Episode 41 - The Whirlwind WEEK: Why Successful Women Feel Like Time Is Flying By (And How to Hit the Slow Button)
Welcome to Episode 41 of the Time for Living Podcast!
TRANSCRIPT
show notes
Does it feel like you blink and Monday becomes Friday? If you're a high-achieving woman living life in fast-forward, this episode breaks down why successful women get trapped in the "week whirlwind" and simple strategies to slow down time by waking up to it.
What You’ll Learn:
Why your weeks feel like they're flying by
The 5-minute morning reset that changes your entire day
A simple evening ritual that helps you remember your weeks
How conscious breaks slow down your experience of time
By the end of this episode, you'll have a clear roadmap for creating weeks that feel both successful and meaningful.
Free Resource:
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Final Thought:
Your life is happening right now - don't miss it. Start with one conscious moment today.
TRANSCRIPT - The Whirlwind WEEK: Why Successful Women Feel Like Time Is Flying By (And How to Hit the Slow Button)
IntroductioN
Hey there, beautiful soul. Welcome back to Time For Living, or if you’re new here, welcome to the Time For Living family. I'm so glad you're here with me today.
Do you ever think "Where did this week go?" You blink and it's Monday. Blink again and it's Friday. You're successful, you're accomplished, but you feel like you're living your life in fast-forward.
Today I'm sharing why high-achieving women like you feel trapped in your whirlwind week - and the simple truth that changes everything: if nothing changes, nothing changes. We’ll still be feeling the same way next week if we don’t make any changes. So let’s get to the bottom of how to make changes.
Let me paint you a picture. Monday morning hits like a freight train. Your alarm goes off and immediately you're reactive - checking emails before your feet hit the floor, scrolling through notifications, mentally running through everything that needs to happen. And then the day just... happens to you.
You rush through meetings, you check things off your list, you put out fires. Before you know it, you're driving home thinking "What did I even accomplish today?"
Tuesday feels the same. Wednesday blurs into Thursday. By Friday, you're wondering if you even lived this week or if you just survived it.
Sound familiar?
You know what the crazy part is? You're successful. You're crushing it professionally. But somehow you feel like you're watching your life happen to someone else. Like you're living on 2x speed and can't find the slow button.
I was talking to a client recently and she told me, "I feel like I'm sleepwalking through my successful life. I have no memory of my actual weeks."
Does that resonate with you too? because I used to feel exactly the same way.
Here's what's really happening. You're caught in your whirlwind week. It starts Monday morning when chaos sets the tone. Your day becomes this reactive blur. You collapse in the evening with nothing to show for it emotionally, even though professionally you crushed it. Then you repeat this pattern five days straight.
Your weekend becomes recovery time instead of living time. Maybe you're catching up on laundry, grocery shopping, handling all the personal tasks that got pushed aside during the week. If you have kids, you're shuttling them to activities while trying to squeeze in quality time. You're not celebrating your week, you're recovering from it.
And the most heartbreaking part? You're not living your weeks - you're just getting through them. Whether you're managing a household, building a career, or both, you feel like you're always one step behind your own life.
I remember the exact moment I realized this was happening to me. I was sitting at my desk after another "successful" day, and I literally could not remember what I had done for the past eight hours. I had been productive, I had achieved things, but I felt empty. Like time was just flying by without me actually being present for any of it.
And if you're a mom, this feeling is even more intense. You're watching your children grow up in fast-forward too. You're present for the big moments - the school plays, the bedtime stories - but somehow the everyday magic is getting lost in the whirlwind.
That's when it hit me: I wasn't just busy - I too felt like I was unconscious. I was sleepwalking through the very life I had worked so hard to create.
So I’ll say it again, if nothing changes, nothing changes. I could live twenty more years in this whirlwind, accomplishing things but never actually experiencing my life. If you're a mom, your kids could grow up while you're stuck in this cycle. Maybe you're feeling that same crushing realization right now. Thinking about how many summers you have left with them.
But here's what I discovered about breaking the whirlwind, and this is going to shift everything for you.
The whirlwind stops when you create conscious breaks. It's all about slowing down your life and waking up to it. Small moments of consciousness break the entire cycle.
Let me share exactly how to hit the slow button on your life.
THE THREE RESETS
First, we need to talk about the morning consciousness reset. Your morning sets the unconscious tone for your entire day. When you wake up reactive - grabbing your phone, checking emails, immediately launching into mental planning - you're essentially putting yourself on autopilot for the next sixteen hours.
But what if instead, you took five minutes to hit the slow button?
Here's what this looks like: Before you check your phone, before you start thinking about your to-do list or what the kids need for school, you take two minutes for intentional breathing. Not meditation, not anything complicated. Just conscious breathing while you ask yourself, "How do I want this day to feel?"
Then you spend three minutes setting a daily intention. Not planning your schedule, we’ll work on other times to do that, but setting an intention for how you want to show up. Maybe it's "I want to feel present in my conversations today." Maybe it's "I want to notice moments of joy today."
This isn't about adding more to your morning routine. This is about bringing consciousness to the morning you already have.
It’s your weekly awareness practice. You're asking yourself two simple questions: "What do I want to remember about today?" and "How do I want this week to feel?"
The difference is incredible. Instead of sleepwalking into Monday, you're consciously choosing how to show up for your life.
Now, evening is where the real transformation happens. Most of us collapse at the end of the day without any consciousness about what actually happened. We scroll our phones, watch Netflix, go to bed feeling like the day just... disappeared.
But what if your evening became a conscious closing ritual? Your evening reset.
Here's the beautiful simplicity of it: You spend five minutes reflecting on what actually happened today. Not what you accomplished on your task list - what you experienced as a human being. Maybe you had a great conversation with a colleague. Maybe you noticed the way your child laughed at dinner. Maybe you felt proud of how you handled a difficult situation. Maybe you caught yourself actually enjoying a quiet moment between meetings.
Then you spend three minutes celebrating what went well. This is so important because high-achievers like us are trained to immediately focus on what needs to be improved. But celebration is how we create memory. It's how we turn experiences into something meaningful.
Finally, you spend two minutes preparing for tomorrow by asking, "How do I want tomorrow to feel?"
This ten-minute practice creates weekly memory. Instead of weeks blending together into one long blur, you start creating moments you'll actually remember.
Now we do need to find time to plan our week, most people choose Sundays to do this but you could do it as the last thing you do on a Friday. But it becomes your time to break the Sunday scaries cycle. Instead of dreading another week flying by, you do your weekly planning starting with a week-in-review practice, your weekly reset.
You ask yourself, "Did I live this week or just survive it?" You look for moments of consciousness, moments of joy, moments of presence. Then you plan the week ahead not just for productivity, but for presence.
My clients who implement this report feeling like they gained three extra days per week. Not because they have more time, but because they're actually present for the time they have.
So what does life look like when you break the whirlwind?
Your weeks start feeling spacious instead of frantic. You remember your actual days instead of living in a blur. Monday doesn't feel like a freight train anymore because you're conscious for its arrival.
Your evenings feel lived-in instead of lost. Your weeks have texture and meaning instead of blending together. You feel present in your successful life instead of watching it fly by.
You'll go from asking "Where did this week go?" to saying "I can't believe how much I actually experienced this week." From surviving your weeks to designing them. From time flying by to time feeling abundant.
This is what it feels like to be awake in your own life.
SUMMARY
So here's my challenge for you this week. I want you to break your whirlwind cycle with just one conscious moment each morning and evening.
Tomorrow morning, before you check your phone, ask yourself, "Am I awake in this moment?" Tomorrow evening, before you scroll or turn on the TV, ask yourself, "What do I want to remember about today?"
That's it. Just those two moments of consciousness. I promise you, even five minutes of consciousness will slow time down.
Now, if you're thinking, "I want to feel present in my weeks, but I still don’t feel like I have the time,” I've created the Hidden Time Finder - 21 ways busy women lose hours daily and quick fixes to stop them. This guide shows you exactly where to reclaim those lost hours in your existing routine so you can create space for consciousness without adding more to your already full plate.
You can find the links in the show notes, and I'll also be sharing more about this on instagram this week.
Remember this, beautiful: If nothing changes, nothing changes. Your conscious weeks start with conscious moments. Your life is happening right now - don't miss it.
The week whirlwind doesn't have to be your reality. You have the power to slow down time by waking up to it.
Thank you so much for spending this time with me today. I'm cheering you on as you create weeks that feel as successful as they are meaningful.
I'll see you next week when we're talking about the addiction that’s destroying your dreams. Trust me, you won't want to miss this one.
Until then, stay present, stay intentional, and remember - your time is your life.