Throttle, Break. That's All You Need to Know.

If you're anything like me, you tend to overcomplicate things.

Sometimes, I get overwhelmed by the mundane, everyday tasks that I make myself feel like I need to get done; cook healthy meals, keep the apartment clean, finish my homework before the due date, maintain some kind of social life, water the plants, save money, exercise regularly, write in my bullet journal, write in my actual journal, spend quality time with my husband, eat as much ice cream as I can without feeling sick. You know, the usual stuff. Everyone's list is probably a little different, and many people out there probably don't even have a to-do list that keeps them up at night, but I do.

On days when I'm already quite busy, I keep my to-do list to a minimum. Two or three things per day, and I'm good to go. On days that seem emptier though, for some reason I write out big long lists of things that I "should" be doing. It's like, even when my life is entirely uncomplicated, I feel this strange urge to complicate it myself. Today, for instance, I have a day off from school. I have one appointment this afternoon, but otherwise it's a free day. Naturally, I wrote out a nine-piece to-do list in my bullet journal and numbered the items in the order I'm going to do them to make sure that I make the most of my day!

Sometimes, I honestly think there's something wrong with me.

I've heard people say that they wished they had my organizational skills. I know a few people who could do with better time-management strategies. If you think you're one of those people, then I highly recommend making yourself a simple to-do list and crossing off items as you go. But if you're more like me, and you can't seem to stop organizing and reorganizing your life to the point where it feels overwhelming, you might benefit from what I've learned recently.

Last week, I got to go snowmobiling with my dad and uncle. We were in Manitoba for a funeral, and there was still plenty of snow on the ground in the rural area where my uncle lives. I had never been on a snowmobile so I was pretty excited to hop on with my dad and ride with him across the open plains and along narrow forest trails. We only fell off once, and it was when we had returned to my uncle's yard and were trying to park. (Nice, right?) At some point, my dad stopped the snowmobile and offered me a turn driving. I was a little nervous. The snow was hard-packed and icy, making the ride bumpy an unstable. But I said, "Sure, why not?" and climbed onto the front seat.

My dad gave me a quick driving lesson.

"Throttle, break," he said, pointing to one handlebar, then the other. "That's all you need to know."

And with that, we were off!

Leave it to my dad to take some big complicated foreign machine and sum it up in exactly two words. His simple and easy approach to driving a snowmobile got me thinking. Is everything that simple?

I think it can be, if we don't let ourselves overcomplicate things. Most of the things I put on my to-do lists are not essential. Homework is pretty essential, and so are eating and sleeping. But the rest? So what if my dirty dishes pile up for a few days? When I have time, I wash them. But it is so not worth stressing about. Every once in a while I just need a reminder to simplify my life, to focus on what's really important and let the other things go.

So I'm trying something new; when I start feeling overwhelmed by all the demands and strains that I'm putting on myself, I remember that moment in Manitoba. I take a deep breath. And I remind myself that it's actually very simple. Throttle when you're ready to get things done. Break when you need to rest. Don't worry about the stuff that doesn't get done. It will work itself out in the end.