Stop Working Through Lunch!

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Working through lunch has been an issue we have faced for decades. The pressure to be productive and to "maximize your time" every second of the day has led many of us to see things like "lunch breaks" as optional, and instead, we find ourselves working through lunch or trying to multitask to get things done.

Now, I understand, it is not possible for us to always have time completely uninterrupted and devoted purely to fueling your body, but that is not the ask here. I want you to consider how often you are multitasking while eating throughout the day. Or, in many cases, how often are you skipping lunch or ignoring your body's hunger cues so you can keep working and "power through"?

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It’s not all going to happen right now. And that is okay.

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A dear friend of mine gave me a mug for my birthday this past year with the note that read “Celebrate the Small Victories.” This year, especially, this seems to be such an important statement. In addition to all of our own individual struggles, we have been shoulder-deep in this pandemic, battling compassion fatigue and a bit of burnout, and navigating the widespread divisions, ruptures, and pain in our country. This time has been nothing short of overwhelming. And we are not yet able to see the light at the end of the tunnel (trust me, it is there).

This has been a time for deep reflection. I have been, in what I call, a perpetual cycle of “rupture and repair”. In this, I have found myself face to face with shame narratives I both had been running from and, honestly, did not know existed.

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The Curse of Time & Choice

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My mind has been consumed lately with all of the ideas, wants, pressures that are coursing through me. Wrought with ideas, my brain is trying to reconcile all I want to do, all I have not done and all of the things I did and no longer want or need in my life. It’s as if someone dumped a thousand ping pong balls in my head then turned on a fan to watch them all zoom through my brain space.

I have been overwhelmed before. You’ve likely heard me talk about it (self-disclosure is one of my key factors in my work and brand). I think that is just part of the human condition — to ebb and flow from feelings of overwhelm to nothingness. But this feels different. It’s like I am on the crux of something great but it is hard to trust the process without rushing it. I am getting clearer on my vision for the professional life I want and feel pulled to lead but with that greater clarity comes both eagerness and urgency (which you can understand can often be difficult to differentiate from one another).

Time is a curse.

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Doing More...with less?

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Minimalism — the thing people do every few months after the clutter of their lives builds back up.

It was by happenstance I became known for my work on minimalism in the community. When I started my career as a therapist, I realized that so much of people’s presenting concerns had to do with the literal and metaphorical baggage they had been touting around throughout their lives. Riddled with resentment, chronic pain, unresolved and complex grief and shame, people were buried in the chaos and “stuff” in the world around them, searching for meaning through external validation expectation. In my personal and professional life, I am being reminded, again, of the importance of truly understanding the concept of minimalism. It is not just about clearing clutter and making your space pretty. It is about…

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Clarifying your values - freeing you up to make choices with less hesitation, self-doubt, and fear.

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You have probably heard me talk about values…on countless occasions. One might even think I get paid every time I say it, it’s that often. Why? Because our values are the underpinnings that anchor us to our internal motivations and can empower us to live a truly authentic life. By clarifying our values, we can strip away the external pressures, more easily challenge our shame narratives and negative self talk, and move away from that urge to perform to be what we think others want.

What do you mean when you say “values”?

Your values are your “why” or the purpose, belief or cause that inspires and empowers you to do what you do in life. Simon Sinek talks a lot about the “Power of Why” in terms of leadership and professional growth and looks at how the “why” is more important than the “what” or “how” of the things a business does.

This is true for our personal lives as well.

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