I’m sitting here at my desk after taking a morning to ground myself after feeling overwhelmed the last few weeks.
Do you ever have those phases (or maybe you’re in one now) where you just feel… scattered?
Like you’re being pulled in a million directions and you don’t quite know where to put your energy first?
That’s how I’ve been feeling lately — with so much going on — so I’ve been making it a point to take intentional time to ground myself and come back to center.
And today I felt like it might be helpful to talk through some ways to do just that…
to come back to center…
to ground…
to settle in…
to come back to living intentionally…
…when things feel crazy.
Especially with the holiday season coming up, I figured these little reminders might be useful for all of us.
When I’m feeling more scattered than normal, here are some practices I come home to that help me ground back down and find more intention in my day-to-day:
ONE: Remember to feel gratitude even in the overwhelm.
Often times, we feel overwhelm when there is a lot happening and life feels very FULL, but we forget to actually feel grateful for that fullness.
You might feel overwhelmed because there’s a ton going on with your kids, or you have so much happening over the holiday season, or you have so much going on with your business. But, aren’t so many of those things actually good? Having healthy, active kids. Having family and friends to see during the holidays. Having so much happening in your business.
I always try – even in my most overwhelmed moments – to realize how grateful I am for all the things going on in my life that are making life feel a bit crazy. While the FULLNESS of life can often feel chaotic, I try to find gratitude for the fact that it is so beautifully FULL.
TWO: Plan your days + prioritize your top three.
This is a practice I always return to when I’m feeling overwhelmed and want to recenter.
I pull out my planner (I currently use the Day Designer and love it) or just a notebook, and plan my days ideally the night before, but sometimes in the morning.
- I first mark down all committed events (meetings, client calls, etc.)
- I then brain dump a list of all the things that I need to get done. This brain dump alone helps so much – getting everything on paper instead of jumbled in my head.
- I then think about my top three for the day – the three most important tasks I want to get done that day. The practice of picking my top three forces me to prioritize what are the most important things that will move the dial forward in my life + business. Once I know my top three, I schedule them into my calendar for that day.
- I then know that any leftover space is time to do all the other things on my list. When I’m really on top of it, I also jot down when I’m going to move my body + even a loose plan for what I plan on eating during the day so I have to make less decisions during the day.
Doing this practice allows me to live my days more intentionally – knowing exactly what I need to prioritize and where I want to direct my energy to feel like I get the most important things done. It helps me get less distracted and intentionally prioritize.
THREE: A basic and JOYFUL meditation practice.
I love a long morning routine, but sometimes that’s just not practical given everything else you have going on in your day.
But, we can often find 5-10 minutes for ourselves, just to sit quietly and settle.
Lately, I’ve been getting back into meditation, but doing it in a much more joyful, less serious way than ever before, and it’s been helping me stay really consistent.
Here’s what I’ve been doing to bring joy to meditation (so that I actually do it):
- I allow myself to bring my favorite morning beverage to my meditation. Coffee, chai, matcha, whatever it is. Maybe very serious meditators would say this isn’t kosher, but it makes the experience more joyful for me and makes me look forward to it more… and I believe that if we can get ourselves to just do it, that’s better than nothing.
- I either sit quietly for 7-10 minutes while sipping on my bevvie, or I use a guided meditation. Currently, I’ve been tapping into the Insight Timer app and just pick a guided meditation that is 10 minutes or less. Love!
- Afterwards, I journal any random thoughts that came up during my meditation. I don’t make this anything crazy – sometimes it’s one or two sentences of reflection, and other times it’s a few paragraphs. The point is just to get out any thoughts, feelings, or realizations that come up during your time with yourself.
That’s it! Keeping it simple, joyful, and not-so-serious actually makes me want to do it, and that 10 minutes to myself helps me feel so much more grounded going into my day.
FOUR: Boundaries, baby.
We can’t talk about overwhelm and grounding without talking about boundaries. In order to feel more grounded… more calm… more centered… it’s crucial that we implement the boundaries we need. I often find that a root cause of my overwhelm is that I’ve let my boundaries slip up, and need to refocus on them again.
A simple place to start is… what do you need in order to feel more calm right now?
What boundaries do you need to set within yourself?
This could be –
– less social media
– less texting mid-day when you’re trying to get things done
– going to sleep earlier
– doing a basic meditation practice
– planning your day in advance
How can you lean into your inner masculine to support you right now?
And then, what boundaries do you need to set with others?
This could be –
– rescheduling something to a better time for you
– asking your partner to help out more in certain ways
– saying no to certain requests or invites
Tuning into how you want to FEEL will help you figure out what boundaries will help make that possible.
I encourage you, any time you’re feeling ungrounded and scattered, to come back to a few of these practices:
- Remember to find gratitude for the fullness of life
- Get laser focused on your top three priorities each day and brain dump everything else that needs to get done on paper
- Find 5-10 minutes of joyful meditation / quiet time every day, just for you to connect with you
- Evaluate any boundaries that need to be sharpened, either within yourself (your inner masculine) or with others so that you can feel more of how you want to feel
I’d love to hear from you:
– do you feel like you’re craving more grounding right now?
– what helps you to recenter and find your calm and intention when life gets crazy?
Sending you lots of love + calm vibes,
