Becoming overwhelmed arises anytime you feel you have too much to deal with — so much so that even when you do have the time to get things done, you feel paralyzed and end up getting nothing done. These days, with everything in “more” mode, we can’t help but feel we need to do more, be more, handle more and get more done. This can result in becoming overwhelmed on an extraordinary scale.

What I’ve discovered is that we do not get overwhelmed because what of what we are doing, but because of what we are feeling. It is possible to have many things on your plate and still feel calm and centered. What contributes to being overwhelmed depends a lot on our perceptions, habits and the labels we put on things. The feeling you experience when you are overwhelmed is simply a state of mind that you have created. The good thing is that you do have control over your state of mind.

Daily mission: Stop ‘hating’ time

Time is not your enemy. How many times in a day do you think or say, “There’s not enough time” or “I just don’t have the time”? It is wise to change your mindset about time, because optimal productivity cannot emerge from negative thoughts. It’s not about the amount of time, because we’ve all gotten a lot done when we have a limited amount of time in which to do it. The important thing for you to realize is that feeling overwhelmed is not about time.

Alice Inoue is the founder of Happiness U. Visit YourHappinessU.com.