A little too much to handle...

I'm knee deep in problems.... I'll have to deal with them... all by myself, it's overwhelming, I wish I could hide somewhere.

so many problems, so much work to do at the moment, don't know which one of them to focus on first.

Why do I keep doing this to myself? last year I promised myself that I wouldn't take things for granted so much. Why can't t I get things going unless I'm facing a deadline or feel under intense pressure? Why do I wait until the very last moment before I start working on something? I don't think it's healthy, as I'm stressing out so much at the moment.

It's almost as if I can't work unless I feel the pressure of failure and consequences that follow.

a lot of people are like this, so you are not alone.

can you impose deadlines on yourself?

break down tasks into small steps. set reasonable goals. you will have x done by y or set a consequence for yourself. when you get it done, really congratulate yourself for your success, then set a new goal. the more you do this, the better you will feel about yourself.

Hi brokenentity, well it says a lot about you that you can get stuff done when you're facing a deadline or under intense pressure!!!
So seriously good on you for that, for some people that can be a factor in not getting things done
But I can completely understand how things can mount up and feel overwhelming without "absolutes". So do you think you could set your own deadlines........mark them on a calender or somewhere that's going to really get your attention??
And in doing that maybe prioritise things to deal with?? You could do the easier things first to kind of flow into the harder things, or harder things first to get them out of the way, or do things that have been waiting longer first, or maybe you have urgent and less urgent tasks first????
It might help to pick off things to deal with one by one and only focus on one thing at once or if it helps do a bit of one thing and then a bit of another if your attention is slipping on the first thing???
Maybe set a time scale where you'll work on something for half an hour/an hour (??) before having a break and then come back to it after quarter of an hour/half an hour (??) and so on and so on???
And think about some rewards for yourself, hey?? After you've done x, you'll have/do.......something rewarding???
And if something's boring then can you find any ways to make it more interesting, or find different ways to do it???
But it might help as well pinpointing any things that are stopping you from "getting down to it" e.g. distractions you can remove..............
And hey, ask for help from people if you need to as well.
Perhaps it's a bit about finding "systems" that work for you.
And the stress............what about finding times you can relax, or something relaxing you can do as well!!!
You can only do as much as you can remember..........got to have a bit of "time out"
So..........I can see you're really capable, remember you can get things done, you've shown that!!! Just about making things a little easier for you, right........and experimenting with ways that can help you??

Alison

thank you my friends, I will reply soon, im currently swamped with work

Yup... I can relate to this. It was the story of my academic life...

Tell me about it.

I'm the same way. Can't get anything done without some messed up motivation from pressure. It's like the adrenaline rush from deadlines and stress keep me going. I don't know why. I know this doesn't help you any, but you're not alone in this.

Thank you. It's always nice to be able to relate to someone

Thanks for asking, brokenentity. It's kind-of a long story. I think what I'll do is write a Thread about it, sometime later today or over the weekend. I'll P.M. you when it's up.

Frankbtl and kaliope-great answers...tricks all of us can use.tks

Hello everyone. I'm finding it too hard to cope with, there's too much stuff to do and too little time and determination. I feel like I should prioritize, but my environment isn't letting me think too well.

Wow...I could have written what you just did. That's why I found this site...

Now I feel guilty...that other people are in the same boat and I somehow feel better....what a sardonic twist, huh? (Why do I find this funny???)

Hi brokenentity, are you sure everything you're thinking about doing "has to be" done. Thinking about it real objectively, is there anything on your list that you could strike off for now?? Might not be great if you don't get it done, but is it really going to be that bad if you don't do it??
And your environment.........any little things you can do about that to help you just a bit??? e.g. if it's sidetracking your thoughts/feelings elsewhere is there anything you can do to try to block that even if it's around putting on some music and trying to absorb yourself in that and one of your tasks.
Or maybe take something/s away from your environment to do e.g. if you've got college work then is there a library, park or somewhere else you could do it??
And for prioritising..........is there anyone who can help you just a bit with any of the tasks?? If so is it worth focusing on those??? Or waiting till that someone might be available and carrying on with something else???
But if prioritizing is just holding you back from getting anything done, either go with what you feel you can/should do or make it random e.g. write down the main/doable tasks on seperate pieces of paper, put them in an envelope and pull one out to focus on.
And if you can't get everything done, well...........you can't. Try not "beat yourself up" over something that's impossible anyway. You can only do what you can, and if you can get just something/s done that at least takes off the pressure a little, right??

Alison

Perhaps you need a " coach"... someone who can help you establish goals & prioritize...