Do you ever feel you cant do it all, so you dont do anything?

[Indiaplain]

Hard to explain the thread title, but do you ever get so overwhelmed with the mountain of tasks that you just feel paralysed and mumsnet (or whatever) instead?

I'm working from home today. DC are at my parents house. My house is absolute tip. Piles of washing to do/put away, kitchen to clean etc etc

Work is full on. I NEED to prioritise that. But I have had a few days annual leave and my inbox is just relentless. Plus the actual work I have to do once through my emails.

I just cant do it. I'm pacing my house, or just staring at my screen. I dont know where to start. Probably starting threads on mn is not a great idea.

This is me. I absolutely excel at this. I sometimes feel a to do list is pointless for me as it just sitting mocking me and I end up copying it out over and over.

A classic for me was when I got into watching Selling Sunset on Prime during the day. I mean, WTF, I've got a job, 3 kids, a house, a garden and no fecking time!! I then end up working all evening of course then the housework doesn't get done, the kids don't spend enough time with me etc etc. Vicious circle.

Sometimes, I race through things and I'm on fire but sometimes, when it's just me in the house (quite rare until recently due to lockdowns/husband off sick from work long-term, pre-school child, school holidays), I just need to sit (and mumsnet!).

I'm on MN right this minute for that exact reason. laughs sheepishly

When this happen to be I start with three bags; a bin bag for rubbish, a recycling bag for recycling and a charity shop bag. Then have a good chuck a thon.

Yes, I do that. Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed at work I just mindlessly skim through MN and Facebook without even reading anything properly. It’s not a productive coping strategy! You need to find strategies that work better. Maybe a few minutes breathing and then a plan to tackle things one by one? Or I sometimes have a ten minute session on Beat Saber which is high energy and deflects some of the tension. But mostly I just stress-read MN, so am not really one to talk …

Yes. I have a full on job but have some leave currently. I used to get on with things - even love doing sorting/cleaning/domestic paperwork. For me it all changed when both parents died and I think I have lingering anxiety. I feel kind of frozen getting on with one things. Unless I really need to do things I simply don’t. Not good. Work ont suffering. Kind of wish it were as then I’d have to do something about it.
Support op.

Just found myself looking at what to but my SiL for her birthday (which is 2 months away). I need to get a grip. Stepping away from MN now but if anyone has any advice or tips then I would be very grateful..

YouTube (no, not just for procrastination!!) But some of the productivity videos help give me the kick up the bum I so badly need. I also use an egg timer as a hack, so I set it to ten minutes, and just whirlwind my way around the house/through my inbox it's enough to get me out of my rutt/deep seated fear of The Pile of Laundry or whatever else I'm putting off.

Yes! I thought it was birth trauma related (shutdown response) but actually having had therapy for the trauma and realising I was similar before I had DS, it’s just worse now, I then made a link with adhd (often presents differently in females) and got diagnosed earlier this year! Some
weeks are better than others but it’s made a difference just knowing why I struggle with overwhelm so much.

Yep. I call it procrastination paralysis

Last week I was completely overwhelmed, living in a tip and swamped with work. A leak developed in my bathroom ceiling and I knew I had to straighten the place up if letting agent was going to be coming over.

I ended up making a list in the hope of making it seem manageable and just ended up staring at it.

As luck would have it (or not) over the next few hours the leak got significantly worse, and I ended up having to call the emergency guy out at 10pm as the ceiling was bowing! He said he'd be an hour, I panicked and TORE round my flat clearing everything up

Now its sorted, and I'm making a very very concerted effort to keep on top of things! Once it gets past a certain state of squalor I stop doing anything at all

I have no doubt it'd still be a mess if the leak hadn't gone south as quickly

The 15 minute game. Set a 15 minute timer on your phone. Mumsnet or do whatever you do for that 15 minutes then when it goes off get up and do one job. You can either set the timer again and do a job for 15 minutes or you can just do that one job for however long/short it takes. Then either after 15 minutes sit down and MN again. Repeat.
It does 2 things for me. It breaks each job down so they don't all just merge into one big overwhelmed mass.
And it means I get a day when I can rest a bit if its needed but also get some jobs done.
I call it a lazy productive day

I have this

I have to remind myself over and over how much I will hate myself that evening if I’ve had all day and haven’t even got X done (X being the most urgent or perhaps the most easy task). That helps me get X done. Once X is done it seems easier to move onto Y and Z.

Yep! This is when I end up sorting out my office

This is me too OP. I've completely lost my get up and go. I've spent so much time sitting on my sofa reading MN recently. I really have needed a break after the last 5 years of hell with ex being a knob.
Back to work tomorrow and I'm slowly getting organised.
I'm using the job for 15 mins then sit for 15 mins approach.

Yeah this happens to me a lot, if I get going I’m unstoppable and end up doing my back in by the end of the night. On the other hand if I don’t get going, I lay on the sofa all day until I fall into a deep “waste of space” type situation

This is me also and I do feel so guilty when I read about those working full time, raising children, helping relatives and others, dealing with illnesses or bereavements but keeping going. I don't have any of that, over 60 and know how to organise stuff but I just don't. Sitting here surrounded by stuff, need to go out for a prescription and food, get washed and dressed first, haven't even done washing up.
I think the best advice is to just do one small thing that needs doin now and that may give you the push you need to do more.

You have prompted me to get on the phone to sort out a problem with my vacuum cleaner which is under guarantee. I have tried email but only acknowledged so far. On the phone 15 minutes so far, I suppose they are understaffed like so many.

This is also me! Took this week off work to blitz my flat but so far have only done a couple of loads of washing and watered my plants in between walking the dog and drinking coffee.

DS hasn’t helped by turning up for a few days when I’d planned to put some large boxes in his bedroom to sort stuff into bin/charity shop/sell etc. Nowhere else to put them so I’m at a halt.

I’m going to try the 15 minute method mentioned above.

I'm exactly the same and this is why I'm on MN as we speak.

Yes I can be like this. I now have to make sure I have a list, mental or written down and I make my way through slowly. Otherwise I think of the huge amount I need to do and stick my head in the sand.

YES!
I've had a day like it today.
On holiday from work and just can't seem to find any motivation to do anything about the million jobs awaiting.
On a normal day, when I'm at work, I'm full of energy and bounce around doing allsorts before going and often after coming home from work. I'm quite productive normally and rarely sit still.
I'm also an all or nothing type of person.
Give me a change in my normal life and I go to shit urgh!

Weel I'm quite pleased I persisted with pnone call to Vax customer services rather than wait for email response as had to supply more photos of original receipt. They are going to pay for a return. I put it off to the last minute of the last hour of the guarantee period when it broke down last year. I have been using a little stick cleaner so place is not clean.

I don't know why it is a relief to share and know others can also lack all motivation.

Yes - my personality is summed up very well in the words of the Small Faces :

🎶🎵All or Nothing!🎶🎵

I struggle with overwhelm linked to trauma and yes, often end up here. I am also struggling with certain aspects of life and don't have much of a social life/support network. I just want to switch off. I am bored as well ( I have loads to do in the house/life admin/have dc but just find it tedious and monotonous). Perimenopausal and craving alone time more than ever.

Oh absolutely. All the fucking time. My life is just one long round of paralysis when it comes to anything.
I broke my ankle just before the start of the holidays and thus the usual summer holiday blitz didn't happen. I am now out of my cast and vaguely mobile. I have today and tomorrow left before I go back to work. I have a monumental amount of stuff to do and yet here I am, on MN.
(I also have a mountain of 'nice' stuff to do like sewing and crochet and reading but I am also in a paralysis moment over that too)

My DD has ADD and I seriously think I have too.
I want to do adulting. I really do. I want a nice house and to bake and sew and read and I just CAN'T.
(It's just taken me 20 minutes to motivate myself to go and put the oven on.........)

I'm ace at lists though......... All colour coded and in sections.

Oh I sometimes think my skill at lists is my downfall. As I make them I sometimes think ‘heron why not just do this tedious small admin thing rather than write it on yet another weekly todo list’

I think you'll find that a lot of people scrolling through mumsnet are exactly like this! Except for those who've already changed all their sheets, deep cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, and washed, labelled and sorted all the uniforms for next week, and are now scrolling mumsnet for 5 mins whilst waiting to pick their 3yo from her grade 8 violin exam (spoiler alert- she passed. With distinction 😉)