Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.
- Walt Whitman
With less than two weeks to go till my next trip I am obviously in the middle of my well familiar pre-trip chaos.
There are lists in a myriad different places, tickets strewn among what feels like a million email accounts. (Cause why book them all on the same account? That would make things too easy.)
Bus to the airport, flight to London, bus to Glasgow, trains to various places and a few campsite bookings.
My Packing lists, which are all the same and yet all slightly different. (Cause again, why make things easier.)
WhatsApp chats with the gang and general decentralised utter madness.
I do it every time, I try to keep things simple and in the process somehow manage to make it more and more inscrutable the closer it gets to my leaving date.
The organising gets overwhelming and I consequently start to procrastinate to the last minute for an epic melt-down scramble about 2 days in advance.
I am determined to NOT do that this time round!
So here I am, desperately trying to combine my multiple packing lists into something vaguely cohesive, printing out tickets which I inevitably lose or accidentally crumple or just straight up forget where I put them. It's a struggle and part of me is waiting and hoping for the hyperfocus to kick in so I can actually get my shit together.
I come up with strategies to avoid the chaos but it somehow manages to seep through and overwhelm me.
So far however I always managed to bring most of the things necessary plus a surplus of stuff I genuinely don’t need.
On my first day in Bangkok I got rid of a multitude of items I, to this day, do not know why I brought. I packed a pair of sandals for example that I knew gave me blisters, I brought clothes that I didn’t like wearing and a bunch of knick knacks no one in their right mind would bring on an extended trip through South East Asia.
On the flipside I had bought new headphones and a quite expensive power bank that I promptly forgot on the plane.
I guess that's what they call the ADHD Tax.
So what do I do?
1. Breath & Soothe
Whenever I get overwhelmed I try to focus on my breath and remember that I managed to work things out in the past so I will again. Sometimes this works great, sometimes less so. Focus on our breath can soothe our nervous system, which helps to clear our mind. I remind myself that my plans will probably not go as smoothly as I want them to but that this is not the end of the world. I do the best I can and deal with the rest as it comes up.
I am resourceful and capable. I have proven this in the past and focus on the evidence for that.
2. Break tasks up into smaller chunks
Instead of saying “I need to pack and get organised and prepare and research and do all the things now!!” I break it up into bitesized sessions ideally 20-30 minute sessions in which I plan to do one thing and one thing only. I usually start by sitting down with my calendar and write a list of tasks I need to tackle. Then I plan those time slots into my calendar. I usually use the pomodoro method and adjust the timespans depending on my focus capabilities. Sometimes this is literally 5 minutes on 5 minutes off, I try to work with what I’ve got and where I’m at on any given day.
3. Find an Accountability Buddy
This is a practice that helps me tremendously, I usually just ask a friend to check in on me and my progress. This doesn’t need to be more than a quick text a couple times a week, alternatively if we both have time we meet up for a chat, whether that's online or in person. This makes me more likely to actually accomplish my goals seeing as it’s not just me anymore.
4. Give myself time to rest
Similarly to planning in my time slots to do the work I also try to schedule rest periods where I don’t have to feel bad about not being productive. This is often uncomfortable as my default programming is very “Go! Go! Go!”
I often feel guilty when not doing things but planning it into my schedule relieves some of the anxiety that comes with it.
I plan to watch YouTube or some shitty Netflix show and can feel safe in knowing that I put aside this time to do so. Again, this is a bit hit and miss and doesn’t always work but I am consciously making an effort to stick to this practice and sit through the discomfort to get to the other side.
5. Accept that it will be
Lastly, I am actively working on letting go of the mind drama I create for myself by reminding myself that what will be will be. I can not control everything as much as I might want to and most importantly I am not responsible for other peoples experiences or thoughts.
Accept that it will be chaotic.
Accept that it will be uncomfortable at times.
Accept that it will be!
These are just some of the strategies I try to implement into my day to day when the pre-trip chaos hits or when I simply get overwhelmed with the world around me. They help even if they definitely aren't foolproof.
What are some of the strategies you use to deal with overwhelm?
Let me know in the comments!
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