How to Juggle Everything This Holiday Season Without Getting Knocked Out

Leanna Laskey McGrath  0:08  

Welcome to the executive coach for moms podcast where we support women who are attempting to find balance and joy while simultaneously leading people at work and at home. I'm your host, Leanna Laskey McGrath, former tech exec turned full time mom, recovering perfectionist and workaholic and certified executive coach. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  0:29  

Hi everyone. Welcome back to the show. Thank you so much for joining me this week. I hope that you are surviving the holiday season, and more than that, I hope you are enjoying the holiday season. I think that this time of year is so challenging for working moms who are trying to do everything, wrap up the year at work, do all the annual reviews and take care of everything in that realm of our lives, while also making all the magic for the holidays and do all the holiday planning and all of the events and extra stuff that comes this time of year. And so I know if you're feeling it, I feel you too. Today, I wanted to share a webinar that I did last week called how to juggle everything this holiday season without getting knocked out. Strategies for working moms to manage stress and overwhelm this holiday season. If you are feeling the stress, feeling the push and pull of all of the responsibilities and the weight and the load of that, I've got you today, I've got some really helpful tools that will hopefully make things a little bit better for you and help you feel a little lighter after you listen today. Because I truly believe that when we are working so hard for everyone else to have a great holiday season, we deserve to enjoy it as well. And also, I know that if you weren't able to make the webinar, I thought, why don't I just put this on my podcast, so that way everyone can hear it as you're driving to pick up the kids or wrapping presents or making cookies or doing whatever kinds of things you're having to do this holiday season, you can give it a listen then.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  2:24  

Also, I wanted to let you know I am doing a second webinar today, Thursday, December 19. So if you're tuning in in real time, it is today at 2:30pm Eastern Time, and this one is all about being present for the holidays, and I really wanted to focus in the webinar that I'm sharing today that is all about managing holiday stress and overwhelm. And this afternoon, I'll be talking about how to remain present, how to resist the urge to check your emails, how you to put down your phone while you are spending Christmas or Hanukkah or any other holiday that you're celebrating this season with your family, how to really enjoy the moments, because I think that that is so hard for us to do when we've got so much going on. And a lot of times, I think we get to the end of the holiday season, and we're like, what just happened? I missed it all. And I don't want that for you. I don't want that for any of us. I want us to actually be able to fully show up and be present and enjoy the time with our loved ones. So if you are feeling that, definitely come to the webinar this afternoon, 2:30pm Eastern Time, if you register, you will be able to get the replay as well. And you can just head over to my website, coachleanna.com to register and for all the details. So I hope to see you there this afternoon. And I genuinely hope that this replay of this webinar that I'm sharing today helps as well, and I'm wishing you a wonderful holiday. Have a great one.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  4:11  

All right. So welcome everyone. Thank you so much for being here today. I am very excited to talk about this topic, how to juggle everything this holiday season without getting knocked out. When I was thinking about what would help people right now, because I know that, especially for working moms and executive women who I work with, this is a challenging time of year where we are just trying to juggle all of the things. And so the visual I got in my mind was like having all these balls in the air of the work parties and the cookie making and the present buying and the end of year reviews and wrapping up the year at work and the last minute request for the holiday concert. And I was just imagining like throwing them all up in the air and trying to continuously juggle them all and just like them all kind of coming crashing down on us. And so that was my visual. And so I named this, how to juggle everything this holiday season without getting knocked out. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  5:11  

So that's what we're going to talk about today. And I see we've got some folks here from Arlington, Melanie from Arlington, Virginia, with two kids, eight and 10. Laura in Sarver with two kids feeling overwhelmed. Melanie is feeling woefully behind. Sarah's in Lawrence County with two kids and feeling busy. Yes, those are all words that I think we can all relate to. Let's go ahead and jump in. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  5:41  

So you are in the right place. If you are a high achiever, someone who is used to achieving everything, staying on top of everything, staying organized and having very high expectations of yourself, if you are kind of a perfectionist, going along with that and wanting to make sure that everything is perfect, that everyone around you is happy, and that you're making everything great for everybody else, that you are feeling like you're juggling all the things. A lot of those examples that I share kind of the end of the year at work, annual reviews, holiday parties, the parades, the lights, the festivals, all of the different events that are available to attend, decorating the house, the kids end of year and holiday shows and concerts and things like that. And just kind of, I would say, the logistical acrobatics of this season of whose house are we going to and what food are we bringing, and how are we going to fit everything in to all of these? When are we gonna go see Santa and when are we gonna go put up the Christmas lights, or whatever kinds of things we're trying to do, along with all the things that we're doing at work? And also, if you are the magic maker, so if you are the magic maker of your family, and if you feel kind of the weight of the responsibility to make sure that your kids have a magical holiday season, you are in the right place. These are things that describe many, many of the women that I work with, and including myself.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  7:09  

What you're going to walk away with today. First is a little bit more clarity. I want you to feel more clear about what's most important to you in this season. I think that so often we just get going, going, going, and we don't have time to stop and check that out. So we're going to check in with ourselves today. Also some stress management techniques and tools I'm going to teach you today. I wanted to share, like, everything that I know with you, but I kind of boiled it down into a few tools that I think are most helpful in this season. So I'm going to share those, and really, my goal is for you to have a memorable holiday. We create the magic for everybody around us, and oftentimes we don't really get to fully experience that magic and joy ourselves, because we're so exhausted and depleted from making sure that everyone else's needs are met before our own. So I want you to have a memorable holiday season. And why am I the person to help you? Well, because I am you in many ways. I also want the holidays to be perfect for my daughter and family. Also want to keep showing up at work and continue achieving I want to do it all so I get it, and I also have figured out techniques that have really helped me and my clients to stay out of overwhelm and burnout. And I think it's just it's so important to me that that you get to enjoy the holidays too, and that you don't make it to December 26 or whatever the end of your holiday season is feeling like you just got your ass kicked, looking around, kind of like wondering what just happened, and feeling like you missed it all because you're just so tired and stressed out. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  8:43  

So a little bit about me on paper, I am a mom, business owner, and podcast host. I'm a recovering perfectionist and workaholic. I am the host of the Executive Coach for Moms Podcast and the founder of The Executive Moms Reset. I am also a Certified Life career and executive coach. Previous to this, I was a ed tech startup Exec. I have a bachelor's degree in math and psychology and a master's in educational administration. So that's me, just so you know a little bit about me. I know that some of you are new to me, and some of you have known a long time. So first we're going to talk a little bit about the problem, why we get into overwhelm in December. And then we'll talk about solutions, some practical solutions for positive change and then support and opportunities for ongoing support beyond this webinar.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  9:35  

First of all the problem, and when I looked up stock images, there were plenty full of moms feeling overwhelmed around the holidays. So this kind of is maybe a visual of how you are feeling, or have felt, or might feel at some point in the holidays, hopefully not after some of the things that we talk about today. So what's happening and what's the problem? So first of all, there's a lot on our plates right now. It's a lot, so I just want to validate that that this is it's normal to feel overwhelmed and stressed. It doesn't mean that you're failing. It doesn't mean that you're not good at this, or that you're not cut out for it. I mean, we wouldn't have multiple people here today and tons of people registered to watch the replay. If it were just you, I would be hearing this from my clients as well. Is not a personal failing. There's there's a lot right now. There's a lot on our plates and a lot of demands and a lot of expectations from our families and from our society. It's real. It's a lot right now. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  10:38  

And then, I think a couple other things are a lack of intention. I think sometimes when things get really busy, we can only see right in front of us, and we don't feel like we have the time to step back and look at the bigger picture. So we don't take that time, and when we have our blinders on, we end up doing probably more busy work and kind of maybe feeling more frazzled about everything. And then also when things are really busy at work and we're maybe working outside of our regular hours, you know, we feel guilty about it. I should show up, you know, better as a mom in this season. And so then we kind of like double down and add more to our to do list. You know, I had to say it worked late two nights this week, so we're going to definitely attend that light show this weekend, or whatever it is, to try and kind of make up for it and not feel as guilty about all of the work commitments that we have in this time of year. So I'll talk more. I have another webinar next week, and I will share more information about that towards the end, but I'll talk more about presence and kind of how you might want to show up. But today I really want to talk about how it shows up, impacting our to do lists and creating more overwhelm for ourselves. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  11:55  

And then the third thing is that when things get busy, often the first things that we tend to cut out are the things that make us feel good and that meet our own needs, because we believe they're only for us, and so therefore maybe they feel indulgent and there's no time for them, so things like exercise or lunch breaks or meditation or walks midday or stretching or journaling or coaching or counseling or talking to our friends or family, we have this tendency, I think, especially as women, when our society kind of teaches us to put everyone else's needs before our own, of course, we're going to cut those things first. And so I think then what happens, though, is that when we're not making sure that our needs are met when we're not giving ourselves the support that we need in one of our most challenging seasons, then we are going to feel that, and it's going to impact our peace. It's going to impact our our impact our sanity, and ultimately, our experience of the holiday season. So that's kind of what is is happening. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  13:02  

Here are some things that we've tried in the past. We put our heads down and go. We ignore our feelings or our needs, because these are things that seem like they're going to slow us down, and it's like I don't have time for that right now, right? I just need to go. I just need to get through it. I just need to focus on my next task and just keep on going. I gotta do more and more and more, like I said, especially when we're feeling that mom guilt, then we add more to our plates and just continuously do more keeping ourselves so busy. And it's just like, Oh, I just gotta get this done, and I just gotta get through it. And I can relax when. I'm sure we've all said that I can relax when, I can take a break when, and it's always sometime out in the future, and maybe now it's, you know, when the holidays are over. But what this kind of results in is, then, of course, we're saying, like, I just need to get through this season. And this is a season that you know might be one that you want to enjoy and that you want to remember. So these are kind of things that we've tried in the past. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  14:05  

Why hasn't it worked? Well, I think whenever we feel that weight on our shoulders and we're just working really, really hard, doing all the things, de prioritizing ourselves and prioritizing everyone else's needs around us, that is a recipe for resentment. And resentment is a feeling that I think so many moms end up feeling during the holidays, towards their partners, towards their kids, towards anyone who kind of sets off a trigger that maybe they're ungrateful for all of our work because we're doing so much, so whenever we kind of have all of those things, it is often a recipe for that. So I would love to check in before we move into the solution. And I would love to hear from you all. How is this resonating? Does this make sense to you? Or do you see this in yourself, or have you in the past? I would love to hear kind of what's. landing or how it's landing for you all, Laura says, Oh yes, magic maker. Sarah says, Absolutely. Melanie says, yes to the prioritizing everyone else. Yeah, I think that is so common for us, something that so many of us do. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  15:16  

And so I'd like to talk a little bit about solutions. And because now that we have a little bit of awareness, I think that there are some tools that can really help. Every time I design one of these webinars, there's like so much I want to share and so many solutions, but I also want to make sure it's digestible, so I've shared what I believe are the most impactful ones, and also the ones that take the least amount of time. First, I want to do an exercise together. So this is something that I want to do live. So if you're here with me right now, I would encourage you to write this down, and as well, if you're on replay, if you're listening to this in the car, maybe pull over or just think about it. But it's going to be most impactful if you actually write it down. And the reason why this exercise is so important is because I think that overwhelm is a feeling that is outside of ourselves. It is whenever we feel very out of control. We feel like there's so much going on, so much swirling around, so much piling up and piling on top of us and taking over. And whenever we are intentional about how we want to spend our time and about the decisions we make, we tend to feel more empowered. We feel more in control. It's like we're taking the reins back. So that's why I think this is a really important and helpful exercise, and I'm going to take you through it. The goal really is to help you to feel like you have a little bit more control than just kind of like letting everything pile up and letting the overwhelm happen. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  16:44  

This is a series of three questions. So we're going to start with the first question. The first goal is to clarify values. So what is most important to me in this season? So write that down, or think about it. There are no right or wrong answers that the right answer, air quotes is the one that feels most true to you. And I think it's very important to be honest with yourself about what's most important to you in this season. If it is that, like if you're in a sales role and you need to hit your quota by the end of the year, because that will equal a promotion which will make things better for your family, then that's okay. There's there's no right or wrong, or, you know, you're a better mom or a better person. If you choose one thing over the other, it's just, what is it for you right now, it's important to be real and in touch with that. And then also, the other thing I would say about this question is just to be specific about it. So if you say, what's most important to me in my in this season, is my kids. Well, what about your kids? You know, is it spending time with them in terms of quantity? Is it spending time with them in terms of quality? And what does that mean? You know, what does the time that you want to spend with them look like? Is it taking them to all of the holiday events, or is it buying them every present that they want? So just be as specific as you can about what is most important to you. What are your priorities? 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  18:12  

Okay, and then we'll go to the second question. So second question is just to kind of check in, do an inventory, so without judgment, ask yourself, has my time, energy and focus been aligned with these priorities or this priority? If it hasn't, it's okay. It's okay. We're just we're just checking in to see where we're at. So if, if work is your most important priority in this season, and specifically, what about work is most important? You know, closing deals in my earlier example. Then, have you aligned your time, energy and focus to be aligned with those priorities? If it's quality time with your kids, and quality time to you means time without your phone or without, you know, having work running in the background, how have you been aligned to that priority? Whatever your priority is. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  19:06  

And then the third question is, what do I want to do differently, if anything, or what do I want to keep doing so as you're kind of doing that inventory that check in about am I aligning my time, energy and focus with my values and with my priorities? Now you have the opportunity. What, what do you want to change? If anything? What's going so well that you want to continue, make sure you continue doing that you have brought into your awareness. And you're like, oh, yeah, man, I'm killing it there. I want to make sure I keep doing that. One of the most important things about being clear on our values and what's important to us, what our priorities are, is that then we can use that as a barometer to make decisions about things. So if we have a value of quality time as an example, then we might notice that once we start piling up the calendar that, actually that's more quantity time, and that's not really what is important, after all, for us, right? For me, and so therefore, what? What changes do I want to make? Maybe, maybe we don't need to go to all these events. Maybe we want to look at what is quality time to us? Or maybe we want to ask our kids, what, what does quality time mean to them? So it just kind of allows us to have that kind of North Star. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  20:21  

That's our first exercise, first tool. And then I just want to give you some tools to support yourself here. Checking in is one tool. We did this values exercise, and we went through that really quickly. So that's something you can take. If you need more time on that, please take it. It's, I think, a really helpful exercise to be very clear about what's important to you, and be very specific. And so I said before that the tools I want to share here are simple, easy, quick and effective. That was my litmus test for these tools, to make sure that I that I share them with you. So some of them might feel like, so so simple, like, how could that even be effective? But it is so simple and effective and quick and easy, I think so often we discount things when they're not hard and not time consuming, and at the same time, we also tell ourselves that we don't have time or something's too hard, so it kind of ends up keeping us stuck. And so I would just try these. I mean, they're quick and simple and easy, so let's try them. Remember that when we check in with ourselves, and whenever we realign and make sure that what we're doing aligns with our priorities, that makes us feel more empowered, that makes us feel more in control, and that is directly counter to overwhelm, where overwhelm makes us feel like we're completely out of control, and things are swirling around us and we and we can't get a handle on anything. So when that starts to happen, check in.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  21:48  

Another option, another tool that I want to share with you is breathing. And I think that conscious breathing is like, so underrated. And obviously I know if someone tells you, like, oh, just take a deep breath, right? Like that can be kind of triggering, but that's probably also who's saying it and how they're saying it. But the science behind why breathing is so important and so effective and conscious breathing and deep breathing is because when we sense a threat, we get into this state of fight or flight, and so a threat used to be back in prehistoric times, would be like a saber toothed tiger, and we don't have housing structures. And so our brains had to develop to be able to escape that threat. Otherwise, our species would have be extinct by now, and so we have this thing called fight or flight, which is really great for whenever there's a saber tooth tiger in front of us, because what it does is it pretty much shuts down all of our worrying and wondering and questioning and strategizing and preparing and things. It just takes our survival brain and activates it. Starts pumping us full of stress hormones, so cortisol and adrenaline, it starts increasing our heart rate, increasing our blood pressure, and blood gets pumped away from our organs and out to our large muscle groups. So that way, it is preparing us to either fight that saber tooth tiger or to run away from it and get out of danger. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  23:22  

And in our modern day and age, we obviously don't have saber tooth tigers, and we do have housing structures where we can be safe, but what we do have instead are other triggers that can trigger a stress response and can put us into a state of fight or flight. And those are like, you know, whenever we have our week planned out, and then we get a notice from the school that we have to bring a treat for every kid in the classroom on Thursday for the holiday party that we didn't know about, right, that we just learned about, or that our kids having a concert this week or next week that we didn't plan For. And maybe it's midday, and we've got a big meeting scheduled or big presentation scheduled at work, and we have to figure out what we want to do there, right? And so these kinds of things feel threats. Our brains register them as threats, just like they would register a saber tooth tiger, even though, obviously, when we're looking at it like that, we can see it's on a very different level. But what is happening is that amygdala, that survival brain, is getting very activated, and the part of our brain, our prefrontal cortex that does the higher level thinking and planning and strategy is kind of subdued. And so what we do when we breathe is we start to slow down our heart rate, slow down our blood pressure, blood can go back to our organs. Blood can flow through our bodies again. It's not all being rerouted, just to our large muscle groups so we can get out of there or fight it brings oxygen into our brain. It allows our prefrontal cortex to operate again, step back up and can run the show again. And it tells our nervous system, hey, we're okay. We've got this. So that is why breathing is so important, is that? I mean, I could go on and on about biological neuroscience, but that's just a quick overview of the science behind it, and I just kind of want everyone to understand why it's so important and what it's actually doing for us. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  25:18  

So I'm going to invite you all to participate in a quick breathing exercise with me. Let's just try it now. There are some fancy breathing exercises, but my favorite one is not fancy at all. It just goes like this, if you have the ability to lay on the floor, that's my favorite way to do it, just lay flat and then put your feet on the floor so your knees are bent. If you're sitting at your desk like I am, I would just invite you to sit up straight and roll your shoulders back. And whether you're sitting or laying, just place one of your hands on your heart and one of your hands on your belly. And we're just going to take a deep breath into our belly so we should feel that hand that's on our stomach should be going out. We should feel it like there should if someone were looking at us, they would see our hand going out. So let's try it, and we're going to just close our eyes and take a deep breath through our nose and then out through our mouth. So go ahead. Let's try it again, and let's do it one more time. And this time, I want you to really notice where your breath is at in your body. Like, notice it going in through your nose. Notice where it is it's going down, like, try and really notice where it is okay, all right, go ahead. And open your eyes. And I just want you to notice how you feel, if anything feels a little bit different, a little bit calmer, a little bit more relaxed. So whether you are in a state of fight or flight, even if you are just feeling a little bit activated, a little bit stressed, a little bit anxious, conscious, breathing is such a great, great tool. And again, I think it gets written off because it seems so simple, but this is literally my favorite of all of the tools. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  27:23  

Okay, the next one is writing. So the third response that can happen. It used to be only fight or flight, and scientists discovered actually there is a third response that can happen. You can also be in freeze mode. So fight, fight, fight, flight or freeze. And freeze is whenever those stress hormones, they just keep on going and going and going, and you get to a point where you're just like, stuck. All right, I think we can all relate to this. This is why procrastination happens a lot of times, because we just feel like we have so much to do and we don't know where to start, we don't know what to do. And so this one is for when you're feeling so overwhelmed that you feel stuck. And I'll tell you how it plays out for me. This plays out when I have that rare free 30 minutes with, quote, unquote, nothing to do, right or but lots to do. But, you know, I've got like, 30 minutes free where my kids occupied. Nobody needs me at this moment. And so it's like, okay, what am I going to do? Well, I could go and wrap some presents right now. Oh, wait a second, actually, I need to finish shopping for that person. So maybe I need to look up some some gifts online. Okay, actually, I have that project at work I need to finish up, so maybe I should do that. Oh, the laundry. Need to start that. And it's just like this list starts forming in our heads. Let me know if you relate to this, or if this is just me. But I think we all have that moment where we're like, oh my gosh, I have free time, so many things I could do. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  28:52  

So this is where I highly recommend starting to write. It doesn't matter if it's on pen and paper or on your computer, on your phone. I like pen and paper because for me, it slows my brain down a little bit more than than typing. But when you're feeling really stuck, then just go ahead and start writing down what's going on in your brain. So I will literally write, I feel really overwhelmed right now. There's so many things I want to do and I don't know where to start, and I just start writing all the things that I might want to do, and something kind of magical happens every time I do this. And I can't tell you what's going to happen for you, because it's been a little bit different every time for me. But what happens for me is something like this. I just start writing what's in my brain, and it starts to slow things down. It starts to, you know, I just start to feel more regulated and less like frantic about what I need to do, and then I just get to a point where I'm like, Okay, I'm done writing, and I know what I need to do, and I do it. When I do this, I also find that I end up prioritizing the things that are most important to me, right? We can go back to that last exercise that we did aboutchecking in with our values, and so making sure that it's aligned with what's most important, so that that way. You know, I haven't just wasted a half hour doing something that didn't actually, really wasn't all that important or didn't actually need to be done. Okay.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  30:16  

So that's the third one, and the final one is grounding. So grounding exercises, I think these are best for when we're feeling really anxious. Because when we feel anxious, we get all up in our heads, and we start thinking of all the things, and, you know, all the worst case scenarios, and we just get up in our heads a lot. And so grounding literally helps us to pull ourselves back down to earth, so it just kind of lets us feel grounded, similar to the breathing exercises, but just a couple other exercises I want to run you through. So let's just try a couple of these right now, and I'll tell you, I have done lots of professional development and ongoing education about different grounding exercises, and everyone has their different favorite ones. I'm sharing three of my favorites today. You may find one of them is better for you than another one, or you might have a favorite too. If you have another grounding exercise you that you do that works for you, I'd love to hear it, so write it in the chat. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  31:15  

But the first one we're going to do, and I'll invite you to participate with me, is with our fingers, and so we're just going to take our thumb and pointer finger and just kind of gently rub them together and just notice what it feels like. What your fingers feel like. Are they kind of squishy or hard? Are they kind of rough or soft? Please don't judge yourself if you need lotion or something like that. That's not the purpose of this exercise, but just kind of notice, you know, what do you notice about it? And then move on to your middle finger, and what do you notice there? And just feel what it feels like to touch your fingers together. Notice what it feels like and onto your ring finger and your baby finger, and you want to do that on both hands, but that is one grounding exercise, just to take you out of your head back into your body. That's really the purpose of it. Okay, so that's one. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  32:13  

Another one is we're going to go all the way down to our toes. So what I want you to do is we are going to wiggle each toe independently. So we're going to start with, I'll just say, our left pinky toe, and try wiggling that one, and then the next one, Oh, that one's a little harder for me. And then the middle of your left and then, I don't know what it's called, the pointer, the brother, no mommy, finger, the toe that's next to your big toe, and then your big toe on your left toe, and you're gonna go all the way out on your other foot as well. So with both of these exercises, it's funny because I actually I did this challenge where I did these exercises five times a day for six weeks. And when I first started it, I was like, thinking, well, like, this is weird. This is doing nothing, right? I had all these thoughts my brain was offering. But then whenever I really just started to, like, really focus in and really think about, like each toe, like the feeling in each toe, the sensations in each finger. Then I started to notice, you know, afterwards I was like, oh, okay, I feel a little bit differently than than I did before. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  33:34  

The last one I'll offer is an auditory one. I really like this one personally, because it helps me to get into kind of a quiet space. So I'm going to ask you to close your eyes again, and what I want you to do is listen for the sound furthest away from you. So it might be a siren or a car or a train or something you know far away from you. So I'm gonna be real quiet here for a few seconds and just listen for it. And once you hear it, focus on it. Okay? And then I want you to focus on the sound that is closest to you. So keeping your eyes closed, listen for the sound that is closest to you. It might be your own breath going in and out of your body. Might be your stomach rumbling. Might be something else. And then notice how you're feeling, if anything shifted at all for you.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  34:58  

And with any of these. Exercises, you can do all of them or any of them. Just find what works for you, that might change from day to day, from situation to situation, and I recommend doing these as often as needed, the grounding and breath work, I would do recommend at least three to five times a day. They don't take more than 30 seconds, maybe a minute at most, but three to five times a day, like outside the holiday season, you might need it more often during the holidays, I'm definitely finding myself needing my conscious breathing quite often lately. Laura said she's feeling calmer and a bit more focused. My brain isn't running. Yes, yes. I always feel so much calmer after I do these, I hope that you all are feeling that too. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  35:45  

So I've given you some great tools to help in this season. And again, I've tried to keep them very simple and easy and quick for you to do if you're looking for some more support, I just want to share three different ways that I can support you. So one is the Executive Mom Reset coaching program, and we've talked mostly here about stress management, but I also help women in my coaching programs work on work life balance and confidence and fulfillment and lots of other things. It's kind of whatever you are needing in your life is what we work on. So we work on all these things together over six months to really kind of get you to a place where they're second nature for you and part of who you are all the time, so you're showing up the way that you want to more often. The program is a six month program, and we meet weekly for coaching sessions, and then I support you in between. So just imagine having ongoing support for six months. What could change in your life, how much better you could feel, how much better you could show up for yourself or your family for work. That's really my goal for all of my clients. If you are interested in exploring this option, you can book a consult call, and this little QR code here you can just scan with your phone, and that'll take you directly to my calendar. This is a no cost, no obligation call, so I would love to talk to you if you have any interest in potentially having ongoing support. Then let's chat. Let's talk about working together. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  37:21  

Also, I have my podcast, The Executive Coach for Moms podcast. This is my free resource, so you can find it on iTunes, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. I post every Thursday, and this month in particular, I have lots of great resources, especially for executive women and working moms. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  37:42  

And then finally, I will be offering another free webinar next week at 230 so this week we talked about overwhelm and really what's important. And next week we'll we're going to be talking about being present and how you want to show up, and really focusing in on on who you want to be, how you want to show up on these big days, these holidays. So the name of the webinar is unwrap the gift of presence this holiday season. And my visual for that was really thinking about like Christmas morning, when you your kids are having that magic that you've worked so hard for to make sure is magical, and you've got work kind of running in the background, and you're checking your emails and things like that and feeling distracted, and you kind of miss out on it, and so that's my goal for that webinar, is really to help you figure out how you want to show up on Christmas or Hanukkah or any holiday that you're celebrating and be more present and be able to be there fully and not be thinking about everything else that you've got. So if you're registered for this webinar, then you'll be getting an email to sign up for that one, or you can head over to coachleanna.com and that link will be available later today, and I hope to see all of you there. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  38:56  

That's everything I wanted to share today. I would love to hear from you if you want to share your biggest takeaway from today or something that you're going to be taking into the holiday season now that we have had this conversation. Melanie says, I like the reminder to focus on values. Yes, I think that's so important. And again, just something that is so easy to forget, so human of us because we're so focused on what's right in front of us. So how do we zoom out the lens a little bit and step back and check in with our values? Thank you, Melanie. Very helpful tips. Thank you, Michelle. Laura says, I literally always need stress busters. Yes, yes. All right. And Sarah, I think the breath work during busy events, when kids are tired and hungry and just losing it will be so helpful. Yes, for sure, Sarah, I think that those are some of the best times to use those. This was another tool I didn't explicitly share, but one of the things like, when I've got a melting down child and, you know, I'm trying to make, get dinner on the table, and, yeah, all the things are happening. One of the things that I always say to myself is, this is not an emergency. I don't know for me, like that always works to remind myself, because my brain's like, ah ah ah, right? And thinking of like, and just getting activated and so, you know, just calming my nervous system, taking those breaths, literally, I mean those, those grounding exercises, if you're, you're sitting there with a melting down toddler, and you're, you know, feeling what all your fingers feel like, I think those can be really helpful. So thank you all so so much for tuning in today. I really appreciate your time. I'm wishing you the best this holiday season, and I hope to see you again next Thursday on the 19th. Take care everyone. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  40:45  

Thanks so much for tuning in to the executive coach for moms podcast. Please like, subscribe or follow the show so you'll be notified when the next episode is available. I hope you'll join me again next time. Take care.