16. Too much to do? Do this to relieve stress and shorten that to do list

Does it feel like your to-do list never ends? Like the more you do, the more you get to do? Like time and control are slipping out of your hands? It's a common feeling when there's too much going on in life. And the more you do, the worse off you'll be.

Today I'm going to talk about why we get more stressed when we're stressed, how the brain creates this vicious cycle. I'm also going to talk about how to break it and give concrete tools and examples to calm your brain and make your schedule more manageable.

 

Key takeaways

When we get stressed, activity in the irrational part of the brain increases and rational brain activity decreases. This causes us to make decisions that give us more and more to do.

A good way to deal with this is to write a list of what you have to do, and what the consequences will be if you don't do it. Then reexamine your thoughts by questioning whether there is evidence that it will work out that way? You can especially look for if you think you can predict the future, have a too high minimum level or think you can read minds.