Too busy to get anything done

We had a lot of meetings with clients today, started early, then ended late with a brainstorming meeting for Tandem planning. I was so overwhelmed with things to get done, at the end of our meeting (about 8pm), I couldn't find my keys. I haven't been this much of a ditz since the month I quit grad school, broke off my engagement, and decided to stay at Penn State and just get a job instead of go back to Michigan. Just like then, I'm feeling equal parts physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion.

One of our clients just got blessed/cursed with a product launch with a crazy deadline. There's a lot to get done, and we had an initial meeting today to see how we may be able to help. During the meeting, he was a bit more reserved and preoccupied, and we joked with him after that he wasn't himself. I said we should leave and let him get to work, and he said he wasn't sure he wanted us to go--he had so much to do, he didn't know where to start.

His comment made me realize how I keep myself going--by trying to help people like him who are so overwhelmed they're not sure where to start. Helping our clients helps me focus more than tackling all of the odds and ends that need to get taken care of for Tandem. The odds and ends won't go away and I'll eventually chip away at them, but it helps to feel like there's also a purpose that I'm working towards by helping someone else.

And thanks to the someone else who helped me tonight by finding my keys.