Are you struggling to make progress on your writing (or other projects) right now? Start intentionally badly. Write something awful for 5 minutes.

When you’re overwhelmed, don’t just keep pushing through. I know too many fellow high achievers who feel so much pressure to perform that they just keep trying to knock out their to-do lists—and hamster-wheel themselves into the ground.

In observance of Memorial Day

With the end of the semester and the mountain of wrap-up that goes with it, I have had overwhelm on my mind more than ever. Last week I wrote about my top tips for managing email overwhelm. Now I want to turn to another big overwhelm trap: the to-do list. But surprise! I actually don’t keep a to-do list. Instead, I use my calendar, and I have a wish list on the side. Let me tell you why.

If your email inbox looks anything like mine, the message count is far too high and the energy for clearing it is far too low. Inbox zero feels impossible, especially when even one email can sap your brain power and will to live. But there are simple strategies that actually work when you're running on empty. From Post-it tracking and timed sprints to body doubling and sensory boosts, here are a few quick email wins that help me chip away at the pile—even on the days I'd rath

This particular Monday was a strangely-split day: the first half was victorious, in which I knocked out something I've been procrastinating for weeks. The second half was a vicious struggle, when a plumbing emergency struck. But I persevered, and I did so because of great support systems.

My robot vacuum ate some of my jigsaw puzzle pieces and I didn't discover the crime scene until I emptied the dustbin a week later. A funny mishap turned into a meditation on how one new variable can throw off a trusted routine—and why, when we're overwhelmed, small problems can feel enormous.

Stuck in the messy middle of a draft? Four strategies to move from tangled ideas to finished writing — without waiting for perfection that never comes.

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.