Hello Sarah
I really appreciate the way your prepared your response drawing upon some very strong intuition, insight, pragmatism and specific tools you use within your professional and personal life when facing suffocating demands and expectations. I echo your struggle and short tolerance for the “I am too busy syndrome”; but alas, I fall into the same habit when overwhelmed sometimes. In describing his own burdens, James Gordon Gilkey (1951) provides some water to a dry palate suggesting that he was able to stay calm and poised “by refusing to let everything rush in on him at once” (p. 220). Like you, I use lists to compartmentalize and prioritize tasks to achieve a scope of pace that (1) – keeps me measured in terms of my accessibility and volume of output helping others, and (2) – forces free time to reflect and recharge as a means to reduce anxiety, fear and tension. Ultimately, this passage and your commentary triggered some thoughts when considering the importance of setting realistic expectations for yourself and those that you lead. In my experience, if the leader does not communicate reasonable expectations for time and task management, followers will either take advantage of the opportunity to do less, or overwork themselves trying to meet perceived expectations left by the leadership vacuum.
Matt
Gilkey, J. G. (1951). You want to gain emotional poise? In L. E. Watson, Light from Many Lamps (pp. 219-222). New York: Simon & Schuster.