How to ground yourself when you feel frantic and overwhelmed in work

I’m sharing a practice that helps me intentionally ground in my business goals, and may help you today… The reason why we do visioning work and set goals initially is of course to see where we’re going. But the thing most people miss: You never check back in with those, so you end up feeling frantic and overwhelmed in work.

You get busy. Life happens and client stuff comes up. You’re pulled in different directions. Maybe you start to lose control—like you’re constantly reacting to things that hit your desk. Things happen to you and dictate your days. Instead of making progress, you’re just trying to catch up.

No wonder so many of us feel at odds with time.

Grounding rituals to facilitate goals

A lack of grounding is why so many people struggle with hitting the goals they set for themselves. The check-in and grounding is missing to maintain action and momentum. This is where they start feeling overwhelmed in work.

I get it too. Especially because I don’t get to work on a consistent schedule right now—I’m still calling this season “maternity leave” as I’m easing back into work because we’re still figuring out a set schedule that works for the whole family. I get the frantic feelings, the disconnect from my priorities, and need the reminder of my vision often. I constantly ask myself “What am I working towards?”

There’s other things on my brain. Things like feeding and entertaining and teaching and loving 2 littles as the primary parent during work hours every day.

So when I do get focused time to work (like right now because we have grandparent visitor/help), I get caught in the overwhelm too. In this post, I’ll cover a few grounding rituals that help me get back on track with my goals when I’m feeling disconnected. Maybe these will inspire some new flexible routines and practices for you too.

Grounding rituals and flexible routines versus rigid structure

In my current season, I’m learning to lean into flexible routines or rhythms versus rigid structure I once relied on. While before having kids, I could set my alarm for 5am every day and move through my intentional motions exactly how I wanted to… That can’t happen anymore.

I’m often up multiple times in the night, feeding the baby and tucking the toddler back into his bed. I don’t regularly set an alarm yet (I’m 6 months postpartum at the time of writing this), but let the babies dictate when we wake up. Unless we have a specific priority or an early morning meeting to coordinate with another time zone, we wake up together.

Grounding rituals are fluid rhythms I can tap into to realign myself during the day. Chaotic morning? That’s okay. I can practice grounding after the babies are finished breakfast and dressed for the day. They can get a few minutes of a quiet activity while I drink my bone broth or journal. I don’t need to wait for them to be sleeping to practice grounding. I actually like showing them how their mama tries to take care of herself too.

All this to say, I get the need for fluidity. When you’re in a busy season of life, and maybe have little people who need you like I do, rigid routines equate to failure. Day after day, it doesn’t work out how you planned. To avoid setting yourself up for the disappointment or stress that comes with needing to pivot the plans on the fly, I hope you look at these as practices you can plug in where they fit best.

Grounding rituals for when you feel overwhelmed in work…

Immediately sitting down this morning, I felt frantic like “Where do I start?” and “What’s the best use of this time? I can’t waste it.”

When I feel like this, I do a few things…

Journal to ground myself.

There’s two possible approaches here. First, free journaling thoughts on a page to get the frantic feeling out. Don’t hold back, don’t be precious, and don’t self-edit. This might feel weird at first if you’re not someone who journals, but when you take the pressure off to write something good, it gets easier. It’s not supposed to be good. It’s more of a stream of consciousness. I write any thoughts that come into my head, in the order they come.

Alternatively, a guided journal practice. Use a prompt from my library to check-in and realign, but without the pressure of a blank page. I have a handful of prompts for different instances in my Notion journal templates. I share these with my private clients as a tool they can rely on as well.

Sit in my vision.

When I’m feeling lost or overwhelmed, I look at my vision, quarterly goals, and priorities for the month. I adjust these if needed. Has something changed? Typically, no. Then I can use them as a filter for my current to-do list.

Edit my to-do list.

I jot down to-dos on the fly as I think of them sometimes, so it grows and grows. I try to bring it back to just a few things, so I don’t set myself up for failure. I’ll look at the lengthy list and assign tasks to the proper location. Maybe things can wait until tomorrow, next week, or don’t need to happen at all. It’s about filtering to simplify.

Move my body to ground my mind.

On the overwhelmed days, I promise myself to take a movement break. Maybe it can’t happen right away, but at least it’s in my schedule for a couple of hours later. I will get a solo workout in today with the extra help!

Start doing things intentionally to stop being overwhelmed in work.

So many people get stuck because they do all the planning and thinking, but stay here. You need to act intentionally next. Start with the most important things on the list. What’s the most important? Typically anything that’s either related to selling your offers or serving your clients as scoped.

I think of the above like a grounding ritual, or routine that helps me re-center. You get to decide what your grounding ritual looks like. But I thought sharing mine might inspire you too.

Get outside to get over being overwhelmed in work.

There’s something about a bit of sunshine that makes you realize how much shit doesn’t really matter. Fresh air calms most stresses. So “get outside” is on my list of grounding rituals to get over being overwhelmed in work.

Do something else… A hobby?!

Sometimes when I’m feeling overwhelmed in work it’s actually because I need to take a step back. Lately, I’ve been intentionally exploring hobbies. What makes me excited? What do I like to do outside of mothering and work? That could be reading (for fun, not personal development). Or paddle boarding, hiking, painting… I’m loving remembering what makes me so me.

I may share more on this mission later!

Recreate your work-life reality for less risk of burnout

If you want to dig in deeper to my processes around visioning and goal setting, and how I coach clients to design their ideal-work life integration, you need this resource: Align + Integrate. This mini course will help you recreate your work-life reality in 2 hours or less.

The tools inside are the exact ones I used post maternity leave 1.0 to restructure my business and life, so I could run my 6-figure business in just part-time hours. I also guide my mastermind clients through these exercises at the kick-off of each cohort, and have been working through the same ones again for myself as I reimagine my business in the current season with 2 babies 2 and under to work around.

Because if you want a sustainable and profitable business that supports your ideal life, you need these foundations. Learn more here.

What are the potential results from grounding rituals?

The goal of implementing a grounding ritual or practice is to recenter and refocus your mind on your end game. It’s to tap into the present moment. Be conscious of where you are and what you need. Then fill your cup too.

The results of adding these simple practices to your day to day are huge. I’ve personally experienced these, and my clients have shared similar results with me too after we talk about adding these habits into their daily flow.

• Increased clarity of your vision.
• Positive emotions around your work.
• Personal fulfillment outside of work.
• Calm, ease, and freedom of mind.
• Overall feeling lighter and more aligned in your actions.

One of my clients shared this after being reminded of the importance of being present through her grounding rituals…

You grow faster when grounded

While yes, you should dream big and keep your head in the clouds in order to see those dreams, you also need to ground yourself in reality and strong foundations. I find that when I regularly practice my grounding rituals, I grow faster personally and professionally.

My biggest revenue months and breakthroughs in business have come from seasons when I’m acting in alignment with myself and my vision. I take care of myself and let things flow from that clarity.

To-do lists never end

Here’s an important lesson I learned lately: My to-do list is never actually going to be done.

All this time, I’ve been setting myself up for failure every day with a lengthy list—the expectation that it will be completed before I couch rot at 8pm is unrealistic at best and psychotic at worst. So I’ve been experimenting with new ways to schedule my time in alignment with the life I want to live. This comes from an understanding that I’m never going to complete my to-do list.

More will tack onto the end. Or the middle. Or need immediate attention before I even start on my list. It’s never going to end, so why am I still trying to complete it?

Change your expectations to stop being overwhelmed in work

Rather than knowingly setting myself up for failure every day, I’m learning to prioritize better. How to let some shit go. And how to create the outcomes I want based on the priorities I choose. It’s a matter of changing your expectations, not necessarily what’s on your list or what your responsibilities are. Yes, there’s a time and place to delegate. Sometimes though, that’s not necessary.

That looks something like this:

Priority = big work project that needs to wrap up today.

Outcome = the house is a mess by the end of the day because I prioritized the littles and work over daily chores.

OR

Priority = me and the boys need fresh air.

Outcome = my work and house are both where I left them 2 days ago because I prioritized our mental and physical wellbeing over getting shit done.

Different priorities. Different choices. Different outcomes.

It’s common to feel overwhelmed in work at times

You need to understand that what you’re feeling isn’t unique. You’re not alone in your overwhelm. Especially as a business owner, freelancer, or personal brand… you have a lot to juggle.

Another note: There’s no wrong answers in how you choose to prioritize your to-dos. You just get to decide what’s important to you, what you say yes/no to, and the outcome attached to those decisions. With that power in mind, maybe you start intentionally spending your time differently. Aside from truly important responsibilities (like commitments you’ve made to others and paying bills), a lot can often wait. But your wellbeing can’t wait.

Maybe this is the solution for all of us to stop feeling so at odds with time. Let me know how it goes if you adopt this perspective too.

Next steps when you’re overwhelmed in work

After recognizing that you’re overwhelmed in work, you’ll be faced with the decision of what to do about it. You could let yourself suffer in those feelings, but that won’t get you very far. I know you dedicate yourself to your personal and professional development. But it’s important to work through the resistance you feel and start to develop habits or systems to create lasting change. Because if nothing changes, nothing changes.

You need to start showing up as the person you want to be ASAP. Even better if you can remove the decision making from the process. I find that the fewer decisions I need to make in a day, the easier it is to achieve my goals around my ideal day-to-day lifestyle.

Take a break when you notice you’re overwhelmed in work. Immediately. You’ll be able to think clearer from a more restful state.