When the thing that changed is your capacity

Not being angrier at particular things, but having less between the thing happening and the reaction to it.

Being unable to absorb what used to be absorbable: the extra request, the noise, the person who needs something at the wrong moment.

Feeling like the version of themselves that managed everything has quietly left, and being unsure who is in her place.

Treating it as a temper problem leads to apologizing and trying harder, which costs more capacity and makes the next week worse.

Treating it as a capacity problem leads somewhere more useful: deciding what the smaller amount gets spent on, and letting some things be done badly.

The largest online movement in this whole subject grew out of one woman saying she had stopped performing, and several million women recognizing themselves. That is not a coping strategy going viral. It is a very common experience finally being described.

If this has tipped into low mood most days for two weeks or more, that deserves a conversation with a doctor rather than better organization.