When Everything Feels Like Too Much, Just Finish One Thing
Finish one thing. That’s it. That’s the magic trick no one tells you when your brain feels like a junk drawer of half-started ideas and misplaced intentions. Ever look at your to-do list and feel like it’s quietly judging you? You swear you 
only wrote down three tasks, but suddenly that list reproduces like caffeinated rabbits. Before you know it, you’re staring at twenty-seven items, a half-assembled life, and the sinking suspicion that if one more person asks for “just a quick minute,” you might achieve spontaneous, stress-propelled flight.
If you’re human, creative, ambitious, a teacher, or someone who occasionally breathes oxygen, you’ve been here. It’s the universal overwhelmed moment where your brain yells:
“There’s too much! I can’t even start!”
Here’s the plot twist. You don’t have to do everything. You don’t even have to plan to do everything.
You only have to finish one thing.
Why Overwhelm Happens
Overwhelm isn’t about quantity. It’s about direction. When your brain doesn’t know where to start, it panics, tries to work on everything at once, and you end up doom-scrolling, alphabetizing your spices, or reorganizing your sock drawer like it’s an Olympic sport.
Humans are wired to avoid uncertainty. Too many choices with no clear priority feels like danger. So your brain does something wild:
It shuts down and calls it “rest.”
Spoiler: it’s not rest. It’s procrastination wearing pajama pants.
The Magic of the First Domino
Here’s what actually breaks the cycle:
Choose one thing. And finish it.
Not think about it. Not get all your ducks in a row. Not create a 12-tab planning spreadsheet. Just pick something and do it until it’s done.
That tiny victory triggers momentum. Suddenly, the mountain looks climbable. Your nervous system shifts from freeze into forward motion and everything feels a little less impossible.
Momentum is created by completion, not contemplation.
And if you think this idea only applies to chores or errands, let me tell you a secret from my own creative battlefield.
I know this firsthand. I haven’t been working on my book, Consanguinity. I’ve been writing plenty of other things — lesson plans, blog posts, discussion boards, papers for my graduate class, but not that one project that matters so much. And the longer I avoid it, the bigger it gets in my mind. It expands into this enormous, shadowy monster that whispers I’ll never catch up. But that’s a lie. I do have the power. I don’t need to finish the whole book today. I just need to finish one thing. Maybe it’s a sentence. Maybe it’s a paragraph. Maybe it’s a chapter. Whatever it is, finishing one thing moves the story forward, and that matters.
How to Pick Your “One Thing”
1. The Five-Minute Rule
Pick something you can finish in under five minutes. It’s a confidence hit straight to the bloodstream.
2. The Domino Task
Choose the task that will make other tasks easier. For example, setting up your workspace makes writing less painful.
3. The Emotional Relief Task
What’s weighing on you the most? Do that first. Once it’s done, your brain will unclench a little.
4. The Annoying Gnat Task
You know that tiny item on your list that’s been buzzing in your brain for three weeks? Swat it.
What Happens After You Finish One Thing
Here’s where the alchemy happens. Completing a task:
- Reduces cognitive load so your brain stops feeling like a browser with 89 tabs open
- Builds trust with yourself
- Reveals the next logical step
- Shrinks the monster because overwhelm only survives in the unknown
Finishing one thing is not about productivity. It’s about liberating your brain from the lie that everything must be done right now.
Your brain celebrates every finish with dopamine. It’s your body throwing confetti and yelling, “More of that, please.”
The Myth You Need to Stop Believing
You do not need the perfect schedule, the perfect system, or the perfect amount of motivation.
You need completion. Completion creates clarity. Clarity creates confidence. Confidence creates capacity.
Which is why the most powerful sentence you can say today is:
“What one thing will I finish next?”
Not start. Not dabble in. Not flirt with.
Finish.
Your Life Isn’t a Race. It’s a Series of Finishes.
Some days, finishing one thing is a victory. Other days, you’ll finish three before breakfast. Both count. Both move you forward. Both prove you’re capable, even when you don’t feel like it.
If emotions try to drag you off course, here’s something that can help:
Writing Through Strong Emotions
And if you want a brilliant explanation of why tiny steps matter, James Clear nails it here:
https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
This isn’t about perfection. It’s about direction. And the direction starts with one question:
What will you finish today?
Say it out loud. Then go do it. Your future self is already cheering. I was sitting in the comfy chair today feeling overwhelmed because of all the things I have to do when I told myself to finish one thing. So got up and took out the trash. Is that a big thing? No. Is it going to change my life? Yes, actually because I did it. I accomplished something. From there I was able to tackle another task. This blog post. Again not a big thing, but now I am able to say not only did I finish one thing, I finished two things.
