little life rules (by booked & bailey)
I'm an anxious person with a demanding job that has me working 10-hour days sometimes; so to say life regularly feels overwhelming and chaotic would be an understatement. Well, summer vacation is over :( and that means returning to the mess that is my workplace.
Back in October, booked & bailey wrote on Substack about rules that help her bring order to her life and make it less chaotic and disorganized.
Two questions posed in the text stuck in my mind, circling over and over until I allowed myself to sit down for a few minutes with pen and paper to reflect on them. They are:
- What can I do to make this week a success?
- What is my responsibility?
Both questions served as my guiding light when planning my return to work. The feeling of overwhelm upon facing my endless to-do list faded away, item by item. There was no need to complete everything as quickly as possible. There was no need to shoulder a task alone that could be done as a group and shared. Success (scrawled in black ink on a blue Post-it note) manifested as just three tasks that could not be postponed.
This new perspective helped me set priorities, easing my anxiety and putting my outstanding tasks into perspective. Not everything is as urgent—or solely our responsibility—as our minds make it seem.
(I wonder how long this will last...)