Forums » Smalltalk » What to do when overwhelmed

Ugh, I get really mad at myself for doing this-- But I get into a mood where I really want to do this kind of rp so I put up a request. Sometimes I get too much of a response, sometimes I get hardly anything. Anyways, I got in the mood for 2 types of rps and now I have way too many going on T_T. I can't say no sometimes, and if the response is low, I will give the first person a message, then all the sudden I get people that fit my character more, and of course, I send them messages... which ends up with me having too many rps. My rps before I started asking for more have died down some (some I wish would be more active) but now I have over 25 rps and its too much for me. I feel so guilty because I have planned out rps with them when I was in that mood, and now I don't have the energy nor want to reply. I go in and out of these moods, and sadly I tend to not be in the mood to reply these days. (Unless I am in a really good climax part).

Does anyone else do this to themselves? Take on too much and then don't have the energy to reply? I feel extremely guilty to the people who are likely waiting on responses from me, but I am just too tired, or lacking creativity to reply. What do I do? If I try to end some, I will feel awful for wasting there time. I just feel like a jerk if I only reply every once in a while because the rp turned out to not be what I expected etc...

Advice, porfavor. Sorry if this post seems... well... scatterbrained. Thats how I have been feeling these days. One day I am super creative, the next I am just tired and lack any will to do anything. Then there is the day I sit myself down and force myself to reply to everyone... I hate those days.

The only advice that I can give is to be honest, apologize, and see how they would like to resolve it with you. Perhaps they are okay with slower responses? Perhaps they would appreciate knowing their time is now freed up to seek other RPs that might have a faster pace?

Maybe one thing to do in future is start your new partnerships by planning single, getting to know you type scenes. That way, if it's not going to be the best use of your time, it just ends rather than having a plot arc you feel you need to stick with for the next several months. And if it goes really well, then you can keep playing for as long as you want.

This doesn't just happen to me in RPs, it's the story of my life. I was always told to 'toughen up' and push through whatever was going on and take on as much as possible. It took a long time for me to tell myself it's okay to say no! I used to hide away and pretend I didn't exist cause I had no idea how to handle it.

Step 1: Follow Kim's advice. Trim down RPs that you feel the least interested/motivated in. We tend to exaggerate how upset people are in our minds before we even tell them, so don't let that frighten you. If you explain it and just say how it is (you enjoy it a lot, but you've got too much on your plate) nobody really gets mad.

2: Set a limit for yourself each week. What's your schedule? How many RPs can you realistically keep up with in this schedule? I've learned it's better to inform my client "I have a really busy week this week, I can't take on more than 2 tasks." and turn down anything beyond that number of tasks, than to overload myself again. Same applies for RPing!

3: It helps me to write down specific times during which I free time to do things. Ergo "Monday: 10:00-10:30am - do dishes" I also make time slots for RPing! If you have a time period scheduled to post replies in, it will be easier to reply consistently to the games you're involved in without feeling stressed.

Treat your partners how you yourself would like to be treated in a situation like this and everything will work out for the best.

If RP begins to feel like an obligation, you'll never enjoy yourself.

Instead of planning so much and failing to follow up on it, I suggest you skip the planning part altogether and conserve your creativity for the actual RPing.

Try using an event generator or a plot generator. Use dice in your RP, so that you incorporate random events that keep the storyline fresh and interesting.

In my experience, if you're wasting all of your creative juices on planning the plot, chances are you won't want to follow through. Instead, you should let these tools generate settings and encounters for you so that you can react to them instead (which is a lot more engaging)! Think about why so many traditional RPers use a GM -- when you don't have to waste your energy on coming up with a plot and setting, it's much more fun to play!

Thanks for your advice everyone, I am feeling a bit better now and just have been slowly giving people my time. Most have been very understanding about my inability to reply frequently!