← Life with Marianna
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Foreigna I'm the co founder of Summer Fridays and host of the Life with Mariana podcast. I wanted to start doing some quickie episodes of something you might want to listen to. That's like 15 minutes or so. And so I asked on Instagram something that you guys wanted to hear about and somebody asked if I could talk about how to manage stress when you have so many things to do at once. And I definitely feel this because I feel like I have a never ending to do list between all the different aspects of my career and trying to balance it all. And I would say in my 20s I definitely had no balance in my life career. But I do think that that time in my 20s set me up in my 30s to be able to have a little bit more control of my schedule and how I spend my time and not over committing myself. So I wanted to share with you guys a few of the things that I do to manage stress in a very busy life. The first is about time blocking and scheduling. And if you are somebody who really doesn't like a schedule and you like things free flowing, maybe that works for you. But I think the later I've gone in my career, the more structure I give myself, the more freedom I actually feel. So instead of feeling like I'm procrastinating or rushing to get something done, I really have time allocated for things and I even schedule my time that I have down or the time that I'm off or my free time. And I know it doesn't sound so fun to schedule your free time, but then I actually make sure all the things I need to get done get done in the appropriate amount of time. So time blocking for me has been really, really helpful. And when I've interviewed so many people on the podcast, I heard from them that they do this and just for my brain and the way that things work. So I don't want to go from doing something creative to doing something admin, to jumping on a call. And I just felt like it was really hard for me to transition from one thing to the next. So I like to do things in blocks of hours, but then I'll sit down and work for like a consistent 30 minutes, take a couple minute break and then go back to something. Even when I have meetings at work, the way that my schedule had currently been set up, I had hours of meetings with essentially no break. And I found that by the time that I got to that third meeting, I was just feeling really burnt out. So we just shifted my schedule a little bit to start a little Bit earlier, allow time for breaks in between meetings, even if it's 10 or 15 minutes. And I'm so excited to see how this little buffer time can help me from feeling so overwhelmed. And not only do I time block, but I also day block. So if you are somebody who is freelance or you're a creative or you're a creator and you're not necessarily working on someone else's schedule, I like to schedule different days by different tasks of things. So I have days that are fully dedicated to summer Fridays. I have a podcast day. I like to have days for content creation. So I know that day I'm getting ready, doing my hair and makeup, maybe filming it, taking some content. And then of course, every day I answer emails or jump on phone calls. But by having dedicated days, it really helps me not feel so overwhelmed. And in that time blocking, I also allow downtime. So I make sure that I schedule my morning routine if I want to go for a walk or work out. And I also schedule time for wrapping up. So if you're somebody who needs to make sure you take time for self care and for yourself, also add that into your schedule and your time blocking so you make sure that you're doing the best you can to feel good in a very busy schedule. One of the apps that I love is called Structured Daily Planner. And there's something to me so satisfying about being able to cross something off. And so it actually imports your calendar and then you can mark off each thing. It's also just very visually appealing. So I like looking and using the app because there's something like I'm almost gamifying my day. The second thing is to brain dump, but specifically for me, it's about doing a brain dump before bed. So if you don't know what it is, it's just basically anything you're thinking of or anything that's on your mind, just getting it out. And a lot of times, and I'm sure you guys feel like this, you get ready for bed, you lay down, you get in bed. The second you do, you start thinking about everything. You either are overthinking the day, thinking about what you need to do tomorrow, you're all of a sudden remembering all of these things. So if you take a few minutes before bed, hopefully you can let your mind get rid of some of these thoughts. And you know, it's written down, it's on a piece of paper, it's on a notes app on your ph if you wanna put a notebook next to your bed, if you're trying to eliminate your phone usage before bed. It's really helpful just to get these things done. What I also like to do in addition to this is think about my to do list for the next day. So when I wake up the next morning, I don't feel so overwhelmed of what do I need to do today, what is due, where do I need to even start? I've already got my priorities set for the next day. So when I wake up and I get into my workday, I know exactly what to tackle that day. The reason why I really like this is because it just helps to clear any mental clutter and it helps you just sleep so much better. The next thing is about decision fatigue. And I know you guys have heard about this and there's so many little decisions that we make in our day. So anything that I can automate is really helpful for me. So when I get up in the morning, all of my skincare and my toothbrush and everything, it's already just waiting for me on my counter. So I don't even have to think about going into a drawer and grabbing something. I've already set out my clothes for my workout that morning. I'm not at the step yet where I put out my clothes for the next day, but I generally have a uniform. So if I'm in a rush and I don't want to think about my outfit, I basically, basically have this uniform that if I don't want to think about something, it's basically automated in my mind. Other things are thinking about meal prep or snacks ahead of time. And the reason why I like to do this is it just saves any mental energy that I have to focus on bigger tasks. If there's some way that you can automate it. So for me, one of the things that I've done is I order a meal delivery service. It comes on Mondays and I have food from Monday to Friday. So if I'm in a pinch, I don't need to think about making something last minute. I know I always have something healthy and delicious that's protein focused and ready to go. So think about some of the things in your life that you do every single day that you can either automate or make a routine so you don't have to think about it every day. So it could be your morning routine, any work tasks, what you do for your workouts or self care practices. So another one that I do is okay, I know this week what my workout schedule is going to look like and if I'm doing a workout on the app. I'll figure it out before I go to the gyms. When I get there, it's one less thing to think about. So think about anything else that you can automate so you don't have to make as many decisions in your day. The next thing is about saying yes and no to things. And I think if you are trying to incorporate one thing into your life to make it a little bit less stressful, if you have a lot on your plate and if you're thinking about, okay, what is the most important thing I can do here if I can't do all these other things to make my life a little bit less stressful, it's about learning how to say yes and no. So if you have a guiding light, a North Star, a big goal, a way that you want to live your life, a way that you want to feel, make sure that everything that you're saying yes and no to really align with that. And so for me, one of the things that I wanted was more calm and balanced. I wanted to have a life where I felt fulfilled and passionate, but not overworked and burnt out. And I'm saying this now in my late 30s, and I definitely didn't have the ability to do this in my 20s. And so I think the work that I did earlier in my career allowed me to have this that I have today because I have this career where I wear a lot of different hats and I do so many different jobs. I'm at a place now where I could say yes and no to things. When I was thinking about myself and my career and how I want to spend my time, I knew that something had to give. So two of the things where I had to start saying no to more things were in my life as a content creator, influencer and in my podcast. And so with influencer stuff, I was like, okay, I can't go to every event. I can't work with as many brands because I want to focus on creating more organic content. So I have to say no to things. So if I say yes to an event, it's because I really love the brand. I want to support a fellow founder friend. It's something that I'm really excited about and that's what I say, yes. And the other things, I can say no to things and I still love the brand or want to support them in another way without spending time going to something that maybe takes away time from my restful time and self care or time with my family and friends where I would rather be spending my time instead. And so it's really hard because a lot of those no's, I wish that I could say yes, but I can only say yes to so many things. And so I've had to get really picky with my time. Another thing was with my podcast, and so you might have noticed that I still upload on Tuesdays, but it's not every single Tuesday. And you might also notice that there's not any ads. So I haven't had ads in this episode or the last one. And I chose to take a step back in my podcast and not have it be a weekly podcast anymore because I didn't have it in my capacity to do it every week. But I knew it was something really important to me. And so if I feel like I have an amazing guest or I have something to say, that's when I wanted to do an episode. And so I thought, how can I do it in a way that is really meaningful for me and for the people who are receiving or listening to this content? Taking inventory of my life and learning how to say yes and no to things is really important. It's really important to say no to things. They really protect your time and energy for what really matters in your life. So where do you want to be spending your time? A gut check for me is if it's like, not an absolute yes, it's probably a no. And so sometimes, you know, people on my team know I usually say, like, yes or no to things immediately. I'm pretty decisive, and if I'm not responding, it's because I want to say no, but I'm trying to justify the no, or I'm trying to figure out a way to say yes or it's a maybe. And I know in my heart what the answer is, but I'm trying to justify it. So if you're going through this, an exercise I like to do is take the decision or the thing you want on a piece of paper and write it at the top and then write a list of pros on one side and cons on the other side, or yes and no and think about, okay, does this align with my goals? Is this the person I want to be? Can I fit this into my time? If I say no to this, what could happen? If I say yes to this, what could happen? And then weigh out if it's a really big decision. Something like that. But for me, learning how to say no has been one of the biggest things to really freeing up my time. So I'm not so stressed about all the other things I have to do the next is a sleep routine. And over the last few years, it really took me a long time to figure out the times I need to go to bed, when I need to wake up, and how that really affects my stress during the day. And if I get a bad night of sleep, I really don't feel my best the next day. So really sticking to a sleep routine and using anything you could do to help prioritize that. So some of the tools that I love are my aura ring. I also love my hatch alarm clock. And then those things are really helpful for me of tracking my sleep and then also having my morning and evening routine. So try to set up a consistent bedtime where you wind down with the same couple things. So I like to dim my lights a few hours before bed. I play a calming frequency. You can get them for free on YouTube. I'll read in my bed. And then I do a little breath work before I go to sleep. Quality sleep really helps to regulate your stress levels and supports your productivity. So after I have a not great night of sleep, I can really tell how it affects my next day. And then I don't want to work out. I feel lazy. That one poor sleeping decision really then and dominoes the next day. For me, having that routine is super helpful. And that's why I really try to prioritize my evening and morning routines because it really sets up and ends my day really well. So I feel my best. And that kind of leads to the next thing, which is keeping track of your emotions and energy levels. What I like to do is I spend a little bit of time during my day thinking about how I feel. So by having that time block that I set earlier and scheduling breaks in your day, you can really notice how you're feeling. So even if it's just a few seconds between meetings or if you're feeling a certain way, like jotting it down. What I like to do is I like to take note of my energy levels during the day. I really feel my most energized in the morning. And so if I have a lot of decisions to make or meetings or phone calls or important work, I know my energy in the morning is best suited for those things. I know the later it gets in the day, especially after lunch and like towards the end of the workday and early evening, I really don't want to work on tasks that are super important. Anything that's like more admin, going through my inbox, deleting emails, anything like that, that's like more of like a Lower stake thing I need to work on is afternoon work for me. So knowing your levels are important because then you know where to prioritize your time so that you don't feel stressed out if you have a bunch to do, and then also knowing what your emotions feel like. I think it is really important to keep in touch with your emotions throughout the day so that you know how to best spend your time. One of the hardest things for me about managing stress is clutter. When I have a lot of stuff around me and everything feels a little bit messy, I really have a hard time focusing because I want to stop. And I'm also really affected by my surroundings. And so when I'm working from home and my desk has a bunch of stuff on it, it's like a cluttered desk, a clutter mind. And so even when I'm getting ready and doing things around me, I just really need to declutter my space. And even when I think about digitally, if I have too much stuff on my phone or on the desktop of my computer, it's really distracting. The things that I have are like samples I'm testing and trying for summer Fridays. I need to get feedback on, and I need to have them in front of me. I'm looking at samples of clothes or fabrics that I need to try. I'm also testing and trying other products that brands are sending me. I have, like, notes and notebooks and cards and waters and coffee and lip gloss sitting on my desk. And so I always feel like I have a lot of stuff around me. And so this is something that I'm working on that I know really helps me feel calm, is just spending like five to ten minutes each day tidying my desk or my vanity or my bathroom counter. And in a dream world, I'm doing this a few minutes in the morning at the end of the day so that it doesn't get so overwhelming. So by just starting really small and focusing on one area at a time, it won't make me feel so overwhelmed. And I know a clean environment and a tidy environment just makes me have an overall calmer mindset. And I'm sure you guys feel the same way, but. But this is definitely one that's a work in progress for me. And speaking of digital clutter, it's also about establishing any digital boundaries. I know that it's easy to have our phone in our hand and constantly check emails, slack, text, Instagram, TikTok, DMs, WhatsApp, whatever it is that's on our phone and constantly being Pinged, but then it's also like feeling stressed all the time. And so I don't do this perfectly. I'm not perfect, but I really try my best to have working things be during working hours. So one of the things things that I love is schedule sending slacks and emails and texts. I'm so happy that iPhones have this now and I'll write something and send it and schedule it so that it's not a back and forth conversation outside of working hours, but it sends during working hours so we can resume this conversation in the appropriate time. Obviously some things are timely if it's in a rush or there's a launch or something's happening right now where you need to be able to communicate. But I really try my best to have these digital boundaries. Other things you can do is put blocks on your apps that you don't want to use during certain times. So maybe you don't want to do social media on nights and weekends, or you want to block your email on nights and weekends. Or if you know that social media is really distracting to you during working hours, you might want to block them during that time. I also love do not disturb. But then you can have notifications for the important people that still need to get through to you. You can also set specific times to use your phone and email. So I had somebody on my podcast and he was saying he needed to give up his phone addiction. So he left his phone in the other room, but he kept his Apple Watch on. So if somebody were to call or text him, he's getting like a small notification. But you can't do all the other things that you would do, like maybe scrolling on your phone all day long. And that can really help during times you need to focus. Something else I'm also working on is not having my phone with me when I eat my meals. So I'm a YouTube girl and I have a little phone stand and I put it next to me when I'm eating and I find a YouTube video and I love to watch it. And I tell myself like, oh, I'm watching videos. And so I feel like I'm multitasking at the same time. But I want to be really present in the thing that I'm doing. So I'm trying to stop a little bit of that for myself. And the last thing is a gratitude practice. So there's so many different ways you can do this. I like to start it in the morning. So I'm starting my day with a gratitude mindset of the things I get to do that day. So if you're stressed and busy, I would like to reframe it as like, oh, I get to do this thing. I'm excited about this. I'm so excited for a busy schedule or the thing that I once dreamt of doing, I get to do now that, you know, makes me feel a little bit stressed out. And so gratitude really can help shift your focus from stress to positivity and make you feel a little bit more calm about it. It also gives you a chance to write things out and see what adjustments you might want to make. Another way to do this is before bed. You can either write this down or you can think about it before you go to sleep. And I like thinking about it before I go to bed too, because it feels like I end my day with a small win and I'm thinking about something positive before I go to sleep. And this really ends your day on a positive note, even during busy seasons of our lives. I hope some of these tips help you feel a little bit less stressed and more in control of your busy schedule. And remember, it's not about doing all of these things perfectly. Like I said, even myself, so many of these things are a work in progress. Some of these things took me years to figure out what to do. But it's all about finding the things that work for you, even if it's small or manageable. Ways to make your life feel a little bit more balanced and just thinking about what aligns with you and what really matters to you. If you guys love this episode, don't forget to subscribe and leave a rating or review or maybe share it with a friend who might need it too. You guys can always find me on Instagram ariannahewitt to let me know what you'd like to hear next. And thanks for tuning in and I'll see you guys soon. Soon. Thanks so much for listening and be sure to subscribe to my podcast and rate and review because it would mean so much to me. And follow me on Instagram at marianahuit to see what episodes are coming up next.