Lists and loose ends
The decision to make a list can calm your racing mind lost in Overwhelm. Nasty pressures from Multitasking tend to create a state of overwhelm. We can be in over our heads before we realize it. “So much to do and so little time” is rarely questioned. Lists help us connect loose ends and collect vague thoughts. They offer a sense of quick relief and can rescue us from “the impossible.” Once a task is written on a list we begin to believe it can— and will be done. There is now a comfort zone with premature sense of accomplishment and we move forward with a plan. Control has been restored — even if the task is never completed.
Before view of “Yikes”
Yikes & Likes Lists
After shouting “Yikes” far too often I decided to take a closer look at what all of my screaming was about. I realized “Yikes” sounded like an SOS call — an alarm warning me that something was on overload and needed to be released. Then I saw that “Yikes” didn’t always apply to something dreadful — as if I had just seen a snake! Sometimes I did see a tough task or near impossible obligation I wanted to run from — or completely delete. But, for many of my “Yikes” reactions I could see something exciting had captured too much of my attention and I was recklessly fast-forwarding myself toward it. Yikes moments are usually over-reactions just needing to be calmed, clarified and categorized. Listed, I guess this takes some of the excitement away. But, Yikes & Likes lists are a helpful way to organize just about anything that needs to land in a workable spot. Transforming Yikes to Likes can be a positive move even if they don’t make their way to a proper list.
