Photo by The Hamster Factor

We're kicking off our season in a brand new time slot... Saturday at 1:30 on CBC Radio One!

In over your head... over-extended... up the creek sans paddle. No matter how you say it, from time to time, we all find ourselves somewhat overwhelmed. So this week, we ask: what do you do about it?

Read on to find out what's on the show, or click the player below to listen. (You can also download the podcast here, or get the enhanced version from iTunes.)

 

John Grady is many things - an actor, a dancer, a former member of the Blue Man Group. But he is not a carpenter. Still, he started renovations on his apartment with confidence, since he'd enlisted the help of a handy friend. And they were doing just fine, until there was that knock at the door... the one that told him he was completely in over his head.

When you travel to a foreign land... or even just walk through an unfamiliar neighbourhood... it's easy to sometimes feel "in over your head." But that's probably nothing compared to what Jay Bahadur did. At the age of 24, Jay decided to become a freelance journalist... fly to Somalia... and live amongst pirates. We'll talk with the author of The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World.

So when did you find yourself in a wee bit over your head? Sook-Yin takes her mic to the street to find out.

When he came to Canada from Mexico, Jorge Rivero found himself in a series of dead-end jobs. So he decided to "embellish" his resume a bit, which lead to an evening of booze, babysitting... and trying not to embarrass himself in front of a future Prime Minister. He'll tell us the story.

If there's one place where most of us have, at some point, had the feeling of being way in over our heads, it's at work. But Clare Lawlor has discovered those "I have no idea what I'm doing feelings" have nothing to do with how well you do your job. She'll tell us what's really going on. (For more on the subject, read Joel Gascoigne's blog, or visit Diane Zorn's page. You can also take the "Impostor Phenomenon Test" Clare mentions yourself right here.)

When he was just 16-years-old,  Grant Lawrence felt pretty proud of himself the day he convinced his high school to hold a "welcome back to classes" concert. Especially when he arranged for his own band, The Smugglers, to headline the show. But then found himself in a bit over his head, when he realized what he'd forgotten to prepare for the big show...

Applying for a job is stressful. Getting the job is even more stressful. Getting the job when you didn't plan to, and have never done anything similar? Very stressful. Playwright and former Member of Parliament Wendy Lill tells us about her first days on the job... and offers her advice for all those rookie MPs in the House right now.

A few years ago, aspiring entrepreneur Ryan Skrabyk and his buddywere offered a sweet business deal. All they had to do was manage a restaurant attached to a small Winnipeg motel. Trouble was, neither of them had any experience running a restaurant. But Ryan thought to himself, "How hard can it be?" He'll tell us how hard he found out it can be.

You can get in over your head at work, in over your socially, or in over your head recreationally... but Morgan Benzian took a completely different approach. She got herself in over head with a little personal grooming "down below..." and she'll explain why some things are best left to the professionals.

So who says getting in over your head is a bad thing? Sook-Yin finds out when you got in deep... and loved it.

When he was ten years old, Sam Mullins switched schools - from a public school to a fancy private school. Since he was a smart kid, and he loved school, his parents thought he'd love it there. But none of them was prepared for what he was really going to learn there.

Sometimes, there just aren't enough hours in the week to do everything you need to do, right? Wrong, says Laura Vanderkam. She's the author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, and a working mom - and she'll tell us how people who "seem to do it all" find the time to do it... without feeling overwhelmed.

And here's this week's playlist:

Nadja - "Oh! No!"
Rebekah Higgs - "Gosh Darn Damn"
K-OS - "Holy Cow"
Danielle Duval - "Imposter"
The Rolling Stones - "Honky Tonk Women"
Joel Plaskett - "True Patriot Love"
Feist - "How Come You Never Go There"
Huddle - "Islands"
Weakerthans and Jim Bryson - "Fell Off the Dock"