🎧 Episode Overview:

This week’s episode is part confession, part coaching. I recorded this late at night after one of the roughest work weeks I’ve had in a while. I had planned to read you my most recent System Sunday email… but as I was preparing, I realized I was living through the exact lesson I’d written about. So instead, I’m sharing the email and the messy reality of what happens when we don’t follow our own advice.

If you’ve ever found yourself skipping your reset rituals, stacking your calendar with back-to-back meetings, or drowning in mental clutter... this one's for you.

🔑 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why reflection isn’t a luxury—it’s a leadership necessity
• The hidden cost of letting your foundational habits slip
• How mental clutter fuels chronic stress (and what to do about it)
• What I did to course-correct a week overloaded with meetings and overwhelm
• Questions you can ask to reset when everything feels like too much

🧠 Key Ideas to Take With You:

• The slow, silent buildup of open loops and unfinished tasks is what burns most nurse leaders out—not the occasional crisis.
• Strategic reflection helps you see patterns and gives you permission to move differently.
• Our brains lie to us when we’re overwhelmed, telling us we don’t have time to pause—when in fact, that pause is exactly what would help.
• You can’t lead well if you’re constantly saying yes without checking if you have the capacity.

🎧 How to Get the Most Out of This Episode:

Listen with an open mind and a compassionate lens toward yourself. Pay attention to any habits or reflection rituals you’ve let go of recently and ask yourself whether they’ve been costing you more than you realized.

🛠️ Practical Actions You Can Take:

• Block 15 minutes to do a reflection check-in: What’s heavy? What’s unfinished? What can wait?
• Audit your calendar for the upcoming week. Where are your “slow leaks”?
• Reinstate one helpful habit you’ve let slide (your version of a weekly reset, we-day, or task triage).
• Use the three reflection prompts from this week’s System Sunday email:

1. If work feels hard, why?
2. What patterns are emerging in your work days?
3. What could shift if you gave yourself permission to pause?

📲 Call to Action:

• Subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss what’s coming next.
• Forward this episode to a friend or teammate who’s feeling overwhelmed.
• Join my System Sunday email list for weekly reflections you won’t get anywhere else.
• Follow me on Instagram