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Positively Living®: Shame-Free Productivity Conversations

The Positively LivingⓇ podcast is designed to help you prioritize your passions, personalize your approach to life, and achieve your goals without the burnout. If you're an overwhelmed multi-tasker, multi-passionate, people pleaser, creative, and/or caregiver, you'll love this mix of solo and special guest episodes. With topics like productivity, self-awareness, personal development, habits + systems, decluttering + organizing, positivity, stress management, trauma + grief, entrepreneurship, and more, you’ll find actionable advice, wrapped in humor and hope, dedicated to helping you do less, live more, and breathe easier.

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Positively Living®: Shame-Free Productivity Conversations

Starting the New Year with Less Stress

January 05, 2026 • Lisa Zawrotny • Episode 295

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Are you already feeling the “New Year, New You” burnout before January is even over? The pressure to set massive resolutions, hit the ground running, and overhaul your entire life on January 1st is a recipe for overwhelm. If you’re feeling more like you need a nap than a marathon, you’re not alone, and you’re not failing. This week on episode 295 of the Positively LivingⓇ Podcast, I’m introducing you to a gentler, sustainable approach so you can start the new year with less stress.

In this episode of the Positively LivingⓇ Podcast, I’m ditching the concept of an arbitrary date on the calendar that dictates our fresh start and giving you actionable steps to take right now to reach your goals at a pace that actually respects your energy and capacity.

I cover the following topics:

Embrace the phrase, “start as you mean to go on,” or in other words, choose a starting speed that you can maintain.
Take an intentional pause to reflect and move forward in the right direction.
Conduct a self-assessment to understand your energy drains, capacity, and current needs.
Consider broad intentions over rigid goals to support your overall well-being.

Ready to build a year that actually fits your life? Download my free Productivity Toolkit at positivelyproductive.com/plpkit and follow along as we dive into these workbooks in the coming weeks!

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

Learn more about Positively LivingⓇ and Lisa at https://positivelyproductive.com/podcast/

Stop trying to fit into someone else’s productivity rules! Grab my free Productivity Toolkit, a collection of workbooks designed to help you explore how you work, uncover what truly matters to you, and create your very own energy-friendly systems. Get it here: www.positivelyproductive.com/plpkit

CONNECT WITH LISA ZAWROTNY:

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

(Find links to books/gear on the Positively Productive Resources Page.)

Ep 291: How Slowing Down Makes You More Productive

Ep 293: Simple Filters to Help You Make Decisions

Ep 239: How to Choose a Word of the Year

Dance Song Playlist V1, V2, V3

Music by Ian and Jeff Zawrotny