I’ve been learning lately that sometimes the best way for me to actually get things done is to break down all my tasks. Instead of trying to do EVERYTHING at once, I do one thing, take a breather, and then get back to the next task. I know I don’t have to get everything done today, I can get it done tomorrow or the next day, so I make my to-do lists and prioritize the things that actually need to be done. It sounds like such a little change, but it really does make things easier for me because I’m not looking at this huge list of everything I need to accomplish and feeling like I have to tackle it all at once.

Of course, I’m still working on the whole “don’t let things pile up and then try to do everything in one day” thing. 😂 Basically anything that would make my life easier is something I probably still struggle with! I already know what happens to my body when I try to do too much in one day, and yet sometimes I still find myself thinking, “I’ll just get this done too.” Yeah… we all know how that usually ends. 😂 I’m learning that pacing myself doesn’t mean I’m getting less done. Actually, I usually get more accomplished because I’m not completely wiped out afterward.

And then we have the rutabagas. 😂 Y’all know what I’m talking about! Those things took me quite a while to get through. They took a lot of work to get cubed, into the bags, and finally freezer-bound, and I remember thinking that it was a LOT of work. But man, do you get a lot out of them! Now I can open my freezer and see all those bags of vegetables ready to go, and suddenly all that work doesn’t seem quite so bad. It’s funny how sometimes something can feel like such a huge job while you’re doing it, but once it’s finished, you realize just how much you actually accomplished.

I think we’ve all had it drilled into us to focus on the BIG things. The big goal, the big change, the big accomplishment. We don’t always stop and think about all the little steps it takes to get there. I’ve definitely changed the way I look at that because I celebrate all of it now! If I get one thing done, that’s something. If I make one small change that makes tomorrow easier, that’s something. If I take a breather instead of pushing myself until my body is screaming at me, that’s something too. All those little things count, and when you start adding them together, they can actually become something pretty big.

When I look at the changes I’ve made recently, I don’t think they happened because of one big decision. There have definitely been a couple of big decisions that had a huge part to play in everything, but honestly, it has been lots of little decisions adding up too. One little thing here, another little thing there, making a different choice, setting a boundary, changing a routine, slowing down, and eventually you look around and realize you’ve actually moved quite a distance from where you started.

I think that’s where we sometimes get stuck. We look at the BIG picture and think, “How the heck am I ever going to get there?” 😂 We see everything that needs to change, everything we want to accomplish, and it can become so overwhelming that we don’t even know where to start. But you don’t have to figure out every single step at once.

If someone were sitting across the table from me right now telling me they wanted to change their life but felt completely overwhelmed, I’d tell them to take it slow. Now, if you’re not in a safe situation, that’s completely different. I never want anyone staying in an unsafe situation, and that’s when you need to reach out to someone you trust or a professional who can help, whether that’s the police, a counselor, a crisis nurse, or someone else who can help you get to safety. But if you’re in a safe situation and you’re simply overwhelmed because you don’t know where to start, then start small.

Pick one really easy thing you can change. Maybe it’s saying no to something simple, maybe it’s setting a small boundary and actually keeping it, or maybe it’s just changing one little thing that you know would make your day easier. Start there and keep building from it.

But I think the most important step is knowing what you want at the end. Write it down. Seriously. Write down what you want your life to look like, then start figuring out all the little steps that are going to get you there. And when I say little steps, I mean micro steps. You don’t have to figure out the whole staircase before you take the first step. You just need to know what that next little step is, take it, and then figure out the next one.

That’s what I’m learning too. I don’t have to get everything done today, and I don’t have to change everything at once. I can make a list, decide what actually needs to be done, do one thing, take a breather, and then move on to the next thing. Some days I might get a whole bunch accomplished and other days I might only get a couple of things done, but that doesn’t mean I’ve failed. It just means that’s what that day looked like.

And honestly, sometimes those little things are the ones that end up making the biggest difference. Those rutabagas are a perfect example. 😂 They took forever to get through, but now they’re sitting in my freezer ready for future kitchen chaos, and I’m pretty darn happy I did it.

So if you’re sitting across the table from me with your coffee and feeling like your life is just too overwhelming to know where to begin, don’t worry about everything. Don’t worry about the whole mountain. Pick one little thing. Just one. Do that one thing, and then give yourself credit for doing it.

Because those little steps matter. They really do.

Maybe I don’t need to change everything. Maybe I just need to change one small thing today, and that is just perfect for now. 💜☕

Until next time, grab your coffee, take a breath, and remember that you don’t have to do everything today. Take it one little step at a time, celebrate the progress you’re making, and don’t forget to give yourself credit for how far you’ve already come.

Love Always,
☕💜 Shelly