The "Laundry List" Technique: A Tool for the Completely Overwhelmed

Sometimes tapping is very straightforward. You have a specific issue that's bothering you, you tap on it, get the intensity down to zero, and move on with your day. Sometimes, it's a lot more complicated. Often, I have clients who are in a complete state of overwhelm about many aspects of their lives. There are so many things they "need to tap on" that they don't even know where to begin. While tapping on "even though I feel completely overwhelmed" can be a good place to start, I've come up with a technique that is simple enough that it doesn't add to the overwhelm, and at the same time it's comprehensive enough to assure you that you WILL address all of the issues swirling around in your head. I affectionately refer to it as the "Laundry List Technique"

To do this technique, you'll need:
3 pieces of paper
2 index cards
a pen
about 30 minutes the first day, then a few minutes daily
Optional but highly recommended: hot cup of tea or coffee and some great music - make yourself comfortable!

Step 1: Take one piece of paper and write down as many things as you can think of that are bugging you about your life right now. Everything from "I'm sick of weighing 200 LB" to "I'm totally stressed because my son's flunking algebra". If it's a really long list, that's totally fine. No need to edit anything - get it all down!

Step 2: Take a Deep Breath. It's going to be okay (really).

Step 3: Look back over your list and rate each item you wrote down on an intensity scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the most intense; as in "this is about to drive me right over the edge!")

Step 4: Once you've rated every item, pick *ONE* that you rated near the top (8-10 intensity) and *ONE* that is a low intensity (preferably 1-3). If everything on your list is rated over 7, try to think of a couple of things that are smaller irritations in your life that you'd rate 5 or under and add them to your list (it's important to have a lower intensity item to work on because it will likely get down to zero much quicker and help you feel like you're making progress).

Step 5: Take another sheet of paper and write at the top " What I Want". Then take each item on your original list (which are the things you *don't* want) and turn them around. "I'm sick of weighing 200 LB" becomes something like "I love that it feel effortless to maintain my ideal weight of 130 LB". "I'm totally stressed that my son's flunking algebra" could become "I'm totally at peace about my son's academic performance".

Step 6: Take your third piece of paper and write an afformation for each of the items you DO want. An afformation is phrased as a "why" question, and encourages your brain to look for the answers to a positive question. So, for the two examples above, the afformations would be "Why is it so effortless to maintain my ideal weight of 130 LB?" and "Why do I feel so totally at peace about my son's academic performance?"

Step 7. Take another deep breath. We're almost done!

Step 8. On one index card, write down the two issues you picked to start working on, along with their corresponding afformations. You are going to tap on these two issues daily, until they are a zero intensity. I suggest tapping one round using the traditional "negative" EFT phrasing (i.e. "even though I'm sick of weighing 200 LB"), one round of your afformation, then a third round alternating the two phrases, ending with the afformation. You'll probably find your lower-intensity issue will get to zero intensity first, so once that happens, go ahead and pick another lower intensity issue while you continue with the high intensity one (so you've always got two issues you're tapping on daily). With the higher intensity issues, you will probably need to take some time to work on specific events related to them as well.

Step 9: On the second index card, write out your entire list of afformations, then put it in a place where you can see it regularly (I have mine propped up on my computer monitor). Read it through several times a day (I read mine while I'm waiting for my computer to boot up, load a website, etc). You can tap while you read each item aloud if you want to make this even more effective.

Step 10: Rinse and repeat! Tap on your two issues daily, and read your afformations list several times per day. You should find that within a couple of weeks (if not sooner) you're feeling a lot more positive and less out-of-control. Every time you get an item down to zero, go back and cross it off your original list (and notice how much lighter you feel!)

If you decide to give the "Laundry List Technique" a try, I'd love to hear how it works for you!