Garden-Florida

When Overwhelmed

With one thing after another unexpectedly occupying my attention these past few weeks, I have fallen hopelessly behind with garden chores. And late summer is unforgiving in Florida. Rain and sunshine energize weeds to overtake the garden at an astonishing speed. As do vines and pretty much everything else.

I look at my overgrown gardens and I am overwhelmed. Looking at this work is enough to sap my energy. Why does thinking about work feel more exhausting than the actual work? Where to begin? I need a plan of attack. There’s too much that needs doing. The situation is overwhelming and impossible. Perhaps I’ll tackle it tomorrow when I’m a little more rested.

But tomorrow arrives with a dozen unexpected demands on my time, coming from every direction at once. Oh well, the yard work can wait.

Sure. Yard work can wait. The weeds don’t mind. They are thriving and cheerfully scattering their seed in a gusting wind. The vines stretch out ever farther, threatening to smother a small tree. Work that appeared overwhelming yesterday is even more so today.

Time to take action.

Where to begin?

I have discovered that the worst thing to do is spend time assessing all the work needing attention. This will overwhelm, and make it too tempting to put off for another day.

With any overwhelming task, I find the best approach is to not think about the totality. Start wherever you’re at. Pull up one weed. Then another. It doesn’t matter where you begin, just begin. One simple task. Then another simple task. Trim back that vine. Prune those limbs. One task at a time, and after a bit – Progress!

This seems to be true no matter the task. No reason to dwell on everything that needs doing. Put that same energy into pulling up that first weed.