I love Seth Godin’s daily musings in his newsletter. Short, thoughtful questions to get you thinking. Today’s really hit home for me: “Will today’s emergency even be remembered? Will that thing you’re particularly anxious about have been hardly worth the time you put into it? Better question: What could you do today that would matter a year from now?” Think back a year ago? What made an impact? #stressmanagement #mentalload

When we ask moms if we could wave a magic wand and grant them one wish, 70% say some version of ‘more time.’ Unfortunately, all of us are stuck with 168 hours each week. Luckily, work-life balance isn’t a zero-sum game. Having a ‘break’ from my kids for work makes me a better mom. I am psyched to see them and revel in the few hours I get with them a day. (As compared to the utter tiredness I feel on Sunday evening.) The ‘break’ from work to be with my kids also makes me bette

A new study shows that reading fiction was an insanely effective way to reduce stress—better than listening to music, having a cup of tea or going on a walk. In fact, reading reduced stress levels by 68% in as little as 6-minutes. Losing yourself in a book distracts you from your worries, increases empathy, and even prevents Alzheimer’s. Some even say that 20-minutes of reading has the same effect as meditation. So, buy a book. Even better if it’s physical to give you a break

I powerlift, and a key best practice is to have a ‘deload week’ every 6 weeks or so. On that week, you cut your weight and reps by 40% or so to give your body time to recover. I always try to add in some yoga and maybe a massage as well. I was starting out a deload week on my training when I realized, why don’t I deload the rest of my life? Why don’t I have a week where I don’t sign back on at night post-kids bedtime and don’t try to pack my schedule (both personal and work)

Who here has at least a hint of perfectionism? (Raising my hand.) Who here also thinks that their perfectionism makes them better? (Hand is still up.) Rubin said a quote that hit home to me—Perfectionism is about anxiety, not standards. Studies show that the more perfectionist tendencies you have, the more psychological disorders you suffer.  You can have high standards while still giving yourself grace when you don’t meet them all the time. That self-compassion is what help

Of course, it’s the days that I’m the most stressed and time-crunched when I forget my phone at home or send that email to the utterly wrong group. Ugh. So today’s tip is simple: when things are moving a million miles a minute, slow down. Double-check your work. Do a mental checklist of all the things you need before you leave the house. Reread the important client email Loop in a co-worker to go through your execution plan again Trust me; the extra few minutes are worth it.

I recently bought an Oura ring, which is a pretty fantastic wearable self-quantification tool that is a Fitbit on steroids. What I love most, though, is my Readiness Score⁠—a daily rating on how much I am ready to exert myself that day based on factors like my sleep quality, resting heart rate, and body temperature. Before, I just charged hard most days. Now, I have a reminder in the morning to check-in with myself. Is today a better day to take it easy and recover, or am I r

Today I was stressed. I had a looming client deadline that I was behind on because of some staffing issues over the past week. I was churning out work, but honestly hitting the burn-out wall.  And, then I remembered to do something insanely simple. I went on a 10-minute walk. The change in environment jolted some sense in me, and I realized I could delegate the majority of this task, so I could focus on what matters. 10-minutes seriously saved me hours of pushing through. I

So often, I default to treating the symptoms of an issue versus the underlying cause. Take my sleep. I’ve been struggling with waking up at 3 AM with a racing mind preventing me from returning to sleep. I’ve been trying everything—meditation, sleep podcasts, journaling, and reading. I still struggled. Then I looked at the situation more fully. I woke up because of needing to pee. The stress was keeping me up, not waking me up. How can I stop myself from waking in the first pl

I’m insanely impulsive. I want. Things. Now. A simple trick has slowed me down—setting a 10-minute timer. Every time I feel that impulsive feeling (to eat that extra snack or send that emotional email), I turn on my phone’s timer. At the end of 10-minutes, I am free to do what I want. However, I’ve found that usually what I want has changed. I’m a big believer in controlling what you can control, and sometimes we can’t control our impulses. But, we can control whether we set

I wanted to share with you a practice I try to do daily. I close my eyes and focus on my breath for a few minutes to still my mind. Then I ask myself, “What am I resisting most in my life right now?” Waves of emotions come. I name them and then sit with them. Once they die down, I ask myself the question again to get a new wave. 95% of the time, my waves are some version of fear. It’s intense and uncomfortable. But, in sitting with them, they dissipate. Within 5 to 10 minutes

The parallels between starting a company and having a kid are shocking. Every time you feel like you have something figured out, your world changes. And, until you’ve gone through it, you can’t imagine the emotional rollercoaster you’re hopping on. A week ago, I had a team issue that felt all-consuming. By Tuesday, that same issue felt ‘so three days ago.’ I had moved onto another set of problems. This experience reminded me of the early months with Chloe. She hasn’t pooped i

Time management expert, Laura Vanderkam, gave a controversial tip on her new podcast, Before Breakfast—don’t prep the night before. Her reasoning? It doesn’t save time, just shifts it, and most likely costs more time due to switching costs between tasks. Packing lunches at night takes just as long as packing them in the morning and robs you of the downtime post-kid bedtime. Her solution? Find ways to simplify your morning routine, so you save time. If the kids can never find

Almost weekly, I’ve been having a bad night of sleep— too much stress and travel. I’m working diligently on fixing this, but in the meantime, I also want to reduce its impact on my life. Usually, this lack of sleep derails my next day. I’ll overeat and take up unhealthy habits. What if I changed the story I was telling myself? What if it went from “I’m tired therefore I have no willpower” to “I’m tired, so I need to treat myself with extra kindness, especially in the f

Today’s is short, a simple analogy from Tim Ferris: Life is a snow globe. You need to put it down long enough to see through it. That’s exactly what my mind feels like when I’m overwhelmed—swirling. Usually, I want to shake things up harder...do, do, do. But, in reality, the opposite is what works, slowing down and taking a step back. This allows me to see clearly what really matters and cut out the rest. So today, let the snow settle. #stressmanagement

How do you get overwhelming emotions under control? Chip Conley, in his book Emotional Equations, simplifies emotions into equations. That way you can apply logic to them to help. My favorite: Anxiety = uncertainty x powerlessness Next time you feel anxious, spend 10-minutes creating an Anxiety Balance Sheet. Divide a paper into four columns and brainstorm as many items under each as possible: Column 1: What I do know Column 2: What I don’t know Column 3: What I can influe

Last weekend I was a mess. I had just kicked off my Seed round of fundraising for my company, and had bought into the idea that ‘fundraising is a grind.’ I was stressed, tired, and unable to be present. Ugh. But, get this—I changed my mindset. I chose to be happy. I removed the false deadlines and undue pressure on myself. I gave myself credit for all that I was learning, versus playing over my inevitable mistakes over and over in my head. I flooded myself with gratitude

My world just blew up. Now on top of running a busy company, I have a new job—raising a round of funding. I’ve had to cut out anything non-essential. The best way to do this? No, but. Deliver your ‘no’ with a side of help. No, I can’t lead that workshop right now, but I do know someone amazing at precisely that. I tried ‘no, but’ this week and not only solved the problem for my contact but created an opportunity for a new friend. Everyone wins, including my sanity. Try i

I've realized that stress is what is holding me back most in life. The pressure prevents me from sleeping, which affects my productivity, willpower, and health. Being worked up also stops me from thinking clearly and causes me to snap at my kids. So what's a mom to do? Pause. I've been trying to take a few seconds when I feel myself getting worked up to assess the situation. Am I in danger? Is my biological fight or flight reaction necessary? 95% of the time, the answe

Last Sunday, I reached my boiling point. What started out as a lovely day with the kids ended with me yelling at them and everyone (including me) in tears. Looking back, I realized that the main issue wasn’t the one that broke me—which for the record was Rowan dunking both hands into a can of paint and then rubbing it all over his body and our stuff. Stress is like a block tower. It’s not the last block that’s the issue, but the combination of little instabilities as y