My flatmate gets a bit haggered. Overwhelmed from lack of sleep and the many tasks ahead of her. She wanted to apply for postgraduate studies, clear the flat of the decades of unwanted tat that has been accumulating, write some blog posts for her well known blog, write reviews for local plays / restaurants, train for the next marathon on the calendar and keep the flat tidy as its contents are flung around the room by her baby whom she has to constantly watch.
The fraction of spare time she has is tiny , like a really really sick germ.
As I was leaving for work one morning she told me at least three things she wanted to do with her day, not including the obvious baby supervision. The most important thing was to apply for a phd as the deadline was a few days away. With my six hours sleep compared to her two hours I had the upper hand mentally and laid it out in simple terms for her.
Just do 'one thing' at a time.
Don't focus on any of the other tasks. Obviously get other stuff you need done, like baby feeding, but when it comes to those moments when you can steal away and get stuff done , just focus on the one thing and make sure its that one thing only , don't worry about anything else.
Its simple , obvious and we've all probably done it before , but I, like my flatmate just need to be reminded now and then.
She got the phd application done , it took all the spare time she had spanning a day and a half , but she probably wouldn't have if she'd continued worrying about getting all the tasks done in tandem.
Wish her luck :)