Headline news - Overwhelm is back (was it ever gone?)

The advert arrived from The Guardian newspaper yesterday, who emailed me to ask if I wanted to subscribe to their 11-part newsletter on "Overwhelm".

I subscribed because I'm feeling overwhelmed by my workload and welcome any ideas that might help.

Confession time - I booked 14 days off over Christmas and New Year (2 of my 12 weeks a year) and ended up working for 9 days at my desk, simply on catch up and preparation.

It's 14th January and I'm already exhausted.

Before I start reading The Guardian newsletter, this much I know:

It's overwhelming to be a spouse, parent, grandparent, child, sibling.

It's overwhelming to be an Employer, Partner, Clinician and Chief Financial Officer.

It's overwhelming to have to deal with everybody else's dramas.

It's overwhelming to think you need to get fit again after Christmas, see more of your loved ones, be the beacon of light.

You are not alone.

• It's OK to be honest with yourself and admit that you have a problem;

• It's OK to be vulnerable and share that with those around you;

• It's OK to ask for help;

• It's OK to create some boundaries and protect yourself, so that you can do your best work;

• It's OK to manage the expectations of those around you and tell them when you can and cannot hit deadlines;

• It's OK to get some rest.

My first Guardian newsletter arrived at 15:07 yesterday and I read it last night - I'll be keeping them all in a new folder.