I was talking on the phone with a client who was exhausted. She was in a panic tailspin trying to think her way out of problems with a tired mind. Panic is hard because the mind and body lock up in fear. The fear is painful, and the erratic efforts to bring relief are deprived of clarity, so the attempts to get out of that fear lockup often make the situation worse. She was trying to sort out all the things happening in her life from this state of mind.
I said, "You're exhausted. You're not going to be able to think clearly from this place. You sense this and it's making you feel worse. You have a kid and you know how it is when he's tired, everything seems like a problem to him, the smallest things in his life get magnified and it seems like the world is against him. This is what's happening to you. To try and fight against this state of a sleepy overwhelmed mind will make you more exhausted and make you feel much worse. It would be clutter. So, you have to stop and take a nap. Nothing else will work. Imagine there is a sign placed on your head that says, "Temporarily Out of Order - Come Back Later". You'll sleep and your body and mind will repair and get recharged. Then you'll come back to your world and things will be much easier."
She sighed and agreed. Sometimes we're too tired and overwhelmed to know we're tired and overwhelmed. Hopefully you get a glimmer of that when it's happening and stop and take a rest. If you're at home, you can nap. If you're in your car, you can park and close your eyes and rest. If you're out and about, you can go for a walk in a park or down a sidewalk off a non-hectic street. It gives a chance for the mind to settle down from its intense spinning. From a quieter place, solutions have a chance to appear. Or maybe you get a chance to see that things are okay.