The POWR Method: Stop Forcing Your Business & Start Syncing It With Your Cycle (Mini-Series Intro)

What if you're not doing too little — you're just doing everything at the wrong time?

If you've ever:

• Built a business to escape burnout only to recreate the same rushed patterns
• Felt that "I should be doing something" pressure even though you're your own boss
• Wondered why some weeks you fly through your to-do list and others you can barely think straight
• Tried to force creativity, sales calls, or admin work when your body was screaming for something different

In this episode, I'm introducing you to The POWR Method: the framework I use to run my business in sync with my cycle. 

P = Plan (follicular), O = Outward (ovulation), W = Work (luteal), R = Rest (menstrual). Every task in your business falls under one of these four categories, but they don't all happen in the same week.

Here's what I want you to know: The habits of burnout don't disappear just because the job title changes. That urgency follows you. But when you stop forcing the wrong things at the wrong time and start working WITH your body's natural rhythm, things get easier, faster, and honestly more fun. This is about doing the right things at the right time.

In this episode:

• Why I recreated burnout patterns in my new business (and how to break the cycle)
• The POWR Method breakdown: what to do in each phase of your cycle
• How cycle syncing applies to business strategy, not just your health
• The biology behind why you're better at certain tasks during certain weeks
• What I'm covering in this 4-part mini-series on cycle-syncing your business

This episode is for you if:

• You're an entrepreneur running on empty and heading straight for burnout
• You're doing all the things and still feel behind
• You can't figure out why some weeks feel impossible and others feel effortless
• You know you need to slow down but have no idea how without your business falling apart
• You're ready to stop forcing productivity and start flowing with your body

"I had to trust that doing the right thing at the right time would outperform doing all the things all the time. And it does."

☕️ Stay bold, stay balanced, stay thriving 

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Transcript

0:00:00 - (Carly): Before we dive into today's episode, I want to remind you guys of a little spring special savings that I've got going on. 50% off of my 90 minute health intensive sessions. So if you didn't get around to setting health goals back in January, good, you are in the exact right place. Because it is an absolutely absurd societal tradition to set goals in the depths of the darkness. Right? Winter has its own superpower, but it is absolutely not goal setting.

0:00:35 - (Carly): So now that spring has officially sprung and much like your follicular phase, energy is rising, creativity is returning, and it's the perfect time to set goals. So the trap though, that far too many women fall into is setting the right goals with the wrong approach. And it's not their fault. They've just been, you know, given advice that was never designed for their body. Many of my own clients come to me having done everything right, eating relatively well, hitting a workout class every day, but still not seeing results.

0:01:10 - (Carly): It's not their body, it's their approach. As we know, if you've been in my world for a while, women are not tiny men. So before you dive into another diet, a gym membership or supplement, take the time to learn how your body actually operates and what it truly needs to thrive. Okay, so this is exactly what we will do inside a 90 minute health intensive session. It's a one time focused session with me where you come with a specific goal, a question, a focus, and we're going to take a deep dive into it all. What have you tried in the past, maybe why it didn't work, what you're looking for.

0:01:51 - (Carly): And you will leave feeling like someone finally gets it. You will leave with clarity. You will leave with a clear direction and actionable next steps. Designed by a woman, of course, for women. So 50% means it is just $150. You can claim it anytime in April and schedule it anytime in April or May, so there's no rush. This will save you money, time and months of spinning your wheels because the approach that you took was wrong without, you know, understanding how your body works.

0:02:26 - (Carly): So this is the perfect time. A one time session will set you up for the months and the years ahead. Just email me or shoot me a DM on Instagram if you want to claim one of those spots. Okay, let's get into today's episode. Welcome to Coffee with Carly, your weekly wake up call to a happier, healthier life. I'm your host, Carly Shade, and I'm here to uncover how good life can get. Today, I want to ask you something.

0:03:07 - (Carly): Okay? What if the reason that you feel exhausted, creatively drained, and like you can never quite keep up in your business or life isn't because you're doing too little, but because you're doing everything at the wrong time? Okay, sit with that just for a second, because that's exactly where I was. And it was not until I figured this thing out that everything changed in my business, but also my life.

0:03:39 - (Carly): So for those of you who have been here for a while, right, you know my story. You know that I built this business specifically to escape burnout, okay? I didn't know a world where Rushing was not the star of the show. Okay? I had previously had a job where everything felt urgent, everything was on fire, and the only acceptable response was to start at the top of the to do list, and you just grind your way down until you couldn't anymore. And of course, the to do list, you know, just gets longer and longer.

0:04:10 - (Carly): But that's exactly how I ended up burning out at 29 years old with progesterone levels so low that it was considered menopausal and a nervous system that had absolutely one speed. Chaotic. So of course I left, right? I bet on myself. I returned to my true passion and I built something of my own. But then, without even realizing it, I recreated the exact same patterns in my new business. Because here's what nobody tells you about being wired for burnout.

0:04:44 - (Carly): It's that the habits, they don't disappear just because the job title changes. That urgency, those patterns, they follow you. You know that I should be doing something, feeling follows you. And as long as there's something on the list, that urgent pressure to do it right now doesn't care that you're exhausted or creatively fried or running on fumes. And I think a lot of you listening know exactly what I'm talking about.

0:05:14 - (Carly): Especially as the business owner, right? You're wearing every single hat. You're the accountant, you're the marketer, you're the creative director, the sales team, the project manager, all before noon, right? On top of that, there's no one telling you what to prioritize. There's no one telling you this deadline, you know when to do it. And so that freedom that you, you know, that drew you to this path, it doesn't always feel like freedom.

0:05:43 - (Carly): It feels like there's just a never ending to do list with no finish line. But here's where it gets interesting. So I've been studying women's hormones and health and cycle syncing for years. We know it changed my Life. It changed my health. It's my bread and butter of what I help clients with. But for a while, I only saw it through that lens. Women's health. But somewhere along the way, I learned that you can apply these same principles to how you run your business, right? That each phase of your cycle comes with specific nutritional needs, maybe a change in your mood, digestion, and superpowers, but not just for your body, but for how you think, you create, you communicate, and how you execute.

0:06:29 - (Carly): Now, it sounded really cool in theory, but it was such a different way of approaching business. And so at first, every fiber in my being was fighting it like this. This new approach felt so lazy, irresponsible, kind of like froofy, you know, it was like, I know I need to do my accounting, but according to this new framework, I'm really just supposed to wait two weeks until I'm in my luteal phase, when my brain is better wired for it.

0:07:01 - (Carly): That's not how to do lists work. That's not how I taught. That's not how I was taught. Anything works. So I resisted it. And I stayed in my familiar yet miserable old burnout ways for kind of a while. But finally last year, I decided to stop theoreticizing it and actually try it. And of course, with most new things, it felt very uncomfortable at first, right? It had gone against all the conditioning around business and success.

0:07:34 - (Carly): And really, like, I had to overcome my hard wiring for pressure, right? I had to trust that doing the right thing at the right time, even if it feels like I'm doing less, would outperform doing all the things all the time. But I kept at it. You know, some of those hustle tendencies stick with me. And there's a reason that it's, you know, it works. And so I kept at it and I kept at it and I kept trying and it worked.

0:08:04 - (Carly): This new framework is how I operate my business. And I have not looked back since. So today I want to introduce you to this framework that I use to run my business and align it with my cycle. So I call it the power method, right? Your power is in your period. And when I say power, I mean P O W R. So here's how it breaks down. P stands for plan. This is your follicular phase. So now this phase does overlap with your period, but I like to say that it really starts the day after your bleed ends.

0:08:41 - (Carly): Your estrogen is rising, your brain is sharp, and you're really optimistic and forward thinking, right? This is your planning phase. P. And so think big. Picture new ideas, mapping out projects. This is not the time for heads down executing. You know, nobody talk to me. This is the time to really zoom out and think big and strategize. Okay, that's P. So now we have the O in power, and O stands for outward.

0:09:13 - (Carly): This is also our ovulation phase. So you are your most magnetic in this phase. And this is where you know, you're able to communicate well. You feel confident, really warm and high energy. This is your most social phase. So in your business, this is where you might want to record podcast episodes, sales calls, show up to a networking event, you know, film content, showing up on camera, pitching yourself, selling in your stories, right? If it requires you to be seen or heard, this is your window.

0:09:49 - (Carly): Okay? That's our O. Now we have W. W stands for work. This is your ludal phase, the two weeks approximately before your period. And this is where your energy starts to turn inwards. You're more detail oriented, right? You can see what's not working. You have this kind of incredible ability to follow through. This is where we put our heads down and we just execute, right? Maybe we've made the big plans, maybe we've written copy in our planning or our outward phases, and now it's time to, like, pop it into the website, right? We're gonna tweak things, we're gonna edit it, we're gonna look at our accounting admin work, finishing up what you started. We're gonna wrap things up in this work phase.

0:10:35 - (Carly): And then finally we have our R. And our R stands for rest. And this is your menstrual phase, your period. And I know that we've been taught to just push through this week like any other, right? I know that there's those phases, those phrases that say, you know, I can do anything while I'm bleeding. And of course that's true. And of course we can't just stop our life. I get that. But where can we rest a little bit more? Where can we choose to delay something on our to do list?

0:11:06 - (Carly): Where can we realize that this is the time where we should be reflecting, resting and reflecting, right? That doesn't mean that we pause everything, but this means that maybe instead of launching and creatively coming up with your next masterclass, you're sitting and kind of thinking about what happened that month, right? What happened in your last launch. Maybe rereading some of your journals, reviewing some old content, right? Deciding what isn't working and getting quiet enough to hear yourself think.

0:11:37 - (Carly): Ironically, this is actually where you end up getting Some of those ideas that come out in that P planning phase. So that was the R. Okay, so we have P, O, W, R plan, outward, work, rest. Everything in your business falls under one of these categories. I guarantee it. Look at your to do list, and I guarantee you can, you know, assign those tasks to one of those four categories. But the difference is that they don't all happen on the same day or even the same week.

0:12:09 - (Carly): And when you stop forcing the wrong things at the wrong time and start working with your body, right, Start flowing with what your body is actually primed for, things get easier, faster, and, honestly, more fun. And what's so cool about this framework is where this comes from, right? This, this planning, this kind of being primed for communication and being magnetic and working. It's all based on our biology.

0:12:41 - (Carly): Whether you want kids or not, we're primed for reproduction. So this work phase in our luteal, our body is working to prepare for a potential pregnancy, trying to sustain this potential pregnancy, right? And so that's actually why we do get more attentive to detail, because we might be pregnant, and we need to be a little bit sharper, right? That's why your husband might annoy you a little bit more.

0:13:05 - (Carly): Like, we actually are primed for that because our body now has a different purpose, a different responsibility. The science is there, and I'm telling you, the more that you learn about your body as a woman, the more that everything just makes sense. And it is so cool. Okay, I'm not gonna go on a tangent too much, so here's what we're gonna do over the next four episodes. Think of this like a little mini series.

0:13:29 - (Carly): Okay? So each week, I'm gonna walk you through one phase in depth. Okay? The specific tasks I assign myself, you've learned a little bit about them just above the strategies that I use. And some of the results I've actually seen from doing this, right? Like, what has been my experience throughout this. So next week, we are gonna start with the P phase follicular, and I'm gonna share exactly what I did during my own follicular phase just last cycle, what I planned, how I structured it, and why it worked.

0:14:01 - (Carly): Short and sweet, but we're going to go deep. So if this resonated with you today, I just have one ask. Share this episode with a woman in your life who needs to hear it. Because this framework doesn't just apply to the entrepreneur who is running on empty and heading straight for burnout. Right? This applies to the mom who can't figure out why some weeks feel impossible, or the ambitious woman who is doing all the things and still feels behind she needs this framework.

0:14:31 - (Carly): And if you are not already subscribed to my podcast, please do that now so that you don't miss next week's episode and of course all of those following. And if you do want hands on support applying this framework to your business or your life, my 90 minute intensive would be the perfect place to do so. And remember, that is 50% off in April. All right, that is all I've got for today. Thank you guys for tuning in, for listening and like a good cup of coffee, stay bold, stay balanced and I will see you next time.