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When a number of challenges exist at once, it can seem overwhelming, as though the universe wants to do us in. Things can snowball in our thinking to the point where we feel as though we are having a crisis. However, some of the time, not all of the time, the perception of crises is merely a perception. This perception could be reinterpreted and downgraded to the feeling that we are in a "difficult time" that we must just muddle through.  

Mentally speaking, it may help not to look at the big picture, but to instead focus on small parts of it, at any given time. Microsoft, Apple, and other computer companies have something in common with those who design automobiles and skyscrapers. The entire design of something isn't tackled all at one time. When building something big, engineers divide it into smaller components, and then they subdivide those into even smaller ones. You can do the same thing.  

Focusing on what needs to be done in a day, within an hour, or in the moment, as opposed to looking at a whole month, helps us deal with each smaller part of a bigger enterprise. If there is something you can do to partway fix a situation right now, stop reading and do that thing. This page will still be here when you're done.  

If you have a list of ten things, getting one or two of those things done can be seen as an accomplishment. If some of those things must be postponed, so be it.  

Pacing ourselves helps, and this entails getting a rest break when we need it, and doing things in a slow, steady, organized manner. I once saw a bumper sticker on a friend's car that said, "Don't sweat the small stuff." It helps to figure out what can wait, versus what must absolutely be done.  

At one time, I saw a very great therapist who I was able to pay out of pocket with earnings from a job. When I said to him that I felt like I was up against a giant amount of anxious or unhappy feelings (I don't recall the exact words), he suggested that I pinpoint each individual thought, and deal with those thoughts individually. If you can get in a habit of identifying specific worries, it can prevent a giant wave of depression or anxiety.  

One technique is to distinguish between the worry about a thing, versus the actual thing, and deal with the two items separately. For example, if you have to change a tire on your car, you could be dealing with the emotional upset over it, but also you must deal with the actual task of changing the tire.  

If the emotion is dealt with first, or if you have a way of suspending it, you can then focus on the actual task without being impeded in your work by an emotional boogeyman.  

An immediate crisis, such as taking a friend to a hospital when they are sick at two in the morning, can also be helped by division into steps. Anything you can do to ease the emotional component will be helpful in handling the external, actual problem. Also, if there is something you just can not safely handle, such as being asked to drive or operate heavy machinery when fatigued or otherwise compromised, we must learn to say no.  

When I went to traffic school in 1989 for a speeding ticket, I recall that the instructor said, "Stress will kill you." I would add to that by saying worry generally does nothing for you.  

In some instances, if something feels wrong in your gut, you should follow your gut instinct. On the other hand, excessive feelings of doom and gloom, excessive anxiety, or too much propensity for getting frustrated are false negatives that impede dealing effectively with problems.  

Not all persons with mental illness live without responsibilities. Being unaccustomed to responsibility is a bigger barrier than the presence of a psychiatric disability. Having a lack of income has made me unused to doing a number of things that many people would take for granted. However, sometimes we all need to be pushed somewhat beyond our comfort zones.