Have you ever felt the pressure to “do it all” at once? Like you’re stuck in the “hustle”?
Here’s what I mean:
You wake up. You instantly feel the pressure of the day.
You don’t even want to check your phone because it’s going to be a visual reminder of all.the.things waiting for you over the next 10+ hours.
But you look anyway.
And that sense of worry. Of stress. It hits you.
On top of the things you have to do, there are things you feel pressure to do:
Get enough sleep
Drink enough water
Move your body enough
Care for your family
Tend to your home
It’s a lot.
So you “medicate” with caffeine.
Reach for some comfort food.
Maybe some funny posts you see on social media.
Instead of fixing the problem, those things put a bandaid on it.
The hustle is waiting there. Day after day. You need an actual fix. Not a distraction.
The good news is this: there is a fix.
The bad news is this: whether it works or not is dependent entirely on your ability to let things go.
Can you stop believing the story that the success of your entire life is dependent solely on you?
Here’s the truth: that’s a soul-crushing story to believe day after day.
To be clear, I’m not saying you have zero personal responsibility in your life.
But what I am saying is: when you start to dig into the details, there are things you can release.
When you cultivate a habit of letting go - in other words, when you learn to set some boundaries for yourself - you’re going to experience a shift.
This shift will bring peace.
Calm.
Clarity.
Real control.
You won’t feel pressure to perform all day long. You’ll realize there are ways you can be productive that remove yourself from things you don’t need to be heavily involved in.
Let’s talk about how to make this happen. The easiest place to begin is with your home.
Step 1: Make a list of a few repetitive chores you have to do to keep your home functioning.
Some ideas are: go grocery shopping; clean the kitchen; do the laundry.
Now think of the processes involved in those tasks. Let’s focus on laundry.
It involves people remembering to put their dirty clothes in the right spot. (My husband likes to leave his on the floor outside of the laundry room.
Then someone (you) has to take the laundry to the laundry room (unless they are on the floor outside).
Then someone (you) has to sort it.
And load the machine (again, you).
Then transfer it to the dryer (guess who?).
Then fold it.
Then put it away (you and you).
Each one of these steps contributes to your mental load. This is one tiny example of what contributes to your daily stress.
What if you could think about this task in a different way, though?
What if you could hack the task so it didn’t contribute to your stress.
What if it was a way to teach your children self-sufficiency? Invite them into the process by having them own one or 2 of the steps.
Or what if instead of laundry happening in one day, you break the process down over several days? You could even assign it to different people in the house. On Monday, your partner washes ____, and on Wednesday you take care of ______.
When you start thinking of the parts of your day that contribute to the overall “hustle effect” as processes that are open for interpretation and re-evaluation, you’ll realize something.
Step 2: Come to the realization that your degree of “busyness” depends on you.
It depends on what you’re willing to tolerate.
And if you’re at the point where life is too much, then it’s time to hack the process.
But here’s a sad truth: most of us won’t do that.
Why? We cling to the belief we’re the “keeper of the knowledge” around routines, tasks, systems, etc.
We mistakenly believe that it has to be done by us if it’s going to be done correctly.
I’m here to tell you that mindset is keeping you trapped in a cycle of hustle that will lead to burnout. And that takes us to step 3.
Step 3: Interrupt the cycle by choosing to believe a different story.
You can interrupt it by choosing to believe these are opportunities for adjustment.
You can choose to believe you can make changes to protect your energy.
If you want to get serious about this and begin making subtle shifts that can change the trajectory of your life long term, you need to download this guide I’ve put together for you.
It’s the “Mindful Intentions Mini Planner” and it walks you through a process of becoming more mindful in your life, and setting intentions that move you forward.
Stay out of the hustle.
XO, Hayley