What’s saving my life: April 2025
How to lean into what matters most: A Q1 roundup including the unicorn jeans that are VP-level polished but feel like sweats and my new favorite way to scratch the travel itch (for free, basically!)
When I say, “what’s saving my life,” I often mean, “how I’m finding more time.” Time is my finite resource these days - I never have enough, and the time I do have gets consumed with adult responsibilities and life to-dos. I always want more for what I love!
Can you relate? Do you want to spend more time doing what you love with the people you love?
Join me on May 1st at 10:30a PT as we make a plan to align our time with our values. In Values-Based Time Management, a 60-minute workshop over Zoom, we’ll
Audit your time
Articulate your values
Develop a values-based time map to live with intention
Registration opens FRIDAY. I’d love to have you in the room.
Life isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing what matters—on purpose.
Intro price: $29 – this is a brand new workshop! Get in on the beta round
Bonus for the first 5 sign-ups: Free time audit! I’ll review your completed time log and provide personalized insights for you to workshop.
A mental spiral
My New Year’s goal was to “DO LESS.” Yes, I wrote it in all caps like that.
lolololllllll
In case you were wondering, I am entirely ignoring that goal and still doing the most. We are doing all of the things! Even as I am coaching others to manage priorities and drill down to their values, because we can’t do it all! I am over here simply ignoring the limits of my body, mind, and time itself.
Perhaps because of this, I went into a particularly quick and deep mental spiral a few days ago as I planned for the week. I realized that I had multiple overlapping deadlines and conflicting projects, yet felt a gaping lack of…. something. Anxiety was twirling madly while also weighing me down with the feeling of ~not enough~. Ergo, I must do MORE! Get more! Make more! Be more! Fill the gaping hole with….something!
~deep breath~
Thankfully, I was tired and went to sleep. The next morning, I had a pre-planned trail run with friends and a timely message from my coach asking, “What’s your word of the week, and what actions can you take to make that intentional, real?”
Do less
I’m refocusing toward DOING LESS. But to be content in that mission, I must quiet the part of my brain pointing out where it sees a gap or thinks something is missing. When my brain signals a hole, instead of swirling anxiety and filling it with a panicked MORE, I want to quiet the spiral by calling out what I already have—because I have so much!
I want to notice the abundance of this season, the simple things that make this current iteration of my life so full. This abundance will save me from myself and my anxious brain wanting to do more. All of this goodness is saving my life.
What about you? What abundant magic already exists in your life? How are you simplifying the chaos of the season and finding more time for what matters most? What’s saving your life right now?
Catch my previous lists here:
Here, I bring you a list of abundant, simple joys that are currently saving my life. These shortcuts, little treats, new routines, and rediscoveries bring ease into areas of my days that have felt hard and exhausting. By relieving some of the overwhelm, I can spend more time doing what I love with the people I love.
Neighborhood walks (now featuring a big girl bike rider!)
We have a toddler with BIG energy to burn pretty much all day, every day. We love spending time outside, have a gorgeous neighborhood loop, and need to walk the dog. Rolling all of that together into a family activity has helped me enjoy the hours 430p-630p instead of limping to bedtime.
My friends!
Years ago, during the best man's speech at a wedding, the speaker expressed the sentiment that he and the groom were close friends but really only spoke every 6 months or so, “...because, you know, life!” David and I looked at each other, shocked and confused, as nearly all the other listeners nodded in agreement.
I feel incredibly lucky to be bragging to you about how wonderful my many friends are and how regularly I get to talk to and hang out with them! I have parent friends who I see at school dropoff or walking through the neighborhood, running friends I get to romp around on trails and along the marina with while we catch up, friends near and far with whom I’m nearly constantly texting about books, and other old friendships that are sustained over voice memos across time zones and countries (xoxox, via della guardia!).
Life is busy and hard, and sometimes, it seems nearly impossible to carve out time for other people. Yet, I am always glad after talking or spending time with friends. A supportive community always makes life richer.
So this is your nudge to take a walk around the neighborhood (perhaps without your phone?) and actually greet the people you see, call that good friend you haven’t talked to in a while, or send someone a text simply to say, “I’m thinking of you.” I promise, it will boost your day AND theirs.
[Note: I wanted to insert a gallery of photos here, but I realized I don’t take many pictures with my friends — something to change, please!]
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