Have you ever opened your computer and discovered you've got so many tabs open that you can't actually find the one you need?

That was pretty much my brain on Monday morning.

I'd already been in clinic. I had reports that needed writing. I had this week's podcast to record. There was content to create, several different parts of my businesses needing attention and, as usual, a collection of new ideas happily bouncing around in my head.

I sat down to work.

And froze.

Not because I had nothing to do.

Because I had too much I could do.

When everything feels important

I think this is where overwhelm can become quite deceptive.

We assume we're overwhelmed because there's too much work.

Sometimes there is.

But sometimes the bigger problem is that we're trying to keep everything mentally open at the same time.

There's the thing you're doing now.

The thing you haven't finished.

The email you need to answer.

The decision you haven't made.

The idea you don't want to forget.

The thing you really should have done last week.

The project you might start next month.

And that slightly uncomfortable thing you're avoiding while suddenly becoming extremely interested in reorganising something that wasn't remotely important yesterday.

I call it shiny object syndrome.

But sometimes I suspect it's procrastination wearing a much more productive-looking outfit.

Not every tab needs to be open

That was my missing piece on Monday.

I didn't need to work out how to get EVERYTHING done.

I needed to decide what deserved to stay open.

There are four questions I've started using:

DO

Does this genuinely need doing now?

Not "would it be nice to get it done?"

Not "should I probably do this at some point?"

Does it need my attention now?

DECIDE

Is this taking up space simply because I haven't made a decision?

This is a big one.

Sometimes we don't need to do anything to close an open loop.

We just need to decide.

Yes, I'm doing it.

No, I'm not.

I'm doing it Thursday.

I'm giving it to someone else.

Decision made. Tab closed.

DELAY

Something can be important without being important today.

Putting something aside deliberately is very different from procrastinating.

If I've decided I'm dealing with it next week, I don't need to keep mentally reopening it today.

DELETE

This might be the hardest one.

Do I actually need to do this at all?

Businesses accumulate things.

So do our lives.

Projects, ideas, obligations and "shoulds" that made sense once but perhaps don't anymore.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is close the tab permanently.

What will actually move you forward?

Once I'd stopped looking at everything, I came back to something I've talked about before:

What are three things I can do today that will actually move me forward?

One of mine was recording the podcast.

I'd committed to doing it.

I wanted to build consistency.

So I sat down and recorded it.

Did that magically solve everything else?

Of course not.

The reports were still there.

The businesses still existed.

There were still plenty of things requiring my attention.

But one loop was closed.

More importantly, I was moving again.

Maybe that's what clarity actually looks like

We tend to imagine clarity as reaching some wonderful point where everything is organised, the to-do list is finished and we know exactly what we're doing.

I'm not convinced that place exists.

Especially if you're running a business, working, raising a family or simply living a normal messy life.

Maybe clarity is much smaller than that.

Maybe it's being able to look at all the noise and ask:

What matters now?

Not next month.

Not everything I could possibly do.

Now.

So if you're feeling overwhelmed today, grab a coffee and write down all those tabs currently running around your head.

Then ask:

Do it?
Decide it?
Delay it?
Delete it?

And finally:

Which three tabs am I leaving open today?

Close the rest.

You can always open them again tomorrow.

☕ Find the missing piece. Make the next decision. Move forward.

Check out the full podcast - https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/glORtSAov5b