Accidentally in Code

Just about everyone gets overwhelmed sometimes, and many of us deal with that by working harder. This is a reasonable response to a single unexpected thing, or a bad week, but it’s not the right response to systematic overwhelm. Then you need to stop asking the question “what do I do next” (or worse: “how am I going to do everything?!?”) and ask a different one:

What would make next week better for future-me?

When you’re overwhelmed, current you is SOL. Future you doesn’t have to be. What can you do for them?

Working harder isn’t the answer, and you know this because if it was going to work, it would have by now. Also you can’t operate at your max capacity week in week out, because something will happen. You’ll get tired. You’ll get sick. The vacation you booked months ago will suddenly be next week. Something will go wrong. Your exec will demand something you hadn’t accounted for.

When you’re overwhelmed, thinking about future you, and picking one thing, small enough that you can do it while still drowning, is how you dig out of the hole. Maybe the first one won’t feel like it made a big difference. But enough of them, and it will.

The bonus: this isn’t only a way out of overwhelm. It’s how you build slack, so you have capacity when the opportunity comes, or the unexpected bad thing does.