If you have experienced anxiety you may find that you identify with this feeling of complete and utter overwhelm at tasks that seem small and insignificant, in the rational mind.
In a book I'm reading at the moment the author writes about how the character had recently had her first child, and her husband was returning to work. She had all of these things planned to do with her husband back at work - however found that the thought of getting on and doing these things was so overwhelming that she didn't know where to start, and she sat at the dining table staring at a milk carton for 1.5 hours.
This struck a nerve in me, as I have experienced days where I have felt almost paralysed by feelings of overwhelm at what I 'need' to do.
One that I remember vividly was Christmas Eve a few years back. I had all of these little things to do to get ready to leave for Christmas. Have a shower, wash, dry and straighten my hair, prepare food, pack my clothes, wrap and pack the presents, pack the car, sort out the cats food, put petrol in the car etc.
All of these things seem minuscule and insignificant, but I was so mentally drained that each of these little molehills culminated to create what felt like a massive mountain in front of me that I had to climb up and over just to get on the road.
One of my strengths is achiever, and sometimes this is my achilles heel as I become so focused on ticking the items on my to do list, that I become overwhelmed and lose my perspective.
These days I would like to think that I have learnt some ways to cope with these days, but I can still experience them. I try to break things down and look at what can be left until later. What is the worst case scenario if I don't wash my hair today, or buy dinner rather than cooking, or leave the washing for a day or two. The world isn't going to end, and I can deal with those things when the mental clutter has cleared.
Blessings x