I have problem sometimes with having too much to do, and too many choices. My thoughts can become frenzied, and a chaotic inertia sets in. This past week I experimented with a self-managed intervention, and I’m pleased with how it worked for me.
The idea is this. When I recognized the impending hurricane of thought 
starting to swirl, I selected the first item that came to mind among the many that were swirling. In my first test of the technique, the item that came to mind was a speech I’m in the process of writing. The second step was to set a timer. Having one readily available on my phone was a benefit. I set the timer for 15-minutes, and sat down to work on the speech. I gave myself some boundaries: no preparing for the work (getting a drink of water, cleaning my desk off), no distractions (radio, music, phone calls), and strict adherence to the 15-minute limit. At the end of the 15 minutes, I would stop and regroup.
What I discovered was that I was very comfortable during the 15-minute interval that I set for myself. I had no anxiety of having chosen the wrong thing; after all, it was only for 15 minutes. And forcing myself to monotask had the effect of stopping the swirling of thoughts. I had a set focus, and I allowed myself no choices. When the timer went off, I felt better. I also made some progress on my speech, which had been one source of my anxiety in the first place. I found that I was feeling more in control, and was then able to make a plan for the rest of the day that felt more balanced.
I don’t know if the technique will continue to work for me, but I’ve since tried it a couple more times with similar results. I plan to keep it in my repertoire.
Going back to the notion of “too much choice”, I recently watched a very interesting TED Talk by Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice.