Overwhelmed by lists of information
hello, I was wondering if anyone else experienced this or had ways to deal with it.
I regularly hear the advice to break up tasks into steps or write my thoughts into a list. However every time I do this, I end up getting overwhelmed by the amount of information I see all at once. I can’t focus on one item at a time, and if I leave and come back to the list I don’t really know where to pick up. I end up abandoning the list because I get extremely anxious whenever I look at it and/or I had a take such a long break from looking at it that information feels unorganized or out of date. It is frustrating because I will work so long to write out and organize all the information but end up not using it, then I get embarrassed by the many lists of things of work I abandoned and accumulated. It’s a cycle I don’t really know how to break.
for example, I will make a list of all the things I need to prepare to apply for a job, but eventually start feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information rather than organized. I’ll take a break to do something else and when I get back to it I’ll see all the mistakes or things I need to improve in multiple items and won’t know where to start. Maybe I’ll try to do one thing but hit a roadblock, like not knowing who to address my email to or realizing it will take me even longer to fix a paragraph I wrote. Then the list of stuff to get done gets longer, etc…
ive learned the most productive route for me is to have 1 random specific task to create something in 1 sitting, because I do well when I can think in my head what needs to be done from start to finish. The task can’t be from a list or the previous happens. sometimes I get motivation from knowing I can do 1 thing all at once but I don't always get motivated. And of course, not all tasks can be done in one go.
all in all I get demotivated and my inner thoughts become very negative on myself. I really would like to figure out what works best for me to be the most productive, so I can have a go-to method rather than go through this anxious cycle.
Thanks for reading, this is my first time posting.
@cutedoggosalad hello ❤ yep I struggle with this too. But I find, you already know in your head what has to be done. So instead of planning times and dates to get things done. Just wake up and don't plan anything, enjoy your morning coffee, allow yourself to wake up to a brand new day where anything is possible. That way I find I'm not overwhelmed by tasks, and I'm more productive in the day ❤ also keep reminding yourself that if it doesn't get done today or tommorow, it'll still be there the day after, so no worries.
hugs you tightly ❤I hope this helps ❤
@cutedoggosalad
The list theory is a tool that works for some but not others .... i really found it not useful in my world either.
making lists is time consuming to formulate and then as life happens it often does not go down a list. sometimes you need to deal with item #6 before item #3 ... sometimes we do not even see or know a step we missed putting on the list....
.people organize and do things differently ............and those who are not list people ...... often feel overwhelmed or confused when trying to do lists.......... that may work perfectly fine for others DOES not work for me .... we then overthink that we must be doing it wrong etc.......... find what works for you instead of trying to conform to some other persons idea of lists are the only way to do things...