You are going along with your tidy to-do list decorated with empty check-boxes waiting to be marked.

And then, WHAM!

You get hijacked like the rhino in today’s picture and carried off to some unknown destination.

Hours go by, and you are tossed to and fro by this new crisis and that new task.

Before you know it, the day is done and your eyes find that tidy to-do list. Still pristine as the moment you created it, unsullied by your hand. You glumly pick up your pen and add six new items to that list so you won’t forget to take care of everything tomorrow.

Ever had one of those days?

What about one of those weeks? Or months?

What do you do about it?

Read more books about time management?
Swear off email for a day? [Note that I said “swear off,” not “swear at.”)
Throw away your list and pretend it never existed?
Go on vacation and blame everything on “being away from my desk”?
Work on weekends or evenings when it is blissfully quiet?

Or do you get determined to get it all done if it kills you or those around you?

We all have our busy times. And we all manage the “stress” differently. I’m curious to hear what you do when your best-laid plans for getting things done go awry.

Meanwhile, try not to feel like the rhino in today’s photo.

[An earlier version of this post ran in 2014. I’d rather not think about the number of “rhino flying” days I’ve had in the last 10 years.]