[260] The Essential First Step for Squashing Overwhelm

This month on the Real Happy Mom Podcast, we’re doing something special! I’m sharing some of the most powerful moments from the 2025 Let’s Get More Time Virtual Summit—so if you missed it (or just need a mid-year reset), you’re in for a treat.

In each episode, you’ll hear from expert speakers who share simple, practical ways to help you take back your time, build routines that actually work, and finally feel like you’re not always playing catch-up.

Want the full experience? You can grab the Let’s Get More Time 2025 Recordings PLUS two powerhouse bonuses:

• 💻 The Home Management Trellotastic Power Pack (valued at $67) — a done-for-you Trello system to keep your home life running smoothly
• 📓 The Ultimate Habit Journal (valued at $27) — your guide to building and sticking with habits, even when life is busy

All of this for just $17 — no fluff, just the tools that work.

👉🏽 Grab it now at realhappymom.com/moretime

Let’s help you get more time, more peace, and more control—starting today.

Transcript

Toni-Ann: 0:01

Hey, and welcome to the Real Happy Mom Podcast. This month on the Real Happy Mom Podcast, we're doing something special. I'm sharing some of my most powerful moments from the 2025 Let's Get More Time Virtual Summit. So if you missed it or you just need a mid-year, reset your in for a treat. In each episode this month, you're going to hear from experts who share simple, practical ways to help you take back your time, build routines that actually work, and finally feel like you're not always playing catch up. If you want the full experience, you can grab the Let's Get More Time 2025 recordings plus two powerhouse bonuses, which include the Home Management, Trellotastic Power Pack, which is a done for you Trello system to help you keep your home running smoothly. And the Ultimate Habit Journal, which is your guide to building and sticking with habits even when life gets busy you can get all the recordings plus those bonuses in a workbook, all for just$17 during this month. This is a toolkit that has all the tools that are actually gonna work for you. So you can go ahead and grab it at realhappymom.com/moretime. Now let's help you get more time, more peace, and more control starting today.

Alicia: 1:20

Hey there. Welcome to our presentation, the Essential First Step for Squashing Overwhelm. I'm Alicia Cohen, and I'm so excited that you are listening to my presentation here. As a productivity expert and a mom of three, I know firsthand how life can feel overwhelming when you're juggling so many responsibilities in my own life, in the past, I've experienced that dreaded hamster wheel marathon. You know, where you're working harder and harder, but never feel like you're actually making any progress. And today I wanna share the essential first step to squashing overwhelm and breaking free from that hamster wheel marathon cycle. But first, real quick, a little about me personally. I'm married to my wonderful husband, and as I mentioned, we have three awesome kids. We are a homeschool family, and some things I like to do for fun include doing jigsaw puzzles. Crocheting going on family walks and listening to nonfiction audio books. Okay, now let's dive into this powerful concept, this essential first step, and explore how you can start living with less overwhelm and more intention and purpose today. So let me ask you, have you ever felt like you are stuck on what I call the hamster wheel marathon? I mentioned that I used to struggle with this, but how about you? Are you currently there? Are you constantly busy? Always pushing, yet no matter how hard you try, it feels like you're not getting anywhere. Maybe you feel like life is running you instead of the other way around, or perhaps you're trying to stay productive, but the chaos and the overwhelm just make it feel impossible. If any of this resonates with you, I want you to know that you're not alone, and more importantly, there is a way to change this. So what's the essential first step as the title of this presentation says? It is understanding your season of life, like in a super clear and super applicable way. I also call this. Syncing your season, so where you use this information about your season to inform and sync everything else for how you manage your life. Here's what we'll cover today, first. Just to make sure that we're on the same page, I'll explain what a season really is, what I mean by this, and also why understanding yours is so essential for productivity and intentional living. Then we'll walk through a reflection process to help you identify your current season. Because season clarity is the foundation for everything else. And finally, I'll share practical, actionable steps you can take to simplify your life and align your priorities with your season. So I. When I talk about a season, I'm not referring to a winter, spring, summer and fall. Although when talking about your personal season, this can certainly play into it, but there's way more to it than this. So a personal season. Is a unique period of your life defined by key responsibilities, challenges, or themes. Again, a unique period of your life defined by key responsibilities, challenges, or themes. For example, you might be in a new baby season where your priorities are focused on adjusting to life with your new little one or. Maybe you are in a career pivot season where you're working hard to establish yourself in a new role. Or on the other hand, you could be in a season of caregiving, supporting an aging parent or family member and finding that this takes most of your energy and your time. Your season is shaped by what's happening in your life right now, and also perhaps by what just happened in your life or by what is about to happen. Seasons are dynamic. They evolve and change over time. And understanding your current season is the first step toward living intentionally because it helps you align your focus and priorities with what. Truly matters right now. It's important that you make this into a repeatable process in your life so that you can continually evaluate and reevaluate what is going on with your season so that you can create your life in a way that works best and feels the best for you. Now. You don't have to pay attention to your season. You can keep going on autopilot and live your life without reflecting on your season. But if you wanna live well, if you wanna focus on what truly matters and stop spinning your wheels, then getting clear on your season is the essential first step, what I call step zero. It's the foundation for everything else when you know your season. It informs everything you do. It's a small shift in how you think about it, but it really makes a huge, huge difference. Okay, so now why is it so important to know your season? I just started touching on this a little bit, but to keep expanding on this. If you are not clear on your season, it's easy to keep spinning your wheels working harder and harder, but never feeling like you're getting anywhere. When you are clear about your season, you can avoid burnout. You can avoid overwhelm because you are no longer trying to do it all. You are operating from a place of being informed about your season and wisely making decisions from this place. So here. You focus on what truly matters most, both in what you need to do and also in what you want to do. Being clear on your season also allows you to live intentionally and purposefully because you can align your decisions, commitments, time and energy with your current reality rather than feeling like you're constantly fighting against it. You make a really important shift to start running your life instead of letting life run you, and this all starts with reflection. So let's talk about that now. One of the most powerful tools for becoming and being season aware is reflection. Reflection is where the magic happens. It's really the key to clarity. Let me give you an example. Imagine you're in a season where work has taken over and everything else feels like it's on the back burner. By pausing to reflect, you might realize you've been saying yes to too many projects and leaving little time for yourself or your family. This insight allows you to make intentional changes like delegating tasks or setting clearer boundaries. And, and that's how you are able to use reflection to make powerful differences in your own life. Reflection might feel uncomfortable at first, but it's how you gain those aha moments that help you move forward. So take the time to ask yourself what's working, what's not, and what can I do differently? Now I know what you might be thinking, you might be thinking, but Alicia. I'm too busy to sit down and reflect and trust me, I get it. But here's the thing, if you're feeling too busy, that's exactly why you need this reflection helps you gain those insights and realizations that, again, allow you to move forward with intention. It's where you ask yourself the tough but necessary questions like. How's this current season working for me? Am I enjoying it? Is this where I want to stay? These questions, again, they might feel uncomfortable, but they're incredibly powerful and the answers are really quite worth it. As I've said, reflection is the key to clarity and season awareness, and it's where you can identify what truly matters to you. And when you take time to reflect, that's the way that you can begin to break free from the hamster wheel marathon and start making intentional choices that align with your current season, all because of reflecting. So let's start this reflection process for you right now. So to identify your current season. I want you to start by reflecting on these key questions First, what's currently on your plate? Take a moment to brain dump everything that's demanding your time and your energy and your attention. And do take the time to write it down, because seeing it all laid out in front of you can be really quite eye-opening. Okay, and then next I want you to ask yourself. What truly matters to me. So what truly matters to you? What are your priorities right now? What's important to you? This helps you distinguish between what's essential and what might just be cluttering up your life. And then take an honest look. At how you are really doing. Ask yourself, how am I really doing? Are you thriving, surviving somewhere in between? How are you really? And then finally, ask yourself this question. If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your life or current situation? Let's talk more about this magic wand question, for example. Imagine that you did have this magic wand and you could change anything. Maybe you'd have a spotless house without lifting a finger, or perhaps you'd have more time to spend with your kids free from distractions. These magic wand wishes reveal what you're craving right now, and once you recognize them, you can ask. Hmm, is there a small step? I can take to make this happen. For instance, you could hire a cleaning service once a month or set aside focused family time every Saturday. Even small changes can help you feel more aligned with your season. And the magic wand question often reveals these actionable steps that you can take. So after you've answered these four questions. What do you notice about your current season? What patterns do you see? What are the features or the hallmark characteristics of your current season? See if you can identify three to five things that are really the core of what's comprising your season right now. So take some time to do this, and when you're ready, then move on to the next slide.

Toni-Ann: 13:07

Now that does it for this episode of The Real Happy Mom Podcast. Make sure you head over to realhappymom.com/moretime to listen to this full presentation as well as the other recordings, plus some really great bonuses. Okay, and check back next week for another one of the great presentations from the Let's Get More Time Summit. Take care, and with lots of love.