What do you do when you have so much on your plate that you cannot prioritize anymore?

Yes, we’ve all heard about "just" needing to straighten up your priorities.

But it’s easy to feel so overwhelmed by your to-do list that even prioritizing feels impossible. You're juggling so many responsibilities that even getting by seems unreachable, while adding one more thing seems unthinkable.??

I was working with a successful, hard-working, high-achieving leader...you might know the type. Let’s call her Mary.??

Mary was always very busy. Handling multiple client projects, ramping up her business, taking care of her family, and managing house chores as a cherry on top.

She was sure she could do everything and was trying to manage her time in the most efficient way possible to ensure she could still focus on all the different things.

But her business wasn’t progressing as planned. She kept procrastinating and wasn’t able to do as much as she wanted.

Days became weeks, weeks became months.

The issue wasn’t just the time – she said – it’s that even when I have the time, I am paralyzed with too many things on my mind.

As we worked on planning how to make this work, one very obvious and important thing came out.

On all the priorities she had in her calendar, one big one was missing.

The most important one.

HERSELF

With the busyness and trying to do everything, she forgot and pushed away self-care until she had little time and no energy left.

So we made a simple deal.

In the next 2 weeks, she would not pick any other priority if she didn’t have time for self-care planned for that day, and she had to honour that time.

It could be going for a walk, doing yoga, getting her nails done, or reading a book quietly. She could do whatever she wanted for at least 40 minutes. This was her sacred time.

She went all in with it.

In the first 2 weeks, she finally got unstuck on what was holding up her launch of a new product.

2 weeks later, she was fully ready with a date, and everything was falling into place.

Productivity is not about playing tetris with your calendar to squeeze everything in.

It’s about ensuring that you use the time as effectively as possible so you can have time for yourself and your business without getting overwhelmed.

When you prioritize your own well-being, you find that hidden energy and focus needed to achieve your goals. So, ask yourself: How can you make space for yourself in your calendar today?

Best,

Serena

P.S. Ready to take control of your time and energy? Join my free 5-day productivity challenge, just 30 minutes a day, fully on your schedule. Get started now