How I Organize Tasks When I Feel Overwhelmed

There are times when I sit down to plan my week and I just feel overwhelmed by the number of things rushing through my head. Whenever this happens to me I spend a few more minutes than normal planning. I organize tasks in a way that reduces how overwhelmed I feel. Doing this routine that I made helps me a lot to reorient my brain on the tasks for the week. I get to look at what is actually a priority to focus on, and I can see what might not be urgent and can wait.

Sitting down to really spend time organizing tasks in this way takes maybe 15-20 minutes tops? Planning is basically a hobby for me. As I explain this organizing process, I’ll show pictures of this week’s planner spread. You don’t have to spend as much time as I do, and you definitely do not need washi tape – or even a planner. A piece of paper or electronic note will work. I’m giving you permission not to compare yourself because this is something that I enjoy as an artistic outlet. (Plus, I promise you I’m not even that productive most days.)

Spend time writing down everything

Okay, you’re sitting down and just frozen because your brain is whirring from everything you have to do. I’ve been there. In fact, I was there a few days ago and that’s what inspired this post. The first thing I do is grab a sheet of paper and list absolutely every single thing you can think of. Take as long as you need to make sure you get as much of it out as possible.

I split my tasks into a few different categories right off the bat because it just helps me to focus right away. For me, it makes sense to have a list per “area” of my life that I usually have tasks for. I included routine things (daily, weekly, or monthly), blog, other projects, and a brain dump (miscellaneous) for anything that didn’t fit anywhere else.

Lay out your week

I try to structure my week similarly so I can plan in less time. Efficiency plays a role with most things as a stay-at-home mom. Planning my week is not an exception. Keeping it as simple as possible for the individual lists every day helps. It’s not nearly as overwhelming to plan when I have a consistent routine. I try as hard as I can to assign 3 or so tasks per day so that it feels manageable. Sometimes I just have to do more in a day to fit things in. In general, the more I space it out, the more likely I’ll get a decent amount of tasks completed that week.

Organize tasks that occur weekly

The first thing I write out is any tasks that I do every single week. I don’t want to forget, and I make sure to space them out so it leaves room on each day to focus on important tasks that are not repeated. Weekly tasks are also assigned to a day just to keep it easier and consistent for me. I know that Mondays I meal plan, Tuesdays I grocery shop or run other errands, etc. This makes planning go even faster for me. I don’t have to decide what to put where as much. I already know what day each task goes on, and it isn’t as hard to make decisions.

Add any monthly tasks

Next, I spread out all the tasks I need to do that occur once a month. Since they don’t need to be done every week, I tend to do one or two monthly tasks a week because this way I can make sure they aren’t urgent all at once. I will have the rest of the month to add a monthly task or two every week. The key is to make sure all my reoccurring tasks are accounted for, but spread out so I don’t have as much trouble organizing tasks that are necessary that week.

Prioritize urgent one-time tasks

After I’ve filled out all the necessary weekly and monthly tasks, I work on prioritizing what’s leftover. Remember, I’m trying to spread out tasks enough so that I’m not overwhelmed when I organize tasks for the week. Another important thing here is to think through how much time it will take to complete a task. Is it a 10 minute phone call? Is it a long project with many steps before it’s complete? Asking myself these questions also helps to make sure I am not overwhelmed by tasks during the week. If I don’t have time in the day to do 3 huge projects, I won’t write them all out on one day as a to-do. It just doesn’t make sense to give myself a list that is impossible before I even start working on it that day.

Organize tasks that line up with your goals

Every year I make a goals list. When I’m planning my weeks or month, I have to refer back to it and make sure I’m choosing tasks that are aligned with my goals. If I have any changes in my goals for the year, that’s completely fine. Goals are really for guiding and motivating you. You can still change them or edit them as you go. I make sure that I am working on these all year though, to make sure that I accomplish things that I wanted to at the beginning of the year. It keeps my focus on the longer-term tasks that I gave myself.

Organize tasks that are just for fun because you’re allowed to

When I am really overwhelmed, I organize tasks that I can look forward to. I love to paint my nails, so I make sure to add it in, and that way I remember to care some time out for myself. Also, it’s kind of motivating to check off really easy or fun tasks because it can get the ball rolling. Sometimes I add tasks that are super silly like “pet the dog” because just the act of crossing something off can spark motivation to work on other tasks that day.

Keep the lists you made to use on later weeks

Since I make sure to write down tasks I want to prioritize for the week and make sure each day only has a small number of tasks, there are bound to be tasks I have on my big lists I made first that aren’t squeezed into my week. That’s okay! It’s important to me to stay as flexible as I can with my schedule. I make sure to leave empty spots in my week in case anything comes up. This way I don’t get stressed out if something is added to my day, because in theory, I will have room for it.

As I move through the week and take care of tasks, it frees up items on the big brainstorm lists I made before planning the week. That means when I sit down to plan subsequent weeks, I can insert tasks for those weeks that I didn’t fit into this specific week I am currently planning. I hope that all makes sense.

Don’t beat yourself up for unfinished tasks

Even when I spend time organizing tasks for the week, I still inevitably do not finish every single one. It’s okay. This method helps me to make sure that the most important tasks to me are prioritized every day. Even though I don’t get every single task marked off in a week, usually I get most of the important things taken care of. That alone deserves a participation trophy.

The tasks that go unfinished get migrated over to the next week. This gives me another chance to focus on the task and get it knocked out. When I notice something keeps getting put off for weeks in a row, I ask myself why. Am I avoiding completing the task? I’ll put it as a number one priority and make sure it gets accomplished first thing in a new week.

Is the task not a priority anymore? I might add it back to my brain dump list to accomplish later. Potentially, I remove that task as a whole because it’s not aligned with my priorities anymore.

Do you have questions? Let’s connect in the comments or on social media. I’m glad you took the time to read this post. Make sure you snag a participation trophy before you leave as well. You deserve it for trying to find solutions to being overwhelmed by tasks. Everyone feels overwhelmed by to-dos from time to time. I hope this post gave you some ideas of how to lessen that decision fatigue on which tasks to focus on every day.