energy drawers, Q2 reality checks, and finding meaning in seasonal transitions

The Spring Equinox has passed and it's been above 70°F more than it hasn't this month. Spring is springing and with that comes the gentle (or not so gentle) nudges to clean, prep, get outside, and move after the longer cold months.

Just like nature transitions between seasons (without judgement, with appropriate timing, and through a gradual shift from one to the next) we can apply similar wisdom to our energy management practices and systems. 

This week we're talking about renewing our energy and how we can allow these spring transitions both naturally and with intention.

🌱 TIPS FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE LIFE + BUSINESS 

Cleaning Up the Energy Drawer

Just as you are thinking about decluttering physical spaces as spring hits with full force, your energy systems need seasonal adjustments (or reorganization) too. Unlike the physical process, energy management goes beyond just sorting out what's inside the drawer...

It's also about taking a closer look at the drawer itself. 

For me personally, my energy system needs larger, more spacious containers in the winter when I'm making space for time with family, rest, and deep reflection and focus time. As spring arrives, those containers start to feel uncomfortable. I need more buckets, moving between things a bit faster. Time set aside for yard work, shifting my cooking routines from baking and heat heavy prep to salmon salads, yogurt bowls, and stovetop only meals as my old farmhouse heats up (and struggles to cool down,) and adjusting everyday routines like grocery shopping times to align with longer daylight hours. 

And even when taking all that into consideration, just beneath these visible adjustments are hidden energy taxes we can forget to account for. They accumulate in the background in layers:

• Physical tasks on our calendars
• Emotional translation work of processing feelings (our own and sometimes others')
• Constantly interfacing between our internal experience and external expression, energy realities and productivity demands, and our needs and societal expectations
• And for disabled folks (whether neurodivergent, chronically ill, or physically disabled or a combination,) we are constantly negotiating accommodations that requires us to spend energy to obtain energy-saving support

The last couple years has been a huge discovery period for me personally in just how much energy I was spending on emotional translation across various relationships—noticing, naming, and navigating these previously unseen energy currents. This invisible labor costs far more than most physical tasks on the to-do list for me, and it doesn't ever show up in traditional time tracking. 

Try This: Take a 5-minute energy inventory. Identify one regular activity that's creating an unexpected energy drain beyond its apparent time commitment.

What small adjustment could reduce its hidden cost? 

Sometimes the most powerful energy management comes not from reorganizing what's visible, but from recognizing what's hidden—from choosing what to put down and allow yourself to free up space in the drawer this spring instead of overstuffing it like a turducken.

✨ TIPS FOR A MORE SOULFUL LIFE

Finding Meaning in Seasonal Transitions

Ancient cultures understood something we often forget in our productivity-obsessed world: transformation isn't linear—it's cyclical. 

From Persephone emerging from the underworld to the Japanese celebration of cherry blossoms, spring has always symbolized our capacity for renewal.

When viewing life and success as a linear experience, we put unsustainable pressure on ourselves to get it right the first time. Every setback becomes a "failure" that supposedly derails an otherwise bright future. This thinking sets us up for actual failure—and disconnects us from nature's (and our own innate) knowing.

When I finally shed the perfectionist and people-pleasing tendencies keeping me trapped in this unsustainable path, I experienced a huge shift in how I experienced life. I began to see life's transitions not as interruptions but as natural rhythms. This allowed me to revisit old lessons without judgment and move through seasons of life, career, and relationships (with others, yes, but also with myself) with greater ease.

By looking to nature, we can see that cycles don't mean lack of progress—they mean extended growth. Trees experience seasons of dormancy and growth while still being able to eventually become hundreds of feet tall and wider than London buses. This growth takes time, and while none of us know exactly how much time we have, I'd rather spend mine enjoying the cyclical process than feeling constantly defeated by the unending expectations of linear progress.

Try This: Write yourself a seasonal permission slip after reflecting on the below prompts:

What's trying to bloom in you that you might be holding back?
What dormant part of yourself is ready to awaken?
Like Persephone emerging from below or cherry blossoms unfurling, what transformation feels naturally aligned with this season of your life?

📈 TIPS FOR A MORE SCALEABLE BUSINESS

Quarterly Reality Check

I don't know about you, but it's so easy for me to get ahead of myself. Whether from excitement, dedication to service, or past patterns creeping up on me, I can find myself overcommitted and aiming for more than necessary to achieve "done" on a project.

Just as gardeners understand that strategic pruning leads to healthier growth, I've learned to map new ideas with full enthusiasm and then scale back into three iterations:

• Version 1: the minimum viable
• Version 2: the new and improved
• Version 3: the goal and/or (current) ideal

This approach isn't just strategically sound for business; it's essential for your wellbeing.

Despite this practice, you'll still find me getting excited while in the trenches of building a V1 project and wanting to "just add one more thing." As Coco Chanel wisely advised about accessories, "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and remove one." I would encourage you to apply the same wisdom to your Q2 goals and projects. If you finish early, you can always add that thing back in...

Because let's be real, our eyes are often bigger than our stomachs—and not just with food. Research confirms what many of us experience: we consistently underestimate task completion times for ourselves (though interestingly, not for others). One study from the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that psychology students underestimated their thesis completion times by approximately 39% [1], a phenomenon researchers call the "planning fallacy."

As spring's energy shifts our pace and priorities, it's worth reconsidering winter's plans. When evidence suggests an adjustment—more time, fewer features—we often resist, caught in the sunk cost fallacy. We see revision as failure rather than adaptation.

But in nature, adaptation isn't failure—it's intelligence and longevity. The oak that can't bend in strong winds often breaks, while the willow that yields survives to grow another season. Similarly, the most resilient businesses aren't those with unwavering plans, but those willing to adapt based on new evidence.

Try This: Identify one goal that needs "pruning" for healthier growth with the following prompt:

What element could you temporarily remove or timeline could you extend based on what Q1 has actually shown you—not what you hoped it would show?

Remember, this isn't giving up; it's strategic adaptation that honors both your vision and your reality.

UNFILTERED THOUGHTS

The internal dialogues we have directly impact our business decisions, creative capacity, and leadership style. As someone who works with clients on navigating their relationships with themselves—and often these inner conversations—I find myself wanting to share my own process as someone who is also doing this work alongside you. This week, I experienced an intense internal debate between my needs for stability and freedom. This is a tension I know many entrepreneurs and leaders face when making decisions about growth, change, and innovation. 

Here's a glimpse into that process because while I'm not sure I can say that I've never felt this way before, I can say that I've never felt this much conflict, upheaval, and change internally at once with this amount of awareness. 

It's interesting. 

It takes "letting go" and "releasing control" to whole new levels. 

It feels like the two sides of my neurodivergence were having a Roman-esque battle in my mind. A muddy battlefield, littered with exhausted fighters on both sides hoping for an end but not willing to cede control. Everyone holding out for a sense of relief that might come with being "right" or "knowing what to do."

It's exhausting.

So I did a little journaling in the form of a conversation with these two parts of myself we'll call Stability and Freedom, and I let them have a little chat. 

While I won't dump that entire conversation here, these are a few excerpts from it. Talking to yourself is wild, but as a late-diagnosed neurodivergent person who isn't entirely sure what parts of my personality are really mine or just adopted from a lifetime of trying to fit in, it helps illuminate the good, not so great, innate (and hilarious.)

Stability: you saying that you aren't getting what you need?

Freedom: honestly fuck if I know. How does anyone know if they are getting what they need?

Stability: I mean, you've been in therapy with me the whole time, you think I know more than you?

Freedom: sure seem to think you do sometimes...

Stability: 🙄

Freedom: 🤪

Stability: you're ridiculous. 

Freedom: god, talking to someone who knows everything [faults, patterns, history in detail] already is really bullshit sometimes ha

Stability: right back atcha buddy. Okay, so am I supposed to make a fucking list right now, yeah?

Freedom: why would I know the "right" answer to that, honestly? maybe you ARE dense. 

Stability: I don't have to take this teasing shit you know...

Freedom: where you gonna go lol

Stability: uh, disassociate into a book, OBVIOUSLY. Or I could just let anxiety have you—that sound better to you?

Freedom: uuuuuhhhhh, I'm sorry, you don't have to put your hand over the nuclear button. geez, when did you become the wild card? that's my job. 

Stability: stable doesn't mean boring, come on. 

Freedom: fine, we'll do this all day if we let ourselves. I'll go first...

[each proceeds to share the versions of needs and wants]

While most of what I shared here is the silly—albeit frank callout of my—parts, the overall exercise was really helpful. Even more so, the longer I've been away from it. Coming back to it, I can see how very in my feels I was when I did the journaling. Ultimately, while different parts of myself need/want different things (they are different parts for a reason...) at the end of the day, there was a lot of overlap between them:

• Both want to be respected and valued for their contributions
• Both want relief from constantly being "on duty"
• Both are protective in different ways
• Both want meaningful connection without sacrificing their essential nature
• Both ultimately want what's best for my whole self

It's a good reminder that at the heart of internal conflict, there is almost always common ground if you can be curious enough, kind enough, and empathetic enough to seek it out. 

If you're feeling conflicted between two parts internally, feel free to steal this prompt and let me know how it goes:

Write a dialogue between your need for [insert part/need] and your desire for[insert part/need]. What does each voice truly want?

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH

• This gif after a good ass nap, lol.
• Printing out Substack articles to read in the hammock on sunny and breezy afternoons. Screen time is down 28% since I deleted social media apps off my phone. For comparison, since I have and continue to read e-books on my phone, I spent ~30 hours less on my phone this week with 70% of my screen time on reading vs. last week reading was only 55%.
• I'm working on some updates/rearranging to my home office and while I'm pretty good at spacial planning by eye, I love a good room planner tool when I don't have all the pieces IN the room yet. I've used this one on and off for years because it's free and you can save designs. We'll see how it turns out!
  
  

HAVING A GREAT TIME HERE?

Here's a few ways you can let me know:

• Option 1: 💌 Share with a fellow creative or business owner. Community starts with each of us and friends don't let friends chase their dreams at the expense of their mental health! If you know someone seeking more sustainability and harmony in their life and/or business, send this their way.
• Option 2: 👋 Say hi! Hit reply and share a sentence or two about anything you enjoyed or hit home for you. I always hope these words find the right people at the right time, but it's always makes my day to hear from you!

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