My uncle, whom I quote all the time on this blog, has a saying that he shares with those who are uncertain about the future.

He says, “Do the next right thing. And when you don’t know the next right thing, do the next thing right.”

This solves a lot of problems. There are so many times that I’ve been unsettled and listless only to realize that I was making life way more complicated than it needed to be. All I needed to do was drive safely to my destination, slice this tomato evenly, or fold this towel.

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Here I am, standing on the edge.

There are things to be done — nebulous, amorphous things.

I don't have the mental or physical stamina. I'm cold, hungry, tired.

This would be easier on a different day. Or in a different life.

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The other day, one of my students (let's call her Maureen because no American kid is named that in 2022 and it's funny), was working on a math problem that was really more of a number puzzle.

Maureen turned to me and asked a question that I was utterly prepared for: "Am I really going to need to be able to do this in my life?”

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When you're overwhelmed at work, there is an excess of inputs, resulting in more information than you can effectively process.

Everything feels bad, and nothing seems to be getting any better.

At those times, we ought to pick something small to do, commit to it, and get it all the way done, ignoring everything else for that time. Then, we can repeat the process with something else. These little wins can help us chip away at the overwhelmingness.

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One of the hard parts about getting stuff done is figuring out the right stuff to do.

But once you've figured out the right stuff to do — or at least one thing in particular — the other hard part is doing it.

If you're struggling with the second part, here are some things that you might try.

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