When Everything Feels Urgent: How Do You Even Start?

You open your laptop.
The inbox is overflowing.
Your to-do list looks like it’s been secretly breeding overnight.
And every single task is labeled “URGENT.”

Cue the panic.

You want to dive in and tackle everything at once, but your brain is waving a little white flag screaming, “Nope. Too much. Can’t compute.”

Sound familiar?

Here’s the thing: when everything feels like top priority, nothing really is. The trick is finding a way to cut through the chaos and get moving—without losing your sanity.

Step 1: Pause Before You Spiral

Take a breath. Seriously. If you jump straight into “panic productivity mode,” you’ll end up doing a lot of something but not the right things.
Even 60 seconds of stepping back—grab coffee, close your eyes, pet the dog—gives your brain a chance to reset before you dive in.

Step 2: Play Detective with Your To-Do List

Pretend you’re on a crime show. Your case? Figuring out which tasks are actually guilty of being high priority and which are just pretending.

Ask yourself:

• What’s going to blow up if I don’t do this today?

• Which one ties directly to my project goals?

• What can only I do right now?

Usually, a few culprits rise to the top pretty quickly.

Step 3: Shrink the List

Looking at 25 “must-do” items is paralyzing. Instead, pick just 1–3 things to focus on in the next block of time. Write them on a sticky note. Tuck the rest of the list away.

Think of it like a giant jigsaw puzzle—you don’t dump out 1,000 pieces and try to solve them all at once. You start with the corners, then the edges, then work your way in.

Step 4: Reality Check, Please! (a.k.a. Clarify Expectations)

Sometimes the reason everything feels urgent is because other people made it sound urgent. When in doubt, ask:

• “Between X and Y, which would you like first?”

• “If I knock out A today, is B okay tomorrow?”

Nine times out of ten, you’ll find out not everything is on fire after all.

Step 5: Remember You’re Human

You can’t clone yourself. You can’t do it all at once. And spoiler alert: you don’t need to.
Progress is better than perfection. Done is better than spinning in overwhelm.

The Bottom Line

When the world feels like it’s yelling “NOW! EVERYTHING! AT ONCE!”—don’t buy into the chaos.

• Pause.

• Prioritize.

• Pick a few.

• Ask questions.

• Keep moving.

Because the truth is, you don’t have to do it all. You just have to do the next right thing.

Want to learn more on how to spend the right amount of time on the things that matter most.? Check out our upcoming 1-hour class—Get More Done Now.