Terrified To Look At Your Calendar? Ask Yourself This Question.
‘Who are you doing this for?’
Lately, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed. Which is to say, I’ve been afraid of my calendar. Its colourful mosaic (yes, I am one of those people who colour-codes event types: red is for important, green is for self-education and wellbeing, blue is for work, etc.) stares at me with a stern look and judges me for not doing everything on time.
The worst part of it is that 80% of my calendar events aren’t even things I need to do — they’re things I want to do, which means I am the only one responsible for feeling overwhelmed (which, in turn, makes me feel guilty and overwhelmed; how about that!).
One of the hardest parts of freelancing is not that you have a lot of work but a lot of different work. Switching back and forth between projects takes an enormous toll on your mental capacity. And when you add self-study courses, personal commitments, and various wants and needs to the mix, not to mention your actual work (let’s not forget about paying the bills, alright), getting overwhelmed is pretty much inevitable.
When I get overwhelmed, I get stressed and annoyed (mostly with myself), and my frustration is visible — smoke comes out of both of my ears, like in Disney cartoons — or palpable by those who live with me.
