When Everything Happens at Once: Finding Peace in the Overwhelm

You know those seasons in life when everything just seems to hit at once?

Tax time rolls in with a vengeance, your inbox is exploding with reminders and receipts, the house suddenly feels like it’s bursting at the seams and begging for a deep spring clean, and just for fun, you’ve got back-to-back phone calls, other activities, and paperwork that’s been piling up for months. You feel like you’re spinning in 12 directions and still not moving forward.

Yep. That kind of overwhelm.

I found myself in that space recently—surrounded by stacks of papers, laundry baskets, unreturned calls, birthday presents to wrap, and receipts spilling out of drawers like confetti. The worst part? I knew most of it was important. These weren’t things I could just push to the side. They all needed my attention. And yet, I had so little energy to give.

I stood in the middle of the kitchen, holding a folder in one hand and a mop in the other, and I could feel the tears welling up. That familiar tightness in the chest. The weight of it all pressing down, whispering lies like, you’re behind, you’re failing, you’ll never catch up.

Overwhelm isn’t just a mental load—it’s emotional, physical, spiritual. It feels like drowning in plain sight.

But in that moment, something shifted. A quiet reminder came through: Just do the next thing.

Not everything. Not the whole list. Just one thing.

So, I put the mop down. I chose one small thing from the stack—just one—and did it. It wasn’t the most important thing. It wasn’t the most urgent. It was just what I had the capacity for in that moment.

And you know what? That one thing led to another.

I started to build some momentum. The mountain didn’t shrink, but I got stronger. Bit by bit. Breath by breath.

That’s the thing about overwhelm. It tricks you into believing you have to do everything right now. But you don’t. You just have to do one thing. And then another. And then another.

I know what it’s like to be the glue holding everything together—running a household, managing a business, showing up for your family, and still trying to carve out a little space for your own peace and sanity. It’s a lot.

But it doesn't mean you're broken. It doesn't mean you're failing. It means you're human.

We weren’t designed to carry everything alone or do it all perfectly. We were meant to flow with the rhythm of life—some days full and heavy, others light and free. We can’t control the timing of everything that piles up, but we can choose how we meet it.

So if you’re reading this and nodding your head—feeling buried under bills, laundry, expectations, and your own inner pressure—I see you.

Start small. Take a breath. Make a tea. Clear one drawer. Respond to one email. Hug your kid. Walk barefoot outside. File one paper. Stretch your shoulders. Celebrate that you’re still showing up.

And if no one has told you lately: you’re doing enough. You are enough.

The to-do list will get done. The taxes will get filed. The house will get cleaned. The birthday will be celebrated. It all gets done. Not because you raced through it, but because you kept showing up with grace and presence, one moment at a time.

You don’t need to be superwoman. You just need to be you. Grounded, real, and willing to take that one next step.

One thing at a time. That’s more than enough.

With love,

Jennifer