Raspberry Iced M

I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t get a lot of sleep Sunday night.

On Sunday morning, I woke up and my family and I went to church. Then we went to lunch, where something occurred that kind of creamed my corn. Then a movie.

Then we came home and I did what I like to call a “Sunday reset,” which is just a routine house clean, complete with giving the dog a bath and folding laundry. Yesterday was somewhat different and more tedious because I changed the bedding and curtains in the bedroom, which is something I’d put off for weeks.

And while I was working, I was also stewing over the situation that arose at lunch. So by the time my duties were complete and my body was exhausted, my mind wouldn’t shut off.

And I was up most of the night. Anxious. Worried. Problem-solving in my own head.

There are days when my emotions don’t just sit quietly in the background. They take over, like they did on Sunday. My thoughts get loud. My energy drops. Everything feels so heavy. And on days like that even simple tasks feel impossible.

We think that productivity requires a clear mind, but it doesn’t. I have had to learn how to move forward with the weight.

That’s just real life.

Responsibilities don’t pause just because I’m overwhelmed.

So I’ve had to learn how to function even when I don’t feel like myself. And the process of getting there is very intentional.

1. I lower the standard without quitting. On hard days, I don’t aim for excellence. I aim for completion. Sometimes, 60% is my 100%. Sometimes showing up at all is enough. Lowering the standard keeps me moving without shutting down completely.
2. I focus on one thing at a time. When my head is loud, everything feels like too much. So I simplify. One task. One step. One decision. I zoom way in – from the whole day to just the next thing.
3. I create structure when I feel unsteady. Emotions make everything seem chaotic. So I rely on structure. A routine. A checklist. A schedule. Even if I don’t feel grounded internally, I can follow something external.
4. I move my body. Sitting still for too long makes things worse for me. I’ve learned that I can think while I am working or I can think while I am rotting. So I vacuum. Or I scrub the counters in the kitchen. Or I give the dog a bath. It doesn’t fix everything. But it helps shift some of the intensity.
5. I don’t trust every thought. On emotional days, my thoughts are not always reliable. They are loud and extreme and convincing. So I remind myself that just because I’m thinking it doesn’t mean it’s true. And sometimes that helps me recenter and creates a little space.
6. I give myself contained time to feel. Ignoring my emotions doesn’t work for me. But letting them take over my day doesn’t help either. So I allow space for them with boundaries. A few minutes to sit, feel, process. And then I return to what I need to do.
7. I choose something that feels manageable. If a task feels overwhelming, I make it smaller. Instead of “cleaning the bathroom,” I might just organize my nail collection. Or instead of folding 6 loads of laundry, I might just prep my husband’s scrubs for the week. Momentum matters more than difficulty.
8. I remind myself that all of this is temporary. For me, hard emotions feel permanent in the moment. And I’ve been in a cycle for the last 9 months of caring too much, surrendering, internalizing, and then not caring at all. Sometimes I even overthink about my overthinking. But that’s what emotions do. They rise. They peak. They pass. Even if slowly. I don’t have to solve everything all at once. I just have to get through one day at a time.

Productivity does not mean I am unaffected. It doesn’t mean I’m okay. It means I’m continuing anyway. It is a choice. Even when it’s harder than usual. Even when I don’t feel like it. Even when my emotions are louder than my motivation. And some of the most meaningful progress I’ve made hasn’t happened on my “best” days. It’s happened on days when I didn’t think I was capable…but showed up anyway.

Sometimes strength isn’t just how much we can handle. It’s more about what we do when we feel weak.