Busy and Balanced: How to Navigate Full Plates Without Burning Out

Welcome to The In Between Podcast, a show for women navigating the space between where they are and where they want to be.

This is your go-to holistic business podcast where we dive into strategies, mindset, habits, and of course, making a meaningful income so you can live your dream life.

I'm Astrid, a multi-six-figure luxury wedding photographer and a former corporate marketing girly.

And I'm Alexis with 10+ years in tech as a senior brand partnerships manager and business coach. Think of us as your business besties cheering you on as you level up. Let's get into it. Hello friends, and welcome back to another episode of The In Between Podcast. It is one half of the pod, Alexis, and the other half, Astrid.

And today we're going to be chatting through how to manage your business and your career when life gets so busy. We know that the holidays are gearing up, we're all starting our busy seasons, and there's a lot to handle. So we're going to be sharing some tips on what we do to get prepared, to prioritize, and to honestly just let go things that aren't as important during this season. So I'm very excited for this topic. I know that both of us have already entered our busy seasons and we're in the thick of it. So we're coming to you in the in-between.

We are. We're in the in-between of it being very busy. And yeah, as we were prepping for this episode, we're like, I think that everybody else needs this, but also we need this. So it's one of those episodes, but excited to dig into that. Before we do, let's do some quick life updates, quick in-between updates. What's new in your life? What's going on?

Oh my gosh, a lot is new. This past weekend I went to New York to shoot a wedding and then a session as well. It was magical. It was amazing and had a lot of crazy stories. So I'll give you the 3-minute spiel through all of it. Friday I was Getting ready to board my flight and I was eating a pizza and I freaking chipped my tooth right before boarding the flight. So that was great. Thankfully it's like a side tooth and people can't see it as much, but heavily traumatized. Oh my gosh. Mind you, I've never even gotten my wisdom teeth out. Like, this is— I went 0 to 100. So that was fun. And then Saturday's wedding was beautiful and also so unique because we ended up getting absolutely downpoured on in the middle of Central Park. And so, um, yeah, the weather was supposed to be fine. We saw that the rain was coming, but it was going to be about an hour and a half after ceremony, so we knew we would have time. And, um, of course, with New York traffic, the skippers and the buses took longer than expected. And as the bride started to walk down, it started to sprinkle and sprinkle heavier and then downpour. And then it was like mini tropical storm to the point that she turned around to her father-in-law that was officiating and she's like, we're not reading vows here. Just pronounce us.

Oh.

But at the same time, everyone was such a good sport about it. And it honestly, they embraced it in the best way possible that it felt Like a movie scene. Like they said—

Yeah, I saw the video. I mean, it looked unreal.

Yes. Honestly, it was crazy. And I looked around. I have really fun photos from that part of the ceremony where like her mom is just like laughing in the rain with her hair like drenched and just like embracing it and the grandparents too. And yeah, and then everybody just went back to their hotels to dry off their clothes and change. So that was very unique for a wedding day. And then everyone came back together and had the best vibe and the best— yeah, they were just ready to party, ready to celebrate them. And I think that's also a perk of having a more intimate wedding. It's your people are there to celebrate you rain or shine. So very unique. Very excited to edit those. Yeah. And then had a beautiful engagement session again in West Village and Central Park on Sunday. Flew back, flew back on Monday and just been working. So that's been my life this past weekend. What have you been up to?

You go, girl. That sounds like a whirlwind of a weekend. You and your dentist are about to spend a lot of time together. I'm so sorry about your tooth. And also it's just like so fun when work brings you to cool places. And I know how much you love New York City. And so I love that you got to spend the weekend there.

Thank you. Thank you. And you were off in Europe this past weekend.

Yeah. Well, technically not. I was in the UK.

Well, true.

Yeah. But yes, I was in the UK and it was amazing. Spent 3 days with 100 of UK's top creators. Lots of really like in-depth conversations around where the creator economy is headed. Um, changes and shifts in content because of AI. Moves away from like static course businesses because people don't want to pay for information anymore, even packaged information. And so there's like even a, even this bigger shift towards community, community experiences. Like you're purchasing a container that someone's helping you go through. So you can have access to the information, but if you can actually hold me accountable and allow me to do it over an 8-week period, I have a higher completion rate and like a more success, like a higher success rate. So that was just really interesting. I know that because I work in the community space, but hearing that back from big creators and it was nuts, like in one room combined, everybody had over 250 million followers on social media. So the audiences that they were building in the different niches were so interesting and everybody was so down to earth and like kind and thoughtful.

Mm-hmm.

And obviously very successful, but it was just so lovely to spend that amount of time with everybody. And then my workshop went really well, so that was good. Got lots of good feedback there and just overall had a lovely time in the UK and got back and kind of had a Sunday reset back into, okay, now we got to get back into real life before going to LA next week to shoot with Jay Shetty's team. And Circle is sponsoring Jay Shetty's coaching conference. So attending that. So I'm basically spending almost the entire week in LA next week. So this is my only week working in Houston the whole month of September. So it's been like nose to the grindstone kind of week where like, I am getting a lot done because it's really difficult for me to get so much done on the road when I need to be present. for those projects. So that's what's new up in this world right now.

How fun. I am so proud of you. And I know it's also a lot on your plate right now, but you're doing such a great job managing it all. And how, like, such great, beautiful opportunities that you're having to meet all these people, to learn so much, and to just, yeah, be engaged with the people that bring you life. I just see you, like, light up whenever you talk about your job, and it's so fun.

Yeah, I love it. It's the best. What are you in between right now?

I am in between redefining my style. I feel like I've outgrown a majority of my style right now in my closet. And so I'm just starting to play around with what that looks like. And in quite transparency, I caught myself just hiding a little bit in my clothes for a few weeks there and just wearing baggier sweatshirts and trying to just decide what to wear felt like the biggest task of the day and I didn't want to go out. And once I caught those signals, I was like, okay, it's time to redefine what I want to dress like every day because I want to feel excited every day as well of what I'm wearing. And I have been and it's been really fun. I'm having a lot of fun with it again. I feel a confidence boost again. So yeah, it's just one of those seasons in life where things are changing and I love it. And at the same time, yeah, I don't know, I'm 30 and I'm discovering what my style is right now.

Yes, I totally understand that. Also, it's heading into fall as well. And so the seasons are changing and I know I look at certain things in my closet and I'm like, I don't know if we're ever going to wear that again.

Yeah, it's so sad. I look at them, I'm like, you served me so well, had the best memories, but I don't think I want to wear you again.

Matthew and I actually, we've started this pile in our closet of things that we either need to throw away or things we want to donate. And that pile is growing and growing. And I literally looked at him yesterday and I said, you and I could benefit from a closet clean out. We really could. It's just like a dedicated closet clean out. So I resonate with that. And it's hard too when your style is changing and you're also, you know, that that means you need to invest in other pieces.

Yes.

Like for me, I'm like, oh, there's so many other places I need to be spending money right now.

Yeah.

So that's one of the stressors for me is like, for me, my body's physically changing and I'm outgrowing things. And so I'm like, what pants am I going to wear? I need pants. I know that feeling in terms of just like, okay, now I need to reinvest and how much do I want to spend and all of that.

Yeah, just girly things. But after the mastermind, I gave Nuuly a try, the subscription service, and I really love it. I feel like that really helped me play with certain styles that I really was curious about, but I didn't quite want to spend the money. Yeah, testing that out and it's been really fun. So if you're in the middle of changing your style, you're not sure what to wear, Nuuly's like $100 a month. And then they have brands like Anthropologie, Free People, like really great brands and styles. And so far I've really liked it. So I'll keep y'all posted.

That is great. I know our girl Savannah was like, she was our, our Nuuly influencer. I also know I looked into it as well for just different work events and trips coming up. Nuuly also has a maternity section as well. So for those of you that are not wanting to buy a bunch of maternity clothes and then return them, or just— they kind of just sit in your closet until you don't need them anymore. Um, that's also something I was looking at as well. But I feel you, girl. Style's always changing.

Yeah. What are you currently in between?

I don't know, actually. It's kind of tough to It feels tougher this week to narrow that down, but I would say, hmm, which direction do I want to go? I'll pick one that goes in line with today's topic around just being busy and how to manage your business slash career. I think I have given myself a lot of room to perform. In the ways I need to perform and then let myself go in certain areas that I don't really need to be as on it in, if that makes sense. I'm not articulating myself probably in the best way possible, but I think I've mastered the art of showing up, giving it 100%. Whenever I was in the UK, I was like, okay, we're up. At 7, we're going to bed at 11. Like, I don't care if I'm— I didn't care if I was pregnant. I'm like, I'm here to do business. I'm here to have these conversations. I'm here to like do my job. And then there's other areas of my life where I'm like, I don't care that my closet needs to be cleaned out and I haven't done it yet.

Mm-hmm.

And so it's just weighing things a little bit differently and knowing when I need to lean in and be excellent. At something and where there's certain areas where there's lots of places in the house. And we talked about this in our last, a couple episodes ago around decluttering, like that, that list is still there and I'm like, I'll get to it. But right now I don't even need to be thinking about that. Or like even just texting people back. Like right now I feel very overwhelmed by communication.

Mm-hmm.

Between email, DMs, text messages, like I feel so grateful to have All the people in my life. And at the same time, it's like, wow, okay, I need— I mean, you and I have talked about this separately, but it's like, it just starts to kind of weigh at you, especially when things keep piling up. But I know that there is going to be a day here soon in the future where I sit down and I'm like, okay, I'm going to answer all of my unread DMs. I'm going to answer all of my unread text messages, but I don't need to do that right now.

Mm-hmm.

And I guess just being more mindful of where I put my excellence and where I put my most quality-focused work and attention. And sometimes there are just going to be areas of my life that take a backseat, and that's just the way that it goes. And I— the more that I accept that now before the twins are born, the better.

Yeah.

And I can just like own that, and instead of feeling guilt or shame about it, it's like, yeah, this is just the way things are. And I need to just be okay with that and change my expectations around it. So I'm working on it.

I'm proud of you. I'm so, so proud of you because it's unrealistic, especially in these seasons of life, to expect us to be at 100 all across the board. And I think what most people tend to do is give what they can, which is 50 here, 50 here, 50 here, and then it overall feels like you're not winning at anything. And so I'm proud of you because you've chosen wisely to be like, okay, what is top priority in my career, in my personal life? Let's go all in. Let's do that well. And everything else can just sit at zero for now because it's not urgent. Like the pile of clothes right now is not urgent. Is it? Would it be great? Awesome. But I'm proud of you because that is a hard thing to let go of. And I know how much you value and, and love to prioritize. cleanliness around the house and tidying up and all the other things in your life, like getting back to people. But it's not a matter of not wanting to, it's a matter of prioritizing. And yeah, that's a hard, hard line to cross. And at the same time, such an important one to come to terms with and just be at peace with.

Yeah. Thank you. I'm working on it. It is an ever-flowing fluid lesson that I am constantly reminding myself of. And I think as I step into this next chapter of my life, I want to continue to remember that that exists and I can be excellent in certain areas, but I can't be excellent in everything.

Yeah.

And I don't need to be. And there are things I can outsource. And we'll actually, we're going to talk about that. So with that, let's, I know you have some tips and ideas. I have some that I've prepared. Do you want to go first?

Sure. Yeah. Um, okay. On my end, the first tip that I have is just implementing a power hour. I think that whenever we have so much to do and our focus is everywhere, you got to answer emails, you got to edit, you got to schedule meetings, you have to work on a project and a presentation, being able to one, prioritize what it is that you need to focus on, but then truly giving You're all 100% to that one task. So if you need to catch up on emails, let's set the do not disturb and say, okay, for the next hour we're just going all in on that. And you would surprise yourself how much you can get done in an hour. Actually, our girls at the mastermind, when we sat them down and had them break out, they got so much done in the 30 minutes to 45 minutes, and they were amazed at how much they accomplished that sometimes we think we need a lot more time for. And so In these times when we're feeling so overwhelmed, it's that reminder that yes, you have a lot to do and you're only doing yourself a disservice if you keep jumping from task to task and opening your phone because you're overwhelmed. And I've been there and I am that person. But this is a reminder that can we create some focus and also prioritize how much time do you have today? Maybe all you have are 3 hours that are without meetings and without executing. Okay. Give each of those hours a title. One of it, it's email. Another one is creating a presentation and the other one is actually editing. Great. Now you have focus and then everything else can just fall to the back burner for the next day.

Yeah, agreed. I'm going to tack onto this with something I was going to mention is these micro moments of productivity. So if you don't have an hour or even a 3-hour chunk, Something that I used to fall into is, well, I can't get anything done in between my meetings because I'm at a, I'm at a place right now where there are so many moving campaigns and so many things between partner meetings, internal meetings. I'm on a lot of meetings throughout the day. And by the time I'm done at 3 o'clock, I'm like, like, even just my mind is not in the same place or doesn't feel as it's as sharp to get things done. So if I have 20 to 30 minutes in between each meeting, something I've been trying to do is instead of saying, well, I don't have enough time to get that task done, it's like, can I make some progress on it though? Like, yeah, I know that there's maybe 7 steps, but I think in 30 minutes I could do 3 of those so that I'm still making progress on something, even if it's not getting done. And so I would say progress towards completion. Is better than not starting at all. And so if you can kind of retrain your brain a little bit to not necessarily need big, big chunks of time— I used to like, oh, I can't do this unless I have 3, 4 hours. And I know everybody works different, and I know that the nature of everyone's work is different. But for those of you that are managing lots of different projects or campaigns or different aspects of your business or your career, Mm-hmm. There are these micro tasks and moments we can make the most of, because I will sometimes fall into this trap of like, I'll either sit in my inbox or I'll like go to the bathroom, get some water, sit on my phone waiting for my next meeting. And I'm like, I could have used those 20 minutes just more wisely, more efficiently. So if you are in a busy season, can you hold yourself accountable to those moments instead of leaning into I don't have enough time. It's like, well, you've got 30 minutes. What can you do with it?

Yes. I love this. I also would encourage everyone along those lines of whenever you're waiting for a doctor's appointment, whenever you're any kind of daily task, getting your nails done. I did that today and I felt way less overwhelmed when I came back because I actually answered a lot of emails and did a lot of things while I was waiting. And sometimes we think we have to be in front of Our laptop and in our desk to get things done and we don't. So love that tip. Um, the next one that I have is just making a decision matrix for what it is that you absolutely have to get done and being able to be okay with delegating out or, um, setting some tasks aside of what you don't have to get done. And I think being able to prioritize that, one, it creates the freedom for you to create a success rate for today, because otherwise you start feeling like every day was a failure because you didn't get everything done in your task. So you can say, okay, this— these top 3 things are top priority. If I get that done, today was a successful day, and then we can figure the rest of it out the next day. And then at the same time, this decision matrix has helped me in the past to realize what do I need to delegate. And this was whenever I realized, okay, I'm drowning consistently during, um, heavy season. So can I get an outsourcer to help me with editing so that I can continue to run the business in different ways? And they are doing an amazing job at exactly what they need to be doing and culling everything down. And then it's making me more efficient. And then we're still able to keep those things on track. And so what are the things that only you can do in your business or your career? And is there an area of your business or your career where you can ask your teammates for help and be like, hey, I'm in this season with this project right now. Um, can you help me out with this? Or in your business, is there someone that we can temporarily outsource to?

Yeah. One of mine. Yeah. Same was audit and delegate. Like what, where are you spending a lot of your time right now? What could you automate? What could you delegate? And to my point earlier, to my in-between, what might you need to just postpone? Like certain things that you feel are important, but they aren't urgent. And one of my favorite decision matrixes is kind of creating a like matrix line of a, of an X and saying, okay, what is urgent and important? What is important? not urgent and vice versa so that you can actually start to see, okay, of the things that are not urgent and not important, you can postpone them. Of the things that are important but not urgent, could you delegate them? And then the things that are your, obviously your most important and your most urgent, that's where you're focusing your time. So I would say then it helps you prioritize your non-negotiables. So by the end of today, Here are the things I absolutely have to get done. And that's been helpful for me to take my massive running list of tasks throughout the week. And I actually highlight them. So I'm like, okay, the things in red have to get done today. And then everything else is like tomorrow's problem. And if I have extra time and I can get them done, but I'm only focused on the red highlighted items and that will just help me. Get more clarity on, hey, I have 30 minutes. What should I do? What should I work on? Oh, well, it's because I've started my day highlighting all my urgent tasks and now I know, okay, yeah, that'll only take me 15 minutes. Let's like knock out a couple of these red highlighted tasks and get that done.

I love that. I think being able to focus on the urgent tasks, like, is such a win for the end of the day. I think being able to end the day on a positive note where you're like, I got all those done, just feels so, so good. It really does.

It also reinforces that you're like, when you're really busy, I don't know if you struggle with this, but I struggle to feel successful because I'm like, I'm so busy that there are so many things I need to get done that I'm not feeling what I'm doing, if that makes sense. I'm just, I am just, and I know that you can be like this too. It's like, I just got to get it done. And you're like, onto the next, onto the next.

Mm-hmm.

And so I do think that By having some of these reward systems for yourself, whether that's treating yourself on a Friday after a long week to your favorite coffee drink, or, you know, ending the day with some movement to celebrate, like, okay, I've got some things done. I need to let off some steam. I need to move my body. Like, find ways to still celebrate those moments or celebrate yourself even when you're busy. Because I think if you don't look at it as celebration, You can start to feel very burnt out.

Yes, absolutely. Just redefining that level of success. The next one for me is one that I had to learn the hard way, and I'm very glad that I've learned it now. And it's being okay with asking for extensions when you need it and asking for help when you need it. And so when I was in corporate, I really struggled asking my teammates for help, um, or, and, or my bosses for extensions. Cause I'm like, well, no, like I just got to get it done in that, that tough mindset, which is great, but also we're only human. And so even now as an entrepreneur, whenever I've had to ask my clients for extensions, I've always been met with grace and like, oh no, like, thank you so much for letting me know. No worries. Take your time. Clients want to receive a quality product rather than meeting the deadline, but then it's rushed and there's edits that like don't match the other ones and there's stuff that was missed and then that creates distrust as well. And so I've always approached that conversation with, hey, I'll explain what's going on. I got really sick. Here's what's going on. I can have the photos to you by next Friday. I want them to be the best quality, but if you really, really need them by this Friday, I will make anything happen to make it work, but just note that it might not be like my most final reviewed item. And they usually do not mind. And so I think when I was first a business owner, I was like, what are clients going to think? They're going to be so mad. They're going to be so upset at me. And at the end of the day, I'm not like curing a disease or doing anything crazy like that. They're paying for art in my business. And so Just a reminder for those that are creatives that you can ask for that. And that as long as it's not a habit and it's not something that your clients are consistently experiencing with you, then it's okay. Life happens and give yourself that grace card as well.

I agree. One of mine was set expectations. So I think being upfront with your colleagues, your clients, the people in your life around What's going on, the more that you can communicate through that. I think it also helps you feel less guilty or less like, oh, I owe somebody something and I'm not getting it to them. I hate that feeling of someone hasn't heard from me and I owe them something and just being able to actually set expectations and even sometimes overcommunicate. So an example of me doing this in my career is when I'm traveling for work or I have a lot of obligations. or I need dedicated time to get things done and there's a lot of meetings on my calendar, I will ask the person that's organized that meeting that's part of a bigger campaign, hey, here are my updates. I'm not going to be able to make today's meeting. If you need me, let me know and I can prioritize being there for the first 15 minutes to go over my piece of the puzzle.

Mm-hmm.

But other than that, I need to Prioritize XYZ because I'm traveling next week. And I have exercised that right more often than like being in a meeting for an hour and you're like, I really need to be doing other things.

Yeah.

Because only maybe 15, 20 minutes of it pertains to your function. And unless it's a big brainstorming meeting where, you know, it's all hands on deck, sometimes your presence At an entire meeting is not required. It's not needed.

Yeah.

And so I think the more that you can be more mindful of the ways you spend your time and you advocate for your time, the better. Another example of this in my life is letting people know in my close circle, hey, I'm kind of going a little heads down here. I'm not going to be as responsive. I'm, you know, I have a lot of travel or XYZ coming up for work. And I don't want— I want you to know that I love you. I don't want you to take it personal, but planned phone calls and planned catch-ups right now are going to be really difficult for me. But if you need me, call me and I'll answer if I can. And when I have a moment, I'm just going to call you. But I've recognized that when I'm not busy, planned phone calls, planned FaceTimes, they work great. But when I am busy, the idea of trying to like, are you free at Sunday? At three o'clock, I'm like, I have no idea, and I don't have the mental capacity to agree to that right now. Versus just FaceTime me, and if I'm free, I'll be able to answer. So setting that expectation of I I can't make planned you know virtual catch-ups right now, but I'll call you for fifteen minutes. I'm on my way to this or da da da da da, and it might not be as quality, or it might not be. an hour-long catch-up, but I would much rather talk to you for 15 minutes every week than not talk to you for 6 weeks and have a 90-minute catch-up.

Yeah.

So especially with like my close inner circle. So setting those expectations and making sure that everybody feels loved, but also just knows like, hey, I, I just can't do that right now, but would still love to catch up in voice notes or other ways.

Yes.

I love those.

I had not heard of those at all, especially the one in the work setting. So smart to message that and you're still being responsible, giving your updates. You're not just like leaving them hanging. So, so great. I will add on to that from like an entrepreneurial perspective, and especially for anyone that's listening that's more of a photographer, um, adjusting your turnaround times during your busy season is huge and can really help keep that trust with your clients. So if you normally send your galleries within 3 to 4 weeks, Yeah. Then during busy season, send them the sneaks and say, hey, your galleries will be ready within 5 to 6 weeks. And if you finished it early, great. If not, then you still have that wiggle room. And I've done that with my wedding galleries and it's been such a blessing. It's created so much more breathing room. I still try to get them early, but when life is lifing and when things are busy, I am still on time and we're, we're all good. So adjusting those. expectations with your clients can also create less stress while you're navigating such a busy season.

Yeah, agreed.

Um, and along those lines, my other tip is, which you've probably already heard me talk about it on the podcast, is block scheduling and blocking out your calendar. So something that I do in the beginning of the year and also mid-year as well is, say it's August, I'm looking from August to December. What does that look like? What does my travel schedule look like? And then I will block off certain days for wiggle room as well. So I just went to New York. All of yesterday was blocked off because my expectation is that I'll make it home by 2:00 PM. But what if there's a delayed flight, which there was? I didn't make it home till like 5:00 PM. I'm, I'm going to have to reschedule meetings and all of that. So how can you create breathing room to execute on work, to rest, And to also plan for the unexpected whenever you're traveling, um, or you're having to do different kinds of things with your job. So, um, I'm a big fan of it. It creates focus and it creates a little bit of breathing room in the midst of the craziness.

Yes, agreed. In terms of breathing room on my calendar during the week, I will look at certain campaigns and things that are coming up that I need dedicated focus time. And because my calendar does tend to fill up, by me being mindful 2, 3, sometimes a month in advance, I have already blocked off that deep work time to work on summit programming. I've already mapped that out. And so sometimes also looking ahead, like Astrid mentioned, and blocking out the time that you think you'll need in the future just protects your calendar so that when you do need that deeper work, You have that available to you. One more thing, or two more. I have two more things, but I'll just share one now: is just redefining what productivity looks like for you in a busy season. You might need to be really good at doing fewer things instead of being like, "I'm exceeding at everything." Just do really well at a few things, and that can be success. To you that can still feel like you're being productive. And I think it's just having that reframe and having that mindset shift for yourself of recognizing this is what's required of me to move my business forward. This is what's required of me to hit my KPIs and move my career forward. And this is also what's required for me to like take care of myself and my wellbeing. Because I think something we haven't mentioned here yet is like, you need to move your body. You need to hopefully be prioritizing sleep. And your nutrition on the road, if you're traveling like me, like by making time for those things, it does really help prevent burnout.

Yeah.

And it can keep you in a place of like, okay, even though I'm busy, I still feel taken care of. And that's how I feel right now towards myself. I haven't always been this way though, because I would let I would, you know what, I'm just going to get an extra hour of sleep instead of getting up and actually walking around the property and getting out and being in nature. Or, I am going to stay up till 1:00 AM knowing I have a 6:00 AM wake-up call. Like, no, we're not going to do that. We're going to try to prioritize 7, 8+ hours of sleep and so on and so on.

Mm-hmm.

And so, I do think that there are ways that you can hold yourself accountable and make sure that you're still taking care of your wellbeing. Hopefully having fun while you're doing it so that you aren't burning out.

Yes, I love it. That was honestly going to be my last one, is how are you prioritizing yourself and your well-being? And a big thing that I do is that I time block my Sunday, uh, rots. And, and you know this, I will fall off the face of the earth. Like, if you text me, I literally respond to no one, not even my parents, unless it's an emergency. Sure. And I am out. Out, out, out. And I disassociate and I will watch TV and watch Netflix and do— honestly, it just depends. Sometimes if I had a really long wedding day the day before, I feel like I need to rot more. But if I just had a really long week and I didn't have a wedding to shoot that weekend, then rotting looks more restorative. I'm more reading or I'm doing more movement or I'm resetting my house for the week and that's bringing me life and that's Feels nourishing to me. And so I think agreeing with you, it's like, what are some of those things that bring you nourishment? Is it hanging out with your people? Is it just riding by yourself? Is it making a fun new recipe on a Sunday? Or is it going to your Pilates classes in the evenings? Like, keep those prioritized. And maybe it's not the frequency that you would normally want them, but you can reduce that to still making time for yourself and the things that you like.

Yes.

While your career and your business is demanding a lot of you right now.

Yes. I'm glad you brought that up because sometimes you might not have the frequency that you want of those things, but they're still important. Like I really miss my girlfriends and I miss girl time in person. And I messaged my friends last week and I was like, picture this. I was like, Saturday, September 14th, I think, is it the 14th or 13th? This Saturday. I was like, us 3 go to brunch, we get coffee, and then we go to Marshalls and TJ Maxx afterwards. And they were, they were both like immediately, yes. It's like, yes. Now I'm not going to be able to visit with them very much. Like this is kind of our time to hang out a lot this month because between their schedules and mine, we aren't going to be able to see each other a ton in September. But it's like just being able to have the morning together.

Yeah.

I'm so excited. And so while I don't get to see them as much as I want to, I'm still making that time because it's important for our friendship. And also it's important for me to just not think about work, not think about being pregnant, not think about anything. I just want to yap at brunch and talk about trash TV and go buy a suede bag at TJ Maxx. Okay?

I love that. So true. And it brings you life. I think other people maybe hanging out in circles, it would feel overwhelming and drain your life. But You're glowing. You just want to chat with your girls, wear comfy clothes, go shopping, do that.

Yeah. And that's on having friends that feel you too.

Yeah. And I feel like for so many busy seasons of my life, I felt like— actually, you told me this once. You're like, I feel like you're always in a busy season. And it was so true. I would end one and then I would jump into the next one. I didn't really realize that I was actually really, really busy the whole year and actually wasn't very healthy. And I think the dangerous part of that is that we can say, oh, well, I'm just busy right now, so I'm not gonna host my family right now. I'm not gonna do all these things because I'm just like in a busy season, but when I'm in a lower season, I'll be good. But what happens when you're always busy? Life just happens and the years go by and your grandkids— or grandkids— your nieces and nephews get older. Everyone's getting older. Um, and so I think a big part of it is just Life is going to happen. Work is always going to be busy. It's just what— how do you want to live your life during this time? How do you adjust it without sacrificing so much of you too?

Yeah, agreed, agreed. My last one that I was going to mention is to cancel plans and say no. So the opposite of what I just said. With certain things, certain things need to be canceled and certain things need to be rescheduled.

Mm-hmm.

And there are also things that I get invited to do right now that it just, I can't do them. Um, it's not the right time. And so I think giving yourself permission to do that, not be a people pleaser, but to protect your peace. Your time is one of your most valuable assets. And so if you genuinely do not have time and you need to reschedule, you need to reschedule. And if you need to cancel, Then you need to cancel. And obviously telling that person why, like, I think it's helpful for people, especially close to you in your life, for them to have context for why you might be canceling something or why you are saying no to something. Um, but I mean, 97% of the time everybody's pretty chill about it because they're busy and they're like, oh, you don't want to? Okay, cool. I've already had my— I already have my PJs on, you know?

Yeah.

There have been many a times where I've had to rain check or reschedule and just being more fluid with my schedule. And my friends are also very flexible in that way because they need that in their own lives too. It just makes life easier versus if, if you feel like you can't cancel or you can't reschedule anything, that rigidity to your schedule can feel really exhausting because you have no idea how your energy is going to be. And you might need to cancel or move things around, or you have a work fire you need to put out and you just need to feel like you have some flexibility and adaptability to your schedule. So I would say if there are ways that you can build that adaptable relationship with your schedule and your routine, I think you'll hopefully be happier and feel less stress when it comes to the things that are on your calendar.

Absolutely. I love that. I love that so much. Well, I don't really have any more tips. Um, did you have any other ones on your list?

No, that was my last one. Just yapping about, you know, canceling and rescheduling.

Cancel those, those things. Honestly, you taught me how to be okay with canceling, and it was one of the most freeing things ever.

Oh, we need a list of the things that we've taught each other.

Oh yes, yes, let's do that.

I had no idea I taught you that.

You taught me a lot of things.

You taught me a lot. Every time we're together, I swear to God, I feel like I'm like 7 years older than you, even though I'm only 2 years older than you, because you always teach me things, especially, like, Gen Z things, like tech things. And I feel like I'm pretty tech savvy. And then Ashlyn will come in, she's like, oh, you do it like this. Or like, have you seen this? And it literally every single time just blows my mind.

Honestly, I love it. It's happened literally since the first year of our friendship. And to your credit, there's usually just one thing a year I'm like, teaching you tech-wise. Like, you're, you're on with it. Okay, but it's hilarious. I think it's endearing. Thank you.

I appreciate you keeping me sharp, you know, you young little whippersnappers teaching me all the tech, the tech knowledge.

Whippersnappers.

Oh my gosh. Well, we hope this was helpful if you are entering into a busy fall season. Um, I hope this gave you some tips and strategies and also just like relatability that we are going through it with you right alongside you and hope that this was valuable to you. If you ever want to reach out to us, you can do so at our podcast Instagram. You can find us at— sorry, at InBetween— I was gonna say at Instagram—

@inbetween.pod.

And then you can always connect with me on Instagram or LinkedIn @AlexisTeichmiller.

And you can connect with me @AstraJohannaPhoto. We love you guys and we'll talk to you next time.