Creative Overwhelm: “I would like to be able to do the stuff I need to do.”

We all know the feeling.

You sit down to work, you see the list of tasks in front of you, and your body suddenly says nope. Your mind spins. Your breath fractures. There’s a sense of danger — even though nothing dangerous is actually happening. You're just not sure what to do next, or how to start doing the thing you'd like to do.

I think it was Kafka who said something about, if you're silent, the world will reveal itself to you. It's maybe this important of embracing the nothing, the silence - that reveals another layer beyond the to-do-list of our creative lives.

A method called Clean Language Questions basically does nothing in the traditional sense. It simply mirrors, repeats what you say, and through that, you begin to discover more about yourself. And I use this method when I have too much to do, when I can't focus on one thing. This method brings me in pace with myself.

This process unfolds like a story in three acts. If you’re patient and really work with it, it often leads to surprising insights—I always find something new each time I use it.

I think of it as a soft and gentle self-questionnaire. I might use it once in a blue moon—maybe two or three times a year—usually when I feel overwhelmed. And every time, it surprises me.

When I use this questionnaire, I make sure not to approach it as a way to fix or solve anything. It’s not psychotherapy; it’s simply a clean language exercise. If you approach it with humility, vulnerability, and openness, something meaningful often emerges.

I’m not recommending this method to anyone—this is just me sharing something from my personal toolbox. The key is not to expect it to fix or change anything. No expectations. In the worst case, you’ll just understand yourself a little better. But I can almost promise—you’ll be surprised.

I recently ran these question method for myself, maybe b/c I was overwhelmed or the moon was actually blue.

“I would like to be able to do the stuff I need to do.”

What I discovered was not laziness, not lack of discipline — but a beautiful, symbolic system at work in my body and mind.

Opening

• Clean Question Language: What would you like to have happen?
• My Feedback: I would like to be able to do the stuff I need to do, now, for about 45 minutes.

The Experience in the Body

• Clean Question Language: When you want to start, where do you notice that?
• My Feedback: In my stomach, solar plexus.
  In the dead center — like a stone in an orange.
  The stone is dense with edges that sting.
  The stinging is at the top edge, making me uncomfortable and unable to pick a task.

What Happens Just Before

• Clean Question Language: And what happens just before that stinging?
• My Feedback: There’s a fog at the top of my mind —
  gray, blurry, vibrating, with tiny light boxes behind it.
  The boxes have broken-electric outlines,
  bullying for attention, but uncertain if I should pick them.
• Clean Question Language: And when that happens, what happens next?
• My Feedback: That makes me nervous.
  My breath becomes deep and broken in two parts,
  like it’s afraid to drown, like danger approaching, in my chest.

The Turning Point

• Clean Question Language: And what happens when you don’t breathe in mentally?
• My Feedback: I just look at the boxes.
  Then I breathe physically, and it’s suddenly okay.
  My breath is not broken.

Change in the Solar Plexus

• Clean Question Language: And when it’s suddenly okay, what happens in your body then?
• My Feedback: The okay is in my stomach.
  The orange is still there but there is no stone anymore.
  The orange is happy, mature, and doesn’t need the seed.
  It can just be an orange.

Change in the Fog/Boxes

• Clean Question Language: And when the orange can just be an orange, what happens with the boxes?
• My Feedback: The boxes stop vibrating and are just there.
  I am beyond the fog, standing calmly.
  My breath is so calm I barely notice it.

Reframing Indecisiveness

• Clean Question Language: And when you are standing calmly beyond the fog, what happens with indecisiveness?
• My Feedback: I’m still indecisive,
  but without the rush.
  Observing the boxes enables me to pick one.
  Actually, the boxes don’t matter that much —
  it was all about feeling better.

A New Attitude

• Clean Question Language: And when it was all about feeling better, what would you like to have happen now?
• My Feedback: I would like to continue to be indecisive and calm.
  That is practicing restraint —
  not getting pulled into everything.
• Clean Question Language: And when you practice restraint, where do you notice that?
• My Feedback: I feel that restraint in my jaw,
  like timeless calmness and discipline.

Final Insight

• Clean Question Language: And when that restraint feels like timeless calmness and discipline, what happens next?
• My Feedback: I don’t need to do anything for 45 minutes.
  Not needing lets me keep the calmness,
  process everything,
  and maybe connect it back to the orange.
  Maybe all the boxes are seeds,
  needing sunshine and attention from me.

🌟 Summary of What Changed

A state shift happened:
From overwhelm → threat → urgency
to calm → maturity → choice optional

To learn more about clean language, and it's very much free, go here: https://cleanlanguage.com