My client today was feeling frustrated with the state of his
home. He kept pointing out the problem areas with a sense of defeat. My feeling
was he was telling me that he was hurting.
I said that it was clear he was feeling overwhelmed. The way
out of the “too much” feeling is rather than consider everything, we quietly
take a look at one thing at a time. I think we have a romantic notion of being
an amazing multi-tasker and figuring it out in one fell swoop. But we’re really
good at considering one thing, resolving it, and moving on to the next.
So I took a book off the crowded counter and asked, “Are you
interested in reading this, or can we let it go?” He thought about it and said,
“It’s supposed to be really good, but I’ve had it for a year and I haven’t read
it, so I think I can let it go.”
I moved on to the magazine on the counter.