She couldn’t pinpoint the tipping point- but something she added to her schedule caused her to go into frantic mode.  “If I could just move faster, multi-task quicker and, maybe, sleep a little less at night- I should be able to get to everything on my Planner” she lamented, whooshing in late to meet me for coffee last week.

WRONG!

I don’t know who first said those words, but they described her phenomenon so well. It’s certainly not the first time this has happened.  She’s moving along through life seemingly in full control- then BAM! Suddenly she’s climbing up the down escalator. What happened? 

IWIA Syndrome- I Want It All!!!

After a little investigation we discovered that she suffers from IWIA Syndrome, commonly know as I WANT IT ALL.  Like the kid, two fists stuffed with cookies and still wanting to grab a few more, my friend has a hard time saying “enough” to herself. The truth of the matter is, when any of us hits the land of over-committed, even the fun things stop being fun.  Her mind is constantly on the next activity wondering how she can be in two places (sometimes literally) at the same time. Like those extra cookies, too many activities, no matter how delicious, can still cause a bellyache.

The antidote? I invited her to try Organizing 101. 

Analyze, Strategize, Organize

Analyze:  I asked her to think about what’s most important to her. We looked at her Planner for the past week.  After a full workday her life was packed-2 creative outlets, 3 volunteer meetings, 2 educational activities, 3 social events, – you get the drift. 

Strategize: What were the 2 or 3 things that were on her really, really, really WANT TO KEEP DOING list?  What could she easily drop?  What would involve a slower unwinding?

Organize and take action: I handed her a pen and asked her to eliminate the easy ones, schedule a realistic timetable for the complicated ones and leave herself enough time to be fully present and engaged with the ones that mattered most. 

Not easy- saying NO rarely is, but do-able.  And when those cookie cravings hit again-she has a way to prevent that bellyache!

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