Too Much To Do? How To Get Your Life Back

It seems like there is always too much to do.

That urgent project at work. The 122 unanswered emails in your inbox. Your doctor telling you to take up yoga. Your family demanding more attention.

The longer this goes on, the more you lose agency. You are not in control of your life anymore — it controls you.

Let's fix this.

I.

Stop taking on more work.

It’s a paradox — people who are swamped with work will still say “Yes” to new projects, just because someone asked nicely.

This must stop now. From this moment on, you won’t take on any new work. You must stop digging yourself into a hole.

For that, you will have to disappoint the expectations of other people. That can be tricky. But ask yourself what is more important — their wishes? Or your mental health?

II.

Cut out the digital noise.

When there is too much to do, don’t make it worse by exposing yourself to useless information. Quit social media. Stop watching the news. Cancel your Netflix subscription.

This will free up mental bandwidth to handle your heavier-than-usual workload.

III.

Develop a system for processing your thoughts.

Note: The following framework is inspired by David Allen's "Getting Things Done" methodology. I encourage you to check out his book. It's a boring read, but the information is brilliant.

First, get your ideas out of your head and collect them all in the same central place. This is called your inbox. Software like Evernote, OneNote, or Notion is great for that.

Whatever pops into your head goes into your inbox. If you are thinking, "I need to buy shaving cream," write it down. If you are thinking, "What online businesses could I start?" write it down.

The next step is to sort through this amorphous list of "stuff." You want to move each item in your inbox to the appropriate sublist. These sublists are:

• Urgent

• Non-urgent

• Someday/maybe

• General Reference

Urgent. This list is for actionable items that you must get to ASAP. An example — "Submit proposal for new client."

Non-urgent. This list is for actionable items that are non-time sensitive. An example — "Buy power bank."

Someday/maybe. This list is for actionable items that you have not committed to yet. An example — "Learn Mandarin."

General reference. This list is for items that don't contain an immediate action. An example — "Manual for USB mic."

IV.

You must review your lists regularly. The busier you are, the more often you must look at your lists. This will give you the peace of mind that you desire. You will think to yourself, "All my thoughts are laid out in front of me. Nothing is missing. I am in control."

V.

Many people will refuse this process because they feel like they are wasting time. "These productivity nerds get hung up on their systems, while I am actually getting work done!"

But doing for the sake of doing is never the answer. In fact, it’s a type of laziness. You are too lazy to think things through first.

Self-organization is a complex skill to master, like learning a language or playing an instrument. When you choose to ignore that complexity, you will lose control of your life.

But if you do acknowledge that complexity, it will be a game changer. It will enable you to go after your dreams.

I was never a tea person, but since I got to Thailand, I started drinking Oolong tea in the mornings. It's delicious. Also love the soft-boiled eggs they have at 7-Eleven. Four to six of those usually make my breakfast. Oh, and the fresh fruits... Okay, I'll stop.

Until next week,

Niels