The other day I was listening to Radio Cherry Bombe (the podcast from woman-focused food literature quarterly Cherry Bombe) and they were interviewing culinary goddess Ina Garten. Ina, the mogul, cook book writer, Food Network star, and beloved dinner party host, said that when she was transitioning from gourmet shop owner to author, her husband encouraged her to stop moving and re-group. As much as she wanted to do it all, she couldn’t just throw in cook book writing on the side while running a store and catering business. Learning to let go and have balance is an ongoing process; when asked how involved she is in day-to-day decisions of her ubiquitous brand she said, “probably too much.”

I can relate. Not to the whole “massively popular home cook/role model” thing but to the need to go all in. That all-encompassing drive can be frustrating when paired with deep and varied passions.

I’m the type of person who’s always over-committed — I’ve tried and failed to forget the dark semester that consisted of 21 credit hours and running a campus theatre organization. Sometime in college, my do-it-all spirit rammed into a wall called oh-no-I’m-a-human and knocked the frenetic energy out of me. My deflated yet stubborn ego aches to make a chocolate souffle when all it can muster is balsamic strawberries (the most delicious metaphor I’ve ever written).

I am learning, however, how much happier I am focusing on one thing at a time. Turns out, we humans are actually really bad at multitasking, which only serves to underline the absurdity of our go-go-gadget society.

Right now, my main goals are to get enough sleep and make it to work on time despite the heinous Bay Area traffic. That’s it. That’s ok. A well rested girl who shows up and does what she needs to do? Simple, but beautiful and just enough. Now excuse me while I go pick out some strawberries.