Stymied

All of us get overwhelmed.  Sometimes it's in our personal lives.  Sometimes it's in our professional lives.  Sometimes it's in both at the same time.

Some folks seem to get completely stymied when feeling the endless crush of life bearing down on them.  Here are some typical symptoms of the stymied:

• Busyness - They move relentlessly from one inconsequential task to another.
• Attention Deficit - They don't finish thoughts, sentences, emails, projects, or meals without jumping right into the next.
• Fuzziness - They not only lose focus on what's important, they seem to forget that they even know what's important.

Other folks I know manage overwhelmedness with much more aplomb.  Traits (or, habits) of the un-stymied:

• Re-focusing - These folks make a habit of regularly revisiting the main drivers of their lives and professional pursuits, keeping them psychologically (and logically) moving toward their chosen goals.
• Gear down instead of speed up - These folks build into their days/lives minutes of purposeful reflection or solitude or reading, somehow - an emotional/psychological habit of resetting, if you will. 
• Finishing - They make the conscious decision to spend their energy primarily on stuff that matters, and to deliberately, persistently bring those projects/tasks to completion.

When we allow ourselves to be stymied by overwhelming circumstances, we open the door to less energy, less passion, less effectiveness, less learning, less...LIFE.

We can do better.