Stop Squeezing Yourself into the Left Over Spaces of Your Day

You can very much intentionally arrange a life that can hold purpose, ambition, peace, relationships, God, and actual living at the same time.

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Hello love, you look so beautiful today. Truly. Please receive that. In fact, pause with me for a moment. Take a deep breath, let your shoulders drop, release the tension you've been holding, and deeply appreciate just how wonderful you are.

Next, hands on chest, and with your eyes closed say “I am doing enough for today, and I am enough for today.”

We all have good and bad days, life will always bring forth duality, and often at the same time. Something amazing will happen as something hard challenges us. And in the day to day, it's easy to just “muscle through.” To stay busy, to keep pushing. 

But, my friend, have you found that there is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from being busy all the time? From overriding body and spirit, regardless of whether good, bad or both things are happening?

Maybe you’re in a good chapter, but you are still tired. Maybe you are grateful, and love your family, and you are trying so hard to make each day count and “be good.” You are most likely not doing anything wrong, my love. I highly doubt you are because you’re here reading, seeking peace, love, balance, fulfillment. 

But maybe, among all that, you're simply not getting the space YOU need, and so you fall into the spaces that are left over. Look, the perfect morning routine, the journaling, the wake up & meditate stuff, are all great things TO DO, but do they actually FILL UP YOUR SPIRIT, or become one thing on the task list and thus pressure to perform? Especially when you can’t “hit them”? 

Clearly you have drive, energy, ability. You work late, you volunteer, you are there for the kids at pick up and drop off, family dinners, recognition at work, social outings, you can clearly FIT A LOT into your life. But where are YOU in that mix? Wide open, spacious, free, fulfilled YOU?

I'm not talking about adding even more to your day. I'm suggesting a DIFFERENT WAY to be present throughout the day. To allow a version of  you that leads from peace, not stress. From joy, not metrics. From presence, satiated, fulfilled and intentional, one day at a time.

A you that isn’t rushing against a clock or performance metric. A you that gets dinner made and gets the kids to bed without stress. A you that builds her dream, steadfast, as a priority and self honouring instead of putting it off because you spent yet another day taking care of all the other things. 

What if instead, YOU were a priority in the day too? And not what comes around in the leftovers. What might that look like? Sit with this question for a moment. 

WHAT DO YOU CRAVE EVERY / MOST DAYS but are not getting?

And, what would happen if you shifted the current daily routine to make just a little space for that?

For example, working out has become top priority to me for the rest of 2026. And I had dreamed of “waking up and working out” wow what an instagram highlight reel!!! Well ya, guess what, that was my jam about 15 years ago but now I would rather move slow and quiet in the morning, and I'm tired.  So I fit my 30 mins of exercise in the evening. And you know what my family does? THEY ADJUST. My daughter reads Archies, my husband putters outside, walks the dog or starts supper. ITS 30 FLIPPIN MINUTES. No one has died, the house did not fall apart and we are not starving. 

I made a choice and I made it work - for me. I stopped putting everyone else’s needs first. But I also did NOT neglect them! I still take loving care of my family, I just don’t ignore myself in the process - anymore. I used to, I had to work on adjusting. I was meant to spend “all of 2026” working on my body, it took until Sept (late Aug) to really flip the switch, slowly building momentum throughout the year and making more space.

That’s real life baby.

So, beautiful, what do you want to do that makes you feel more like a human being instead of the person responsible for keeping the entire operation running?

How would it feel to choose something that is important to you and make space for it? Heck, dinner could bake in the oven while you smash some weights or go for a little jog around the neighborhood. Or - gasp - read a book around 6 pm instead of falling asleep to it at 10:15 pm?!!

I'm certain your house won't fall apart either, just as mine hasn’t, if you take time for you before the end of the day. 

And when you do it by rearranging your life, you are not adding MORE, you are shifting or combining the existing routine. This is how you make space. 

And in that space, start to see what happens to you inside. You might find yourself smiling more, feeling more relaxed, less resentful, more present. More compassionate! 

You might just so simply enjoy yourself more, actually hear from God because you made space, actually have a meaningful conversation about how your soul is doing, or how you all of sudden feel more free. 

All this because I've been thinking a lot about the difference between being busy and being well-used.

A big piece of this is not going “eff everything and everyone, it's my time now.”

It's actually going “What is this life currently organized around?”

Chores? Work? The kids? Only yourself? Your spouse?

It doesn't actually matter because the list is never finished. The conditions will never be perfect. So you have to find a way in what is. And it's different from what you're used to. 

And this is where I think we have to become willing to lead our lives instead of simply responding to them.

Because no one is coming (thank you Mel Robbins) to rearrange your Tuesday for you. No one and no circumstances are going to magically create the margin you think you need to fit yourself into the cracks of the day.

You're the one who has to audit, assess, question, rearrange and experiment. You have to be your own leader. And it doesn't have to be dramatic. In fact, I think some of the most meaningful changes are incredibly ordinary.

Maybe you stop booking every available evening.Maybe you decide that two mornings a week belong to the thing you're building.Maybe you protect dinner.Maybe you stop answering messages at 9 p.m.Maybe you go for a walk instead of squeezing in one more task.Maybe you take your laptop or book to your child's activity and use that hour differently. (I wrote the most epic presentation on my tablet, in my car, while my daughter was at dance!)

OR - here is where it gets REALLY CRAZY haha - you simply tell your family:

“I need an hour.”

By making space for you you start to make space for so much more, because your capacity increases. Your peace increases. Your satiation in the day increases. Dishes become relaxing, lunches become easier, your partner and you grow closer…. You slowly start to shift inside and your life gets bigger. 

Maybe you make room for your marriage. Maybe you make room for God. Maybe you make room for absolutely nothing.

In the end you simply start to wake up inside your life. Hear yourself again, not the chore list. Notice what you are feeling underneath, not just in the provoked moment. Let yourself be still and actually let your nervous system start to calm down. 

It's where you can hear the quiet nudge of the Holy Spirit instead of drowning it out with another podcast, another task, another scroll, another thing to accomplish.

This is a huge part of what I coach women on. Not how to become more efficient at doing everything. How to harmonize ambition and energy in the day-to-day.

Because you can be incredibly ambitious and still build a life that feels peaceful.

I am LIVING IT y’all. This one is for you sis, the one who asked me “what!!! You have a personal trainer too! How do you make time for it all?”

I use my time carefully, intentionally, prioritized and I get rid of the rest. MORE often than not, not always, not perfectly. I still “doom scroll,” sleep in, leave things unfinished til the next day or week (this blog has taken all week to write). I still have challenges, heartache and worries. But it still stacks. 

Because you can have big goals without making every day feel like a race. You can build a business while having a job. You can raise your kids while pursuing something that matters deeply to you.

You can want more without deciding that what you have right now isn't enough. And you can grow without constantly pushing.

No need to believe that if you don't do everything today, your dream will disappear. I lived that for a long time!! No burning yourself down in order to prove that you want it badly enough. Did that too. 

Now I have learned to rearrange. You use what you actually have. And then you take the next step. And the next. And the next.

This is where fulfillment starts to feel different to me. It's not about having or doing more. It's about making sure what matters has a place to live.

Because imagine getting to the end of a week and realizing you were productive—but you don't remember enjoying any of it.

It’s a blur of chores, cleaning, cooking where you completely miss breathing in each exquisite day as the miracle it is. Where some days you let your child stay up a bit later to squeeze in a few extra minutes together. Other days you make sure to catch the sunrise or sunset and pause with it. You move, you pray, you do the thing that lights you up. These are the things that come first. The chores are secondary. That’s the shift. 

Not, “How much can I fit into my day?”

But: “What do I want this day to contain?”

Because your life is worth arranging around what matters.

You don't need a better productivity system, or to wake up at 5 am or to become a completely different woman. Instead, I encourage you to sit somewhere quiet and ask:

• What is God asking me to prioritize in this season?

• What is giving me life?

• What is draining me?

• What am I doing because it matters—and what am I doing because I've simply gotten used to doing it?

And then start moving things around, gently. One decision at a time. One day at a time.

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Want to keep going?

If something here stirred something in you, don't rush past it.

Come hang out with me more.

🌱 If you're ready to go a little deeper, Everyday Woman Awakening: No More Someday  is my 6-week space to slow down, hear yourself, build self-trust and begin leading your life from the inside out.

🎙️ Listen to powherfull inc startup stories for more honest conversations about building something bigger in the life you're already living.

🤍 Join Coach Paula, Meg and I in The Phenomenal Collective for connection, conversation and women doing this thing together.

Whatever you choose, you don't have to wait for life to get easier, quieter or more perfect. Start where you are. Build with what you have & WAKE UP INSIDE YOUR LIFE.