You Don’t Have to Carry Everything Forward

Photo by Tanya Barrow on Unsplash

There was a time I couldn’t even finish writing a sticky note.

That sounds absurd now, given how many things I juggle in a day — projects, people, platforms, and problems. But back then, I couldn’t bring myself to grab a Sharpie and a stack of Post-its and just write down what was in my head.

My coach had suggested it months earlier. One task per note, he said. Get it out of your head, externalize the overwhelm. See it for what it is.

But I didn’t do it.

I told myself I didn’t have time, but the truth was harder to accept than that: I was afraid. Afraid that once I saw the size of it all—everything I was trying to carry on my own—I wouldn’t be able to look away. Like watching a lion take down a gazelle on a nature show, I knew it would be brutal. If I did the exercise, I’d have to face what I already knew: this was unsustainable.

Eventually, I did it. I didn’t use sticky notes because they wouldn’t stay on the textured walls or the closet doors in my office. So I opened Miro, the digital whiteboard, and mapped everything out. Eleven major categories. Some with two tasks, some with seven. Some quick and simple. Others months-long, multi-person endeavors that I somehow thought I could tackle alone.