I haven't blogged in three weeks. In trying to use this as a chance to deliberately let go a little, I've learned something important: breaks are, in fact, O.K., even if we feel otherwise.

I'm a sucker for a YouTube video about self-improvement. Over the years I've consumed thousands of hours of content about decluttering and organizing and minimalism and cleaning and building better habits and maximizing my productivity. For a while I found this content really helpful. But I feel like more these days, I instead get an unsettling pit in my stomach and a whispered voice in my head that says, you'll never be improved enough. Despite all your hard work, you stil

Have you ever felt like the only way your life would be in order is if you made a time-blocked agenda for the week, scheduling your time down to the minute and slotting in every task you can think of to meet every goal you can think of for yourself? There's a word for that, my friends: hypervigilance.

I don’t think we talk enough about the value of a peaceful, streamlined environment for combatting overwhelm. We might talk a good game about how nice it is to have a clean house and the laundry done and no piles on the kitchen counter. But we don't do (or don't know how to do) the work to get us there.

Here's to all the women behind the scenes (who should have gotten so much more credit).

As an HSP I absolutely hate "busy" (which for me equals overwhelm), and I'm on a mission to obliterate it for myself—and, I hope, for all of you, my wonderful readers.

I've been thinking a lot about productivity and perfectionism. And let me be someone who can reassure you: not every day needs to be (or even can be) a superhero day ... go easy on yourself.

Learn more about what the Medieval Studies Research blog and the role I've been delighted to play in its development.

How do we carve out legato time when the world seems designed to keep us in staccato mode?

Do you make New Year's resolutions? I don't—hear me out.

How did I get to this week of peace and a little Christmas magic? In large part, I went by feel (a classic HSP tool).

One of my absolute favorite books about conquering procrastination is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Overcoming Procrastination, by L. Michelle Tullier, Ph.D.

Anyone stressed as the holidays kick into high gear? My hand is raised.

May you take a quiet moment this week to reflect on the beautiful harvest you've gathered to yourself.

I've really taken some lessons forward from my time off, and I want to share those gentle reminders with you.

When overwhelm threatens, remember that one of your best defensive responses is delegation!

Sometimes if we try a little something outside our norm, some fun things will probably happen.

For the sake of our sanity, my dear overwhelmed overachievers, we need a fall break.

"The most dramatic, effective way to boost your productivity is to completely avoid e-mail for the first hour of the day."

You know that feeling when you wake up in the morning with good intentions, and then suddenly it's 1 a.m. and you're still working? Yeah. I've been living that reality for longer than I care to admit. And a couple Mondays ago I ran myself into a brick wall at 90 miles an hour like a 1980s crash test dummy.