Feeling overwhelmed is like living in chaos. It seems like everything is coming at you and it's hard to know where to start.

I was finishing my second novel when I realized I had to correct a problem. The story went back and forth in time and the transitions were jarring. The issue impacted the first half of the book, about 120 pages. I felt overwhelmed, knowing I had to fix the time sequence without changing plot development.

Here are four steps I used to get over this hurdle and get on with my project.

1-Take a deep breath; keeping calm helps.
2-Take a little time to think about the overall picture.
I thought about how I could introduce events that had occurred earlier in my timeline. I came up with two solutions. A point of view character could have a memory of a past event. Another way would be for a character to tell a story about the past event.
3-Take action by focusing on just the first step to getting the project done.
I recognized that in chapter six, a character could tell a story about the past.
4-Continue the project by focusing on the immediate next step-completing it-and moving on in this same manner.
I continued to add memories and one more story while removing everything outside the natural progression of time. This fixed the problem.

Feeling overwhelmed is not comfortable. It can stop us from completing a project. The four steps above can take away the anxiety and put you back on track!