d spent a week doing nothing but reading books, lazing by the sea and enjoying good food.
Coming back and trying to write news pieces, think up ideas for articles and blog posts and apart from seeming somewhat laborious, I started to question what I was actually doing it for.
I mean, if I enjoyed sitting around reading all day, why do I work so much? I could cut my workload and spend hours each day doing nothing buy reading.
Plus, I usually come back from holiday and feel massively invigorated and jump straight back into working. To be honest, I was a bit…surprised (?) that I didn’t feel like this.
But then, well, I give my self a kick up the arse!
I realised that since January this year, I’d done nothing but work. 70 and 80 hour weeks have been the norm over the past 6 months and it kind of just clicked that I needed a break – but a week wasn’t long enough.
I stopped working, went out for the day and, probably most importantly, didn’t take my phone – which also meant no on-the-go e-mails.
The next day, I hadn’t been so focused! I got ahead of schedule with my usual work and even managed to complete work I’d been putting off for weeks, which included setting up my own blog (I bought the domain name 6 months ago – argh! – but a week to go and we should finally be ready to go live).
This obvious doesn’t apply to everyone and every situation, but I think that a good break from work – including no work mobile! – can do you the world of good. Much more than you actually probably think.
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Dana, thank you so much for sharing the struggles and triumphs as a writer. I tend to agree with Jack Canfield who stated the importance of taking days off on purpose in order to recoup. The strange beauty of this method is that you produce more work while the other writers are stressed out beyond belief. Who would have thought that rest could produce work? In the immortal words of Quick Draw McDraw: “Who’d thunk it?”
Congratulations on getting some of your dreaded to do lists tasks out of the way. I always find that when you just sit down and tell your self that you have to do it, there is no getting around it this time, then it turns out to be a lot easier/faster than you thought it would be. By the way, I always make lists and set timers for myself too. It makes me at least two times as productive
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