Ep. 175: Sprint Recap Day 2: You Can Stop the Spin, Even in Chaos

Do you ever feel like your brain is screaming, "I can't handle one more thing!"?

Like you're already at capacity, and then someone asks you to remember something else, do something else, manage something else—and you want to just... break?

That moment when one more demand hits your already full plate, and instead of handling it gracefully, you either snap or completely shut down?

That's exactly what we tackled inside Day 2 of the Sprint today—and let me tell you, it was powerful.

I'm Jennifer Roskamp, and the women who showed up for Day 2 of the 3-Day Survival Mode Rescue Sprint learned something that's going to change how they handle overwhelming moments forever.

They learned how to stop the spin, even in chaos.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Understanding Mental Overload
• 0:49 Strategies for Managing Stress
• 2:28 Introduction to Overwhelm and Capacity
• 6:15 The Pause and Park Strategy
• 9:06 Shame-Free Boundaries and Guilt-Free Living

Transcript

Well, welcome, friend. Welcome to the Intentional Midlife Mom podcast. Today, I'm your host, Jennifer Roskamp. man, this is going to be a powerful episode right here, because I think many of us can identify with that brain screaming moment when you say, I just can't take one more thing. You know you're already at capacity, but something else has to be managed. Something else is being heaped onto the plate. That moment when one more demand hits your plate that's already too full.

And in that moment, you don't handle it super gracefully. You either snap or you completely shut down. And that's exactly what we tackled inside day two of the sprint today. And let me tell you, it was powerful. And so the women who showed up for day two of the three-day survival mode rescue sprint, they learned something that's gonna change how they handle those overwhelming moments forever. They learned how to stop the spin even in chaos. So here's what we discovered together.

That moment when your brain screams, can't handle one more thing, it does not signal that you are weak. This is a signal that your nervous system is hitting overload. There's a bunch of flashing red lights and the system's about to shut down. And instead of actually stepping into that crash, you can actually interrupt the spin in real time. And to do that, I taught them what I call the pause and park strategy. It's simple, but it's revolutionary.

When the overwhelm hits, you literally tell yourself, not now. I'm going to park this and pick it back up later. Because you don't have to absorb everything in the moment the very moment it lands on you. You don't have to solve it immediately. You don't have to carry it in your body as stress. You can just pause. So let me give you an example. Yesterday, I was in the middle of working when my daughter texted me about an application deadline she had that was coming up. And it was apparently urgent.

So my first instinct was to drop everything, to research the requirements and to help her figure it out, help her set forth a timeline to get it done today. But instead I paused and I said out loud to myself, I'm gonna park this until three o'clock. I think it was about 1.30 at the time. And so I texted her back and I said, got it, let's talk at three. And I went back to my work. That's what it looks like to use the pause and park. I didn't ignore her need, I didn't dismiss it.

I just didn't allow myself to absorb it as this immediate chaos in my nervous system. And today we also practiced what I call shame-free boundaries. These are boundaries that protect your capacity without guilt, like this script, I'm not shaming myself for being human today, or I'm not dealing with this right now, for now. That little phrase for now is like magic because it gives you permission to be human without making it permanent.

Here's what one of the women shared during our session. She said, I realized I don't have to say yes to everything immediately. I can give myself time to think. And that alone feels life changing. It's not about escaping the chaos. Chaos is going to happen. You're not going to avoid it. But what we need to do is it's about realizing that you actually can stop the spin in the moment. You can create breathing room even when everything feels urgent. Because here's the truth. Most things.

that feel urgent actually aren't urgent. They just feel that way because you've been trained to absorb everything immediately. So today inside the sprint, women practiced setting one micro boundary in real life. And it sounds small, but it was life-changing for them. One woman practiced this skill and what she said was, let me check my calendar and get back to you. That was her plan of attack. And so,

Instead of automatically saying yes, she said, let me check my calendar. Another woman was going to do this. She was going to say, I'm not available to solve this right now, but I promise I will revisit this a bit later. I'll get back to you. Her adult child had reached out to her just before we stepped into day one and had called with a crisis that she knew wasn't actually an emergency. Someone else practiced saying, I'll think about it. Instead of just immediately taking on

a request. So instead of saying no to something, imagine what it would feel like. Let me go here. Imagine what it would feel like to say no to something and not have the guilt for probably the first time in forever. Imagine creating space in your schedule, in your mind, in your energy without feeling selfish about it. That's the kind of shift that we're creating together inside the sprint. And the relief, it was immediate. Women were saying things like,

I never thought that I actually could say that. I didn't know I was allowed to pause. I thought everything always had to be handled right now. And so that was just a taste of what we covered in day two. Inside the sprint, we went much deeper. We talked about why we absorb everything immediately. Why do we do it that way? Because really, as women, we've been trained to be the solution to every problem. Your family, your friends, maybe even your coworkers have learned that if they bring something to you,

You'll handle it. You'll figure it out. You'll make it work. But that training is costing you your peace. And we explored the difference between responding and reacting. Reacting is immediate, emotional, and usually leads to overwhelm. Responding is intentional. It's thoughtful. And it protects your capacity. We practiced specific scripts for different situations.

We practiced things like how to say no without over explaining, how to buy yourself time when you're feeling pressured, how to set boundaries with yourself when your own mind is spiraling, how to create space without feeling guilty about it. And we talked about why guilt shows up when you set boundaries and how to expect it without letting it stop you. That's big, right? We can accept that the guilt is gonna come, but that doesn't mean we have to bend with it.

And really we address this fear that saying no means you don't care. That's what we calculate in our minds. If I say no, that means I don't care. But that's not true. Caring doesn't mean carrying everything. Loving people doesn't mean losing yourself. But here's what was most powerful. Again, it was watching these women think about sharing these phrases. Watching these women make their plan to say, you know what, I've got something right now.

that I have to give an answer to and I'm gonna do it differently. Here's what I'm gonna say. They were doing these things in real time. These women were able to kind of picture themselves in the moment where they could actually create space without the world falling apart. So day one in the sprint was about seeing the cycle clearly, but day two was about interrupting it in the moment. And tomorrow in day three, we're gonna talk about something even more powerful. We're gonna talk about redefining what success looks like in survival mode.

Because once you can see the cycle and interrupt the spin, the next question becomes, how do you define success in a way that actually fits your life then? So day three is all about learning how survival isn't failure, it's success. And we're gonna create what I call your bare minimum reset. And these are three simple wins that count as success in your current season. There's no more chasing perfection. There's no more feeling guilty about good enough. Just clear, achievable wins that...

really let you feel proud of yourself instead of ashamed. Because survival mode, it's not about lowering your standards. It's about making your standards sustainable. And it's not too late to join us. Depending on when you're listening to this episode, every day of the sprint, you've got 24 hours to watch the replay. And if that doesn't seem like enough time, or if you missed day one and you want to see it, or maybe you missed day two and day three when you're listening to this episode.

You always have the option to purchase the VIP upgrade and that will give you lifetime access to all of the replays. But you can also sign up to join us and you can again jump right in with us on day three. This is your chance to experience live with us, to practice them in real time, to get support as you learn to carry differently. The women who joined us for day two, they're already creating space in their lives, not because they're doing less, but because they're carrying what's on their plate differently.

Here's what Margaret shared after today's session. She said, I set my first guilt-free boundary in years. I told my mother-in-law I'd call her back instead of dropping everything to talk through her drama. And the world didn't end. And I didn't die of guilt. I just took a breath for the first time. How amazing, right? A simple phone call. That's the power of learning to stop the spin. That's what happens when you realize you're allowed to pause.

Lisa said, I used the pause and park strategy three times today, instead of spiraling down about everything I need to do. I just parked these things until I could actually do something about it. And my anxiety, it dropped immediately. These women are learning that chaos doesn't have to equal crash, that overwhelming moments don't have to lead to overwhelming days. They're learning that they actually have more control than they realized.

So, head to survivalmoderescuesprint.com or use the link in the show notes. And save your spot, come join us in the three-day Survival Mode Rescue Sprint. It's free and it could change the way you carry your load forever. So tomorrow is our final day together and we're gonna complete the foundation. We're gonna be talking about how to define success in a way that lets you feel proud instead of behind.

Because in reality, you don't have to absorb everything. You don't have to handle it all immediately. And you definitely don't have to crash in order to get relief. I'll see you inside the sprint for day three tomorrow.