How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed: 5 Real Transformations

Anna Dearmon Kornick: Hey, friends, and welcome to episode 327 of It's About Time, a podcast sharing stories and strategies to inspire better work, life and balance. I'm your host, time management coach, Anna Dearman Cornick. And I am so glad you're here today. Let me ask you something. When you're in the thick of overwhelm, when your chest feels tight before you've even opened your laptop, when you're lying in bed at 11pm running through tomorrow's agenda instead of sleeping, when you wake up already tired, already behind, before your feet have even hit the floor, when you're snapping at your kids over nothing, saying yes to things you have no business saying yes to, and ending the day wondering what you even have to show for it. When you're there in that heavy moment, can you actually picture? Imagine what life looks like on the other side of that? And be honest. For a lot of us, the answer is no. Not because we don't want things to be different, but because when you're standing in the middle of overwhelm, it's almost impossible to see past it. It's heavy, like a fog. So today, I'm doing something a little different. Instead of just teaching you a strategy, I want to show you what the other side actually looks like through five real women with real befores and afters. These are not hypothetical. These are not. Imagine if these are real. Because a long time ago, I was also the woman who could not picture anything different either. Anything beyond overwhelm. And what changed for me wasn't a new strategy. It was seeing it work for someone else first. See? So that's what I want to give you today. Before we get into frameworks, I want to give you proof. I want to give you proof of what's possible. So in this episode, I'm talking about five real women who felt exactly the way you might feel right now. And what changed for them? I'm, um, going to let you in on why most time management advice skips a critical first step and ends up not sticking, I'll tell you about the one thing you actually need before you touch your calendar and a simple way to start applying all of this to your own week, starting today. And because I know you're probably making the most of your time and you're listening in the car or you're folding laundry or you're on a walk, don't worry about dropping everything to take notes. We've got you covered. You can find everything from today's episode over in the show. Notes, including links to any resources I'll mention. Today's show notes can be found@abouttimepodcast.com 327 all right, it's about time we get started, so, uh, let's get this show on the road.

Narrator: You're m listening to It's About Time, a podcast about work, life and balance around here. We believe that busy is not a badge of honor. Your host, Anna Dearman Cornick is here to share tips and strategies to help you make the most of your time. Listen in on real conversations and success stories to find out how other go getters are getting things done. If you're ready to step away from the overwhelm and spend your time on, uh, what matters most, then you're in the right place. Here's your host, time management coach Anna Dearman Kornick.

Anna Dearmon Kornick: Let's get right to it, because today I want you to meet five women who felt exactly like you might feel right now. Here's what I want you to hear today before I introduce you. You can't see the other side of Overwhelm from inside it. Imagine this. It's kind of like trying to read the label on the outside of a bottle. While you're inside the bottle, you're too close to it. Uh, you're surrounded by it. And from inside, it's almost impossible to imagine anything different. And that's not a flaw in you. That's just what real Overwhelm does. It shrinks your view down to right now, right here, this mess. And it convinces you that this is just how it is. Before I started coaching anyone else through this, you know, I lived it myself. Years ago, back when I was completely overwhelmed and trying to figure out my own next move after leaving a career in crisis, career communications, I went looking for examples of what was even possible. And after a lot of looking, I found it in a woman you've probably heard of named Emily Lay. I watched her build her business simplified and write books while raising three young kids, all from a gorgeous, naturally lit home office filled with bright colors, bold stripes, and ceramic pineapples. And here's the thing. I didn't know anyone else in my own life who did that. I mean, my stepdad owned a family business, a funeral home, but everyone else I knew reported to a job at set hours for someone else. And watching Emily do something through the screens of Instagram that I'd never seen up close before, even though I'd never met her and didn't know her personally, I that was proof. If she could build a life And a business on her own terms, maybe I could, too. It's hard to imagine something that you've never actually seen. So that's what I want to give you today. Not another strategy, but proof. So let me introduce you to five women that I've had the privilege of working with. First, let me tell you about Alison. Alison is an attorney and she's a mom of young kids. And when she came to us, she was working constantly, and I mean constantly, with very little to no time carved out for herself. She was frazzled, navigating work life and mom life. And somewhere along the way, she let go of every hobby, every personal interest, anything that was just for her. She wanted to create space for herself so she could show up for her family and everyone else as her best self. So she got really clear on routines that supported herself and her family. She got clear on weekly planning, meal planning, and home maintenance. She set boundaries and scheduled time for hobbies so they would actually happen. Instead of getting the scraps of her time, she picked tennis back up. And not just tennis on her own. She plays doubles with her husband now once a week. And it might sound simple like, oh, great, she plays tennis now. But here's what I need you to know. In that one activity, she created three wins, four actually. Movement, hobby that she actually loves. Quality time with her husband, and fun, just fun for the sake of having fun all rolled into one. So that's Alison's before and after. Now I want you to meet Jeanne. So Jeanne worked in support staff for a busy engineering firm. And her entire to do list lived on scattered post it notes, constantly rewritten, constantly lost. And she'd show up to zoom meetings with no idea what was actually happening that day. And on top of all that, she was sitting on a townhome and storage units that were completely full of unsorted belongings that she needed to clear out before she could sell. Well, we let go of the post its. We created a, uh, digital to do list that she could easily update either on her phone or her laptop and share that to do list with her boss. We created a workday startup routine so she'd start her days feeling prepared. And her townhome, we created a room by room, week by week plan for clearing out the clutter. And within about six months, Jeanne had finished the entire cleanout on her own. She sold her townhome and she bought her house. And she was so incredibly proud. And for good reason. So that's Jeanne's before and after. And then there's Corinne. So Corinne when we started working together, she was working from home with a baby. She was running three major projects for a nonprofit with her eyes on a promotion. But here's what really got her. She felt like she was failing as a mom, and she was convinced that she wasn't spending enough time with her daughter. So we ran a time audit. And what the data actually showed surprised her completely. She was spending more time with her family than she realized. But here's what was really going on. She was mentally still at work while being physically present with her family. And once we saw that clearly, we restructured her three competing projects into theme days, and we built out an ideal week that enabled her to make consistent, consistent progress on all three, plus deal with timely requests from her boss. And things kept building from there. She ended up being recognized as the most productive person in her office. And she was eventually recruited into a VP level role at a larger organization, where she's making an even bigger impact in her field, not to mention her nationally recognized advocacy work for families. So that's Corinne's before and after. Now let me introduce you to Gina. So Gina's a mom of two, and she's working as an associate professor of a PhD program at a major university. And when she came to us, she was running her entire professional life kind of out of a paper planner. No bird's eye view of any of her many projects, articles, research papers, coursework, partnerships, conference presentations, and an amazing hand. Handmade greeting card company. Yes. Handmade greeting cards. How cool is that? And here's the part that really stuck with me. Gina had several projects on her list that were almost finished, that were just sitting there quietly taking up space in her brain without ever actually getting done. So we moved Gina off paper, and we built her a repeatable digital task management system for every article in conference submission. And once that mental clutter cleared out, she became an article publishing machine, because so much of the friction that had previously held her back and slowed her down was gone. And so not only has her university recognized her for her work, she recently won a $5 million grant that will positively impact tens of thousands of students in her state. So that's Gina's before and after. So let's close it out with Kimberly. Kimberly is a cpa, she's a mom, and she's a business owner who was running her entire life out of notebooks and journals. On top of that, she was torn. She had a family blog that she thought might be a real growth opportunity. And her CPA firm felt just like the steady Background business. So we started by simply getting her off of the paper train and into some digital systems. And then once she was digital, it was easier to organize her thoughts, her workflows, her processes and delegate. And once she had that foundation underneath her, she was able to actually see clearly enough to make a decision. She went all in on the CPA firm, took it fully digital and nationwide. Today she leads a team team of CPAs across the country and is on track for million dollar revenue years. And that's Kimberly's before and after. Five different women, five completely different lives. But here's what I want you to notice. Not a single one of them started to work their way out of overwhelm by color coding a calendar or downloading a new app. They m started somewhere else entirely. Think about it like this. Before you can drive anywhere, you've got to clean off the windshield. It doesn't matter how good your directions are, how nice your car is, how clear the road ahead might be. If you can't see through the windshield, you're not going anywhere safely. Most time management advice hands you the directions and points you to the car, but it skips the windshield. It goes straight to your calendar, straight to system, straight to fixing before you've actually cleared the fog enough to see what needs fixing in the first place. That's why the very first phase of the method I teach is called navigator. Before we touch a single time block, we clear the windshield, we get you out of the fog so you can actually see your time and yourself clearly again. Navigator is just the first of four phases in the heart method. And I'm walking through all four of them. Navigator, visionary designer and pacesetter live in detail at, uh, my free workshop time well spent happening on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. But for today, I want you to sit with this one. Because clearing the windshield is where every single one of these women started. And it's where you can start too. I know it can feel like a lot to hear five transformation stories and think, okay, but where do I even begin? So here's the only thing I want you to do this week. I want you to pay attention to the fog. I just want you to notice it, not fix it, not solve it, just notice it. Where do you feel foggiest right now? Is it knowing what to prioritize? Is it the mental load of everything you're carrying for everyone else? Is it just not having a clear minute to think? You don't have to clear it all today, you just have to see it. And here's the encouraging part. The moment you notice your own fog, you've already started the navigator phase. You're already becoming a navigator. It starts with being honest with yourself about where you actually are right now. So there you have it. Five real women. Five real befores and afters. Allison, who made room for herself again. Jeanne, who turned scattered post its into a new house. Corrine, who found out she had more time with her family than she thought. She cut the guilt and totally crushed it at work. Gina, who cleared the mental clutter of unfinished projects and became an article publishing grant winning machine. And Kimberly, who said goodbye to the handwritten to do lists and cleared the clutter so she could finally see which direction was actually right for her business. Five different stories, one same truth. You can't see the other side of overwhelm from inside it, but that doesn't mean the other side isn't there. These five women are proof of what's possible. Now, if you're hearing this episode before Wednesday, June 24, I want to personally invite you to join me for a free live workshop called Time well Spent. How to reclaim 10 or more hours a Week Without Sacrificing what Matters Most. Again, it's happening on June 24th at, uh, noon Central and it's completely free. I'll walk you through all four phases of the Heart Method, navigator, visionary designer and pacesetter so you can start clearing your own windshield and building a week that actually fits your life. You can grab your spot for the free workshop@abouttimeworkshop.com and I would love to see your name in the chat on Wednesday. And if this episode happens to find you after noon Central on June 24. If the workshop's already happened and you missed it, don't worry, you haven't missed your shot. The very next step is still open to you. Apply for a free time management coaching session. It's the same kind of clarity I just walked you through with Allison, Jeanne, Corinne, Gina, and Kimberly, but built specifically around your life, your season, and your version of time well spent. And you can apply for over@freetimecall.com either way, whether it's the workshop or the call, the next step is the same. You don't have to figure this out alone and you don't have to stay inside the bottle. As always, all the details from today's episode can be found over in the show notes@abouttimepodcast.com 327 all right, my friends, I'll either see you on Wednesday at the workshop or you'll hear from me next week. And until then, keep making time for what matters most.

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