Tame your taskmaker
An urge to continually tidy up the house or yard may be a response to chaos all around you. According to Brigid Schulte, director of the Better Life Lab at the Washington, D.C., think tank New America and author of Overwhelmed ($10; amazon.com), “When you’re strapped at work and stretched at home, having things in order can seemingly restore equilibrium.” All together now: Yes. This. One sane way to tame that life-is-out-of-control feeling: Quit scattering tasks among your calendar, notepads, emails, sticky notes, and memory. Says Morgenstern, “Decide on a single, reliable system, and it will help turn off the ticker tape of to-dos in your brain.”
