If I Wanted More Breathing Room THIS Week…

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If I were an exhausted woman in my 30s-50s who wanted more breathing room this week, here’s what I would do.

Here’s the PDF mentioned in the episode comparing my free content to my 10-week program.

Full transcript:

Kelly Nolan: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Bright Method Podcast, where we’ll discuss practical time management strategies designed for the professional working woman. I’m Kelly Nolan, a former patent litigator who now works with women to set up the bright method in their lives. The Bright Method is a realistic time management system that helps you manage it all personally and professionally. Let’s get you falling asleep, proud of what you got done today, and calm about what’s on tap tomorrow. All right, let’s dig in.

Hey, hey, uh, all right, today we are gonna dig into some things that you can do right away to give yourself some more relief this week. Some things that if you are just feeling exhausted, if you are the type of woman, I tend to work with some things that I really think could help give you some breathing space this week.

Before we dive into that, I just wanna make two housekeeping announcements. My 10 week program, the only way I teach the Bright Method in full, so you can get full results and not just cobble together a little strategies. [00:01:00] The 10 week program is closing on March 18th. This can be a little confusing, and I’m gonna work on this for messaging in the fall, but basically you can join today and get started right away.

You do not have to wait until March 18th. If you join today, you’re not waiting until March 18th. You can join today and get started right away. You could join in two days or four days or five days and do the same thing. It’s just that I’m closing. If any enrollment for the program on March 18th, the people who join that day will finish the program by the beginning of June and then be up and running for the summer and then for the rest of their lives.

If you don’t join before March 18th, you then have to wait until mid-September to jump in. The reason for that is just I find summer to be a really wonky time for people to learn. People think they want to, but then summer hits and it’s fun, and honestly, it works really well for me too because my kids tend to be home.

My work hours are shortened and it gives me some seasonality in my [00:02:00] business that helps me dig into projects, which I love. Like projects I don’t get to when I’m curing a client load as well. So that’s the kind of rationale behind it. So if you have been on the fence, just know that you have to decide before March 18th if you’re in spots will be limited.

I do provide a ton of one-on-one email support and so I just have to limit it to make sure that I can give the people in the program so. Do I think it’ll be open on March 18th? Yes. Do I think I might have to close it on March 18th? Yes. So up to you. Just know that the sooner you jump in, the more you guarantee a spot before it closes.

Second announcement, which is kind of a weird one, I don’t think it’s that sad, but it is. Mixed emotions for me is I am actually going to take a break from the podcast at the end of March. So in starting in April, there will be no more podcast episodes for a bit. I’m thinking about it as like I’m closing down season one of the podcast.

Season one has lasted over [00:03:00] two years. I think this point we’re about two years. Wait, three years? It must be three years. That’s wild. Well, whether it was two or three years, it has been a delight and so much fun and I’m sure it will be. Again, I am trying to practice what I preach and build, just like bring some more breathing space into my own life as well.

Right now managing Instagram substack with the How I Structure My Day series, my email newsletter and the podcast can stack up into quite a bit, and so I am just gonna take a break from the podcast to free up some capacity for some other things, including those projects I was talking about. So know that we will have a break.

I’m giving myself the freedom to kind of decide when to come back. I wanna make sure that I have stuff to say at what’s episode. We’re getting close to, I think episode one 40, somewhere around there. And I like my content to be relevant. I don’t wanna be just putting stuff out there for the sake of putting [00:04:00] stuff out there.

And I feel like I just wanna make sure that I have stuff that’s worth you taking the time to listen to. And so I’m just gonna take a break to do that and we’ll see when I come back. So just giving you a heads up about that, that I’ll have episodes through the end of March, and then after that season one of two or three years, we’ll be taking a break.

All right, let’s turn to the content of this week. I was thinking about this, my wonderful social media support manager. I don’t know her official title. Wonderful person, Bella. She asked me to put together a post on what advice would I give to an exhausted professional working woman in her thirties to fifties, somewhere in that range if she wanted some relief right now, like this week.

And the real relief we’re talking about here is breathing space in the upcoming week. And so I came up with some tips and I think they’re worth sharing here. So the first one I would do right now. [00:05:00] If you’re driving, maybe even set an alarm for 20 minutes from now, 30 minutes from now. To do this right away, I would download an app.

Blocking app. Social media has become even more so, so much of a time suck, but also like an emotional drain in a way over for me, at least this year, you know, with everything going on in Minnesota and things like that, it’s a lot. And so while I’m not saying. Don’t be involved in politics and make calls and you know, do what you need to do that I’m out full, fully, and supportive.

But to be informed enough to do all those things, we do not need to be spending the hours and hours on social media, and I think we all agree that. Obviously I love Instagram. There’s a lot of benefit, but the amount of time, and especially spending so much time when I’m tired, when I would rather go to bed when I’m scrolling, that kind of stuff, that’s the doom scrolling [00:06:00] nature of it is what we’re trying to avoid.

I’m not trying to say don’t go there. I spend a lot of time on Instagram, but I just wanna make sure that the time we spend outweighs the benefit. So to do that, I just wanna throw out there that I think there is zero shame in needing an app to block you out of other apps. The amount of smart people working on making these acts addictive makes it no surprise that it is addictive and sure, I wish we all could withstand it, but I also know that.

It’s typically when we’re tired, you know, it’s like they get you when you’re low, like you’re exhausted at the end of the day. That’s when you succumb to it, and so help out future tired you, you at your best, with your best energy, all that kind of stuff can withstand it, but you, when you’re tired, struggles and there’s no shame in knowing that.

I think that it’s more, I don’t know, confusing or not reality to expect future you to just have the discipline not to do it. That [00:07:00] would be great, but it’s not who we are and I just want to embrace reality. And so again, there’s no shame in saying, okay, I know I’m not gonna be able to do it. How do I still block myself out of this?

And taking action to solve that pain point that embraces who you are as a reality is smart. So for me, I love Opal. I’ve talked about it before. OPAL, you can. Trial it to try the pro version. To me, the money, I think it’s about a hundred dollars a year. It’s candidly worth every single penny of it. When I think about the sleep and the sanity, it has saved me.

So I just throw that out there. There are other ones, jomo, joy of Missing Out. JOMO. I believe it might be free with the same capabilities. Roots is another one, and then obviously Brick is another one, and whatever you decide. I mean, I just really recommend them. I personally need the ones where you cannot override them, so that’s why I love Opal, and the paid version is from four to five [00:08:00] 30 every day when my kids first get home.

From 8:00 PM to 5:00 AM So overnight I’m completely locked out of Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, any of these apps that can just like suck me in those things I’m completely locked out of. I cannot override them on my phone. There’s no way I’ve tried. You cannot. And so I just really wanna throw that out there for you.

That I need it. And have you have been trying to get off social media and it’s not working? I just encourage you to, to just do it. Embrace reality, just do it. I’ll also note you can use it ad hoc, so I use mine occasionally, especially in January when everything in Minnesota was crazy and I needed to get stuff done.

I would lock myself out for like 50 minutes or two hours during a work day to get some stuff done and get out of there, and so I’ll just throw that out that you can do it on that basis as well. I consistently, consistently get messages from people who are like, oh my gosh, this app is changing my life.

Or, oh my gosh, I’m so grateful, or [00:09:00] I’m sleeping more, or all sorts of things. And so whatever you use, I really, really encourage you to use an app that completely blocks you out that you cannot override to help you get where you wanna go. And I think that that’s wonderful. And going back to, you know, we’re talking about if you are exhausted and you want to have more breathing space.

Getting off of social media will save you time and it will save you. That emotional drain type thing going on that social media does it is really, really, really wonderful. So that’s my number one tip right now is download that app, blocking app. Next up, I would look ahead at all the meetings you have in the next 14 days, and I would be ruthless about getting rid of them.

What I, let’s break that down a little bit. What I would do is, again, look at those meetings in the next 14 days. Do you have an agenda for each of the meetings? If not, I would ask in part to see if [00:10:00] you can cancel it, and if not, then at least you’re better prepared for it and know what’s going on. To break it down into practical ’cause I love the practical.

I would just say something along the lines of, Hey, I have, I see we have a meeting coming up. Do you have a quick and dirty agenda? Any typos? Welcome. I just wanna be aware of what this meeting is about so that I can be fully prepared and then see what comes out of it. In addition, even if you have an agenda for a meeting, I would ask, will you add or gain value by going, if not, I would cancel it in full.

Or I would personally bow out even if it’s just for the next 14 days. Next 14 days. You’re a little ruthless. You don’t show up to as many meetings. You, not saying you’re doing that forever going forward, but just for the next 14 days, that’s what you’re doing. I know I’m talking about how to get you breathing space this week.

Then I’m talking about meetings for the next two weeks. But as we all know, if you have a lot like a stacked week next week, then. You don’t feel the breathing space this week, so I’m trying to [00:11:00] open up two weeks of time for you so that you really get that breathing space this week. Okay? And then once you cancel the meeting, block it right away.

So another meeting can’t take its place. You were not available then anyway. You’re not available now. Use that time to focus on that important thing that you’ve been wanting to get to that keeps getting derailed by things really block that time. In the same way that you weren’t available before, you’re still not available now, but you’re really gonna focus on this other stuff, and that is how you free up the space and protect the space in your calendar.

Okay? Point number three, impose a work embargo on yourself for the rest of the week. If you wanna go two weeks, go for it. You say no to new work. You do not raise your hand to volunteer in the meeting or in the school hallway, no new work. I want you to just see how it feels, and I want you to extend it out further if you love it.

Now you know how to [00:12:00] follow these, like strictly, strictly, like if your skip level boss reaches out to you or. The president of the company calls, sure you can say yes to people that you really have to, but anything you can say no to, and I would very much challenge yourself here. I would say no. I will note that if you are in a program with me, that is advice I give you for the entire program, and the reason for that is not everybody, but a lot of people.

Have very full plates, much more full than they realize until they make it as visual and use the strategies that we use inside the Bright Method to realize it and be able to articulate it and be able to offer solutions and so on, and not doing our best not to take on more work during that period of time will really help in that in the long run of balancing your workload with your capacity and then making those specific.

Solution type conversations with the right people who can get you the relief or that so you [00:13:00] can unilaterally decide that as well. Okay, tip four. For the next seven days, I would not drink alcohol. Now this one’s totally optional. It’s outside my lane, so you can totally ignore it if you want. In my personal experience as a 40-year-old woman who is, I will admit, a lightweight, so maybe alcohol affects me more than most people.

As someone who has zero judgment around alcohol and has very much enjoyed alcohol most of my life, my adult life, I should say, I will note that now in my life, even one glass of wine, even one beer. Anything causes those two, 3:00 AM anxious, wake up. It really affects my sleep so that I’m more tired the next day.

It really zaps my motivation. Even if I feel completely physically fine, I don’t even feel tired. My motivation is it’s gone and it makes me more prickly. I have an episode, episode nine on the Year of Ease. If you [00:14:00] wanna listen to more of that, and again, this is not my area of expertise, so ignore, but when I go back to that point of if I’m an exhausted woman trying to manage it all and I want more breathing space, that is a relatively easy thing to n even just for seven days to free up a lot more energy in your life, get better, sleep, all that kind of stuff.

It’s not forever, it’s just seven days. I really encourage you to try it. I will say, if you’re not used to it, it’s weirdly empowering and freeing to also go to like social events, like happy hours or things like that and not drink. I will say that’s something that I was like, am I really gonna go and not have a drink or go on a double date and not drink and everybody else is drinking and just getting like a club soda with a lime?

It is totally fine and once you get through like the first drink, I find it’s totally fine. I don’t even think about it anymore, but I do remember how weird it felt initially, and so I just wanna [00:15:00] throw that out there for you. I love practical. I love getting into the nitty gritty and so take it or leave it, but it’s been an incredible free up of energy and motivation and just general enjoying of life more for me.

And I say that as someone who is not overindulging. I’m not comparing this to benders. It’s literally one glass of wine. It just does something to me and I know that the more I talk to friends, especially as we get older about it, I know I’m not alone in it, and so I just figured I’d throw it out there as well.

Alright, tip number five. Walk outside like three to four times in the next week, even if it’s for 15 minutes. Truly getting outside. And I live in Minnesota and it’s freezing. So I’m saying this in like any weather, no excuses, just bundle up. Wear all the clothes in Minnesota. I think some people judge me, but I’m in like snow pants and my long like sleeping bag jacket and hat and a huge scarf and boots and gloves, like huge bitten gloves.[00:16:00]

And I can get out there and really enjoy it. And it’s one of the. Biggest things I’m grateful for for having a dog is even when I’m like, Ugh, I don’t wanna go do this every time I get out there. It is wonderful. I think one of the biggest things is walking around in nature. Also looking really far away, like much beyond a screen distance away from us.

It really does something to you. And so I just throw it out there that if you can, just getting outside looking far in the distance and you know, if you can, listening to birds and listening to what’s going on, it’s really, I guess, for lack of a better word, and kind of woo woo. It’s like very grounding and that’s a big one for me.

I really notice a difference with that one. And tip six is join a BART method program. And I know I’m like joking, but I’m kind of not really joking. If you want long term change, not just a good week, if you want long lasting change. [00:17:00] Learning the bright method is game changing here, and if you like practical, detailed examples, that is what the bright method is.

I walk you through all of it, the calendar, set up the calendaring things out, the six step process for projects, the long-term projects, the deadline projects, delegating boundaries, planning sessions, the long-term planning sessions, logistics, planning sessions, an email, mini course, all sorts of things.

Paper management, we talk about home paper management. I love practical. I love really helping women still accomplish so much, but actually enjoying how it feels. Being able to have breathing space, being able to see, I can be so effective even if I don’t overwork myself. All of that, that is what I love, and that is what I hope for you.

So if you are looking for not just one better week, but a lifetime of better weeks that you can enjoy and soak in and be proud of what you got done today and, and go to bed proud [00:18:00] of what you got done today and calm out, what’s tomorrow? That is so much of what I want for you. And so join me in my 10 week program, Kelly nolan.com/bright and again, join.

But you have to join by March 18th and spots are limited. Also before we go, I have been asked lately and it was a really good question and really fair, and she, this woman reached out and was like, I’ve taken your free five day program. I loved it. How is the 10 week course different? And so I put together a PDF on that front and.

Just know it walks you through like what’s covered in the five day and also just free content and what’s covered in the full program. It also gives you a lot of quotes from people who’ve gone through my full program about how it’s different than the free five day, because candidly, I’m terrible at messaging and I find it much more.

Interesting and relevant to hear from actual clients who went through, and I ask in my feedback like Offboarding forum, like how is it different than the free programs or the free content that I put out there? And [00:19:00] so in the PDFI share what they say. Alright, I hope to see you in there. Thank you for being here, especially as we wind down season one of this podcast.

I really appreciate it and I hope to see you inside a Bright Method program. They really are wonderful. The results are so much bigger and so much more long lasting than anything I can give in free content that you like have to cobble together across. All sorts of things and I don’t even cover the tech strategies and all like the six step process.

Like any of it. I really want fall results for you and so I hope you jump in before you have to wait until the fall. So I hope you jump in and don’t have to wait until the fall. Alright, Kelly nolan.com/bright. Thank you for being here and I’ll catch you in the next episode.

Links you might enjoy:

🌿 Free 5-Day Time Management Program Get five short, practical video lessons packed with realistic strategies to help you manage your personal and professional life with more clarity and calm.

If I Wanted More Breathing Room THIS Week…

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