How to Stay Sane During a Busy Season
Keep reading this post to learn:
⋒ How to reframe what a “busy season” is depending on your season of life
⋒ How being “busy” really can hurt your productivity, and what you can do to fix it
⋒ Three tips to stay sane during full seasons
We all go through seasons when life feels fuller. It can be easy to allow that fullness to overwhelm us or stress us out but did you know that you can still live a peacefully productive life even when you're in a busy season? Seriously! I’m a mom to an almost 4-month old and I run a multiple 6-figure-a-year business that is currently undergoing a brand refresh (which is a lot of backend work if you didn’t know) and I can honestly say that I don’t feel like I’m losing my mind.
And I’m super confident that it’s thanks to The 5 Keys to Hustling Sanely and being intentional with my vision, non-negotiables, and routines.
Busy for you right now might look like raising your toddler while working on home renovations.
Or working full-time and going to school full-time.
Or planning a wedding.
It doesn’t matter what your busy season is full of, you can still stay sane if you’re intentional about it!
But before we really dive into the juicy stuff, I have some things to say about the word “busy”. When I think about being busy, I think about a lot of doing but not a lot of accomplishing. The doing isn’t intentional. I think of a hamster on a wheel – constantly moving but not really getting anywhere.
I like to reframe the phrase “busy season” to either “full season” or “push season” – depending on what is going on.
For example, from December-March, I would have classified myself as being in a “full season” – I wasn’t really working on a specific goal or project that felt like a push but instead, I was embracing my new role as a working mom and navigating that so life felt extra full.
I’d say that from April-May is a “push season” for me because we are working on a lot of stuff for Hustle Sanely behind the scenes that requires a lot of energy – it’s project-based work and I know when these things will be done – so it’s a push, if that makes sense.
Either way, reframing “busy season” to a “full season” or a “push season” has really helped me when it comes to not letting busy seasons steal my peace.
The word busy gives me frantic, chaotic vibes. Busy literally means: “having a great deal to do – to keep occupied”
I read this article about the difference between busy people and productive people and it talked about how busy people:
~ Aren’t making real progress on their goals
~ Have too many priorities
~ Multitask
~ Say yes quick and often
~ Run out of time
~ Get distracted easily
But the words “push” and “full” help me to take ownership of my life and I’m able to remind myself that what’s on my plate are blessings, not burdens. Those words give me purposeful vibes. Like yes, you’re doing a lot but it’s all done with a purpose and what is being done aligns with your vision and your priorities. It makes a big difference and how we speak about our lives is super important so be mindful of the words you use! So now, let’s dive into three tips that you can use to stay sane during these full, or push, seasons!
3 TIPS TO STAY SANE DURING FULL/PUSH SEASONS:
01. DETERMINE YOUR NON-NEGOTIABLE PRIORITIES FOR THIS SEASON.
Emphasis on the “for this season” part – when it comes to non-negotiable priorities, a lot of people tend to think that it’s a “set it and forget it” thing when it’s totally not. I’ve said this 100 times (probably more) but when our seasons change, it makes sense for our priorities to change, too. My non-negotiable priorities now look wildly different than they did this time last year because this time last year I wasn’t a mom! It would be crazy for my non-negotiable priorities to be the same, right?
Your non-negotiable priorities should align with your current season. You can’t keep carrying all of your priorities from all of your seasons with you because that’s too heavy for your present season. It’s like trying to wear a winter coat in the dead of summer. It’s hot, annoying, and you feel like you’re going to have a heat stroke.
Your non-negotiable priorities need to make sense for what’s happening in your life right now.
If something is a non-negotiable priority, that means it’s not up for debate – it’s not an “if I have time” thing – it’s an “I’m planning my life around this” thing.
This means that having too many defeats the purpose because as the saying goes, when everything is important, nothing is important – aka when you have 50 non-negotiable priorities, they’re watered down and you can’t show up for them well because there’s only one of you.
So here’s what I recommend doing to help you determine your non-negotiable priorities for this season:
01. Call out what is taking up most of your time and energy in this full season.
Is it work?
Is it adjusting to being a new mom?
Is it planning a wedding?
Is it going through the home-buying process?
Is it going back to school?
Name the reason why this season is full and then make sure that this thing actually needs to be taking up so much real estate in your life right now.
02. Decide what habits you are committing to daily, weekly, and monthly during this season.
These are your non-negotiable priorities! It’s so important to explicitly name these so that you can actually show up for them.
Imagine a day in your life and a week in your life – think about your WHOLE life – so personal and professional – what do you need to show up for in this season to make sure that what matters to you is being nurtured?
Think about the following life categories to get your wheels turning:
- Relationships & Family
- Health & Wellness
- Personal Growth & Self-Care
- Work & Education
- Finances & Giving
- Home & Living Spaces
Again, that’s just to get your wheels turning – you don’t need to have priorities in all of these categories for every season.
Here are some examples of my current non-negotiables – remember – my current season is full because of the rebrand at work and being a new mom.
DAILY NON-NEGOTIABLES:
~ Hustle Sanely 5™
~ Up by 6:15 AM for morning routine (Jesus time, read, journal, supplements)
~ Evening routine (clocked out by 6, off social by 9, skincare, journal)
~ Outside at least 10 minutes a day
~ Drink 1 gallon of water
WEEKLY NON-NEGOTIABLES:
~ Scheduled rest day
~ Sunday Date (every other week out of the house)
~ Monday family activity
~ 5 workouts
~ Bible study every other week
~ Working Tuesday-Thursday from 11-4 and only taking calls on Wednesdays
MONTHLY NON-NEGOTIABLES:
~ Friend date
~ Family memory outing
~ Therapy
~ Church x2
These are my hard yesses in this season. Knowing that these are my hard yesses help me to say no to things that are in opposition with them. I can say yes to other things, of course, but knowing what get my best yesses in this season helps me to not spread myself too thin and it makes it clear what needs to be a yes and what needs to be a no right now.
03. Put your non-negotiables on your calendar.
For real. Add them to the Google calendar you share with your spouse and/or write them in your paper planner.
That way when you sit down for your weekly prep meeting, you’re not trying to frantically figure out how and when you’re gonna show up for your non-negotiables. You already know and you can focus your energy and brain power on just showing up.
A little pro tip that kind of piggybacks on this one: don’t let yourself be “busy” in too many areas of life at once. If you know work is going to require more of your energy next month, put boundaries and routines in place that don’t allow you to be stretched too thin in other areas. That might look like stepping down from volunteering at your church for the month or delegating your cleaning to a cleaning service for the month. Or moving your kitchen reno a few months out instead of doing it right now.
And honestly, that leads us perfectly into the next tip:
02. CREATE SPACE FOR DAILY PAUSES TO PRIORITIZE YOUR WELL-BEING DURING THIS SEASON.
When we’re in full or push seasons, it’s common to feel stretched thin which makes it really easy to feel overstimulated.
You know what I’m talking about – whether it’s your email inbox dinging nonstop, your kid asking for a snack every 2 hours, your countertop being littered with paint sample cards, the dogs barking one octave too loud when the Amazon delivery person drops off a package – you feel like you are losing your mind because life is full and it is LOUD.
I don’t know about you, but when I’m in a full or push season, I tend to get overstimulated faster AND I don’t tend to have as much patience for it. As in, I’m more likely to lose my cool over stuff that normally isn’t a big deal to me.
What I’ve found that really helps with that is creating space for daily/weekly pauses that prioritize my well-being.
Think about small things that you can count on to ground you and help you re-center yourself a few times throughout the day.
It’s way too easy for life to be nonstop go, go, go – we have to decide to create space for intentional pauses otherwise, we’ll be swept away in the loudness of life.
Some examples of pauses might be:
~ Drinking your coffee on your patio
~ Silent showers
~ Podcast lunch break drives
Think about things you’re already doing in your life (like drinking your coffee, showering, and driving to get your lunch ) and how you can create a little space within them to pause and collect yourself.
I encourage you to plan one for the morning, afternoon, and evening. Ask yourself what makes you feel grounded and re-centered?
When we pause to re-center throughout the day, we show up from a place of peace instead of chaos. It’s a tangible way for us to run the day instead of the day running us.
03. USE REVERSE ENGINEERING TO HELP PRIORITIZE ACTION STEPS THAT MOVE THE NEEDLE DURING THIS SEASON.
I use reverse engineering so much when I’m working toward goals and I use it extra when I’m in fuller seasons. Reverse engineering is basically starting at the end of something and working backward to figure out how it works and you can totally apply this to creating a plan for your goals too.
Using reverse engineering helps me to focus on tasks that actually move the needle aka help me make progress on my goals. This is extra helpful during full seasons or push seasons where you’re trying to focus on getting a specific project completed – like launching a product, buying a home, planning a wedding, etc. Reverse engineering shows you what tasks are actually important so you don’t get fooled into doing tasks that are busywork and not actually moving you closer to your goal.
I’ve used this example before when explaining reverse engineering but it’s a good one so I’m gonna share it again: creating the paper planners.
I start with the end goal: having the paper planner created, and work backward to create a plan of action:
Before I can have the completed planners in your hands, I have to ship them to you.
Before I can ship them to you, I have to have all of my shipping supplies.
Before I have all of my shipping supplies set up, I need the actual planners to package.
Before I have the actual planners, I have to order them from the manufacturer.
Before I can order them, I have to have them designed.
Before I have them designed, I have to have them mapped out.
And that’s my starting point - mapping out what’s going inside the planner.
These big steps are where my energy needs to be to move the project forward.
You can apply this principle to lots of different types of projects and goals and again, the purpose is so you aren’t wasting your time and energy on tasks that don’t really push you forward during a full/push season. Save those tasks for when you have more margin. Beware of those distracting tasks that feel important but that don’t align with your current season. They can be important but not necessarily a priority.
Let’s do a quick recap:
3 TIPS TO STAY SANE DURING FULL/PUSH SEASONS:
01. EVALUATE YOUR NON-NEGOTIABLE PRIORITIES FOR THIS SEASON.
02. CREATE SPACE FOR DAILY AND WEEKLY PAUSES TO PRIORITIZE YOUR WELL-BEING DURING THIS SEASON.
03. USE REVERSE ENGINEERING TO HELP PRIORITIZE ACTION STEPS THAT MOVE THE NEEDLE DURING THIS SEASON.
If you’re in a full or push season right now, remember that it is just that…a season…not forever! Keep your eyes and heart focused on those non-negotiable priorities and supporting routines!
And one other thing that I like to do is remind myself of when I once dreamed about the season I’m in now – yes, it’s tough being a new mama and rebranding my business but 5 years ago when I started Hustle Sanely, I used to dream about it growing into a company like it is today – what a blessing that I am living that dream now! Our minds are powerful so use your thoughts to create a life of peace.
Need help creating a schedule in this full season you are living?
I have the solution for you!
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