How do you eat an elephant?

...one bite at a time. I heard this wonderful analogy at a recent new teacher meeting. I am trying really, really hard not to freak out. I am trying to stay positive and remember why I left a laid-back writing career in the features department for the high-stress loveliness of special education, it's piles of paperwork and regulations.
I rarely have time or energy for the exercise that I love, and it makes me feel guilty. I feel pulled in many directions, and I just want to be good at everything. I feel like I am falling short at it all.
Yet, I try really hard to smile. I try really hard to be happy and jovial so that the people around me don't start to hate being around me. I want to be a good wife who keeps a clean house, dinner on the table and food in the fridge. Something always gets left out.
I am trying to prioritize. I look at what NEEDS to be done versus what I WANT to be done.
Just like with spending and saving money, I am learning to budget my time. If the hamper is full, the laundry doesn't have to be done. If we have no clean underwear...the laundry needs to be done. If the dog is eating trash and running around like a wild mut, he needs to go to the park, and I have to skip my bike ride.
I have given up reading. I make it through a paragraph and fall asleep. Instead, I choose books on CD that I can listen to in the car on the way to and from school and class.
Like my mom always says, it's a matter of positive thinking. If I think like is crazy and hectic, it will feel that way. If I can take life one bite at a time, it won't seem so big and overwhelming.
So, even as paperwork piles up and the calendar fills with meetings and projects...I will remember that it's about budgeting time and tackling the most important tasks first.
And hopefully, that way of thinking will keep me sane!