When feeling overwhelmed in any place with any project or task, I tell myself just doing one thing will help me feel better. So, when my space is full of clutter, usually papers, I start with one thing I can do and that makes me feel lighter. It usually leads to one or two other things, and then pretty soon things are looking and feeling better.

When there’s a project I’m avoiding, I tell myself I could work on it for 15 minutes or an hour, some amount of time that doesn’t send me running the other way, even five minutes.
If I find myself in a social situation that’s awkward, I mentally go over my options, head to the bathroom (a quick reboot), smile, ask someone a question, leave graciously, go outside etc. How do you know what’s the right answer? The ‘right’ answer will feel the best to you.

With love, Jackie