Okay, so you’re overwhelmed, right? Your to do list is huge, and for one reason or another you can’t get to anything on it. You feel lousy about that and that’s making it worse.
You can’t focus, and you feel like lying on the couch, balancing a bowl of cheezies on your chest and watching reruns of Friends until your eyes burst and you have an excuse not to get anything done.
Now, while that is indeed one strategy to cope with being overwhelmed, you won’t actually feel much better at the end (although the middle part will feel okay, at least until the eyes bursting part). If you would prefer to feel a little better when you are done, why not try something like this:
Pick three categories of stuff you need to do.
Pick one small task from each category.
Write them down.
Do one small task.
Cross it off.
Do the second small task.
Cross it off.
Do the third small task.
Cross it off.
Call it a day*
There, then you will have accomplished SOMETHING today, and you will feel at least a little better.
Here’s my list from a rough day a few weeks ago:
House: Wipe stovetop.
Writing: 5 minutes brainstorming for article.
Kids: Read two books with the boys.**
I was fully prepared to call it a day after I completed those things, and when you have been stuck, that’s perfectly legitimate, but on that particular day my three tasks gave me momentum, and I was able to get about 30 minutes of writing, and some unpleasant housework out of the way, and created enough brainspace to play some games with my sons. The purpose of the exercise is not to ‘trick’ yourself into doing more, but if that happens, all the better.
Good luck.
*Whenever anyone I know suggests that it’s time to call it a day, one of us invariably says ‘Okay, it’s a day!’ and makes the rest of us smile. Try it, see if it works for you. 
**In case I need to state the obvious, care and feeding of my family is part of my autopilot, so the ‘Kids’ category of my to do list is for fun extras not for the basics.
