And now the screaming starts

It’s official! I have both an eLance project (due early March) and the magazine article to work on.
So today I started to freak out just a little at the challenge of getting them both done, plus my regular work—neither of them is going to turn enough of a profit that I want to cut into my other activities very much. It didn’t help that I spent part of the morning working on my next And column. As I’ve mentioned before (but I can’t find the post to link to it), my last year at the Destin Log was very stressed (both stressed for time and stressful for me, for various reasons). Now that I’ve gotten used to a normal stress level again, I react adversely increased stress or really steep demands on my time.
Rationally, I know it’s not going to be that bad, but that doesn’t help my lower-brain reactions. But I know once I’m actually started and don’t find myself overwhelmed, it will be calmer.
I’m also hoping a Mac widget I downloaded—a project-timing clock—will help. Working on special projects with uncertain time elements—how many calls will I have to make to find an interview? How long will the interview take?—it’s easy to lose track of how many hours I’ve put in or how much fiction or eHow time I need to make up. Hopefully, by clicking on the widget when I start making calls or sending out letters, I’ll be able to manage my schedule better. I will have to remember to turn it on and off though—I’ve had it for about a month and I’m only now getting used to doing that.
Wish me luck!