The following is a sample of my weekly organizing quick tip. If you don’t yet subscribe, you can sign up here.

Maybe this sounds familiar: Your task load is huge and growing faster by the minute. You feel as if you’ll never get it all done. You’re stressed, overwhelmed and ready to scream!

No matter how terrific you are at managing your time and to-do list, from time to time, we all let more onto our plate than we can comfortably handle. Inevitably, we feel overwhelmed and frustrated. Perhaps you’ve taken on a new project and it’s taking more of your time than you anticipated, or it’s your busiest time of year in terms of outside activities for your kids or yourself. Whatever the cause of to-do list overload, it’s much harder to get things done when you’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed. So try this little trick to help relieve these feelings and get back on track.

Pull out a piece of paper and pen and write the following at the top:  I will get more done if I focus on one thing at a time. Below this friendly reminder, list everything you feel needs your time and attention right now. By doing a “brain dump” of everything that’s vying for your attention, you get a sanity check on your priorities. Once your list is finished, ask yourself “What is the one most important thing for me to work on right now?” Select your item and then get busy focusing all your energy on that one task.

Remember, you will get more done if you focus on just one thing at a time. So select your highest priority task, capture anything that starts to vie for your attention on your to-do list, and keep moving forward one task at a time.

What do you do when you’re feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list? I’d love to hear what works for you. Thanks for sharing!