How To Stay Calm During The Holiday Chaos

"Feeling overwhelmed by endless to-do lists? Discover how to stay calm, focused, and productive with the 3P framework designed for busy mompreneurs. Learn how to prioritize, plan, and protect your time—even when life gets chaotic. Tune in now to reclaim your day and achieve more with less stress!"

Dee understands how running a business can be super stressful, especially for moms. Her 1:1 coaching helps you juggle it all without sacrificing yourself or the things you love. Clients have reduced their stress by 50% and doubled their revenue after working with Dee. Schedule your call here to see how Dee can help you reclaim your time easily!

Grab a copy of her book [here].

Connect with Dee:

Instagram: [@deep_dives_withdee]

Join the Conversation: Share your thoughts or leave a review!

**Disclaimer:** This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not substitute professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for any mental health concerns.

Transcript

Have you ever just started a project, feeling excited and motivated, only to feel anxious when you realize that you just can't finish it right away? Maybe it's a client proposal, maybe it's a new business idea, or even just organizing your house. You start strong, and then life starts getting in the way, progress slows down, and then you feel the anxiety come in, right? I know that it can definitely feel like you're failing before you have even had a chance to finish. If that sounds familiar to you, then this episode is for you because today we're going to be talking about why this happens and, more importantly, how to stay calm, focused, and productive, even when you can't finish the project all at once.

Welcome to the Inhale, Exhale, Success Podcast, where we help women entrepreneurs create a life they love, feel confident in their body, and build a business without burning out by equipping them with the best tools, strategies, and my proven formula every businesswoman must have. My name is Dee Medina. Let's get started and be successful together.

Hola, hola. I'm so excited to have you here today and on today's topic because this is something that I've struggled with myself, and many of you feel the same way, and that is starting something new. I know that starting something new is always fun and exciting, but we can get discouraged when it doesn't go as quickly or as smoothly as we planned. When that happens, it can feel overwhelming. That unfinished project just sits there, staring at you, making you question if you'll ever get it done. But let me tell you, this is not about you being lazy or incapable. It's about learning how to manage those feelings of anxiety and overwhelm and simply creating a plan that works with your life and not against it.

You'll have to forgive me a little bit because my voice is going to be a little bit off, a little bit crackling. I got sick a while ago, and the cough is the last thing to always go. I have to make so many stops while I'm recording this. Just bear with me if my voice is not a hundred percent, okay? But I want us to start with why this happens. 

As mompreneurs, we are famous for wearing so many hats, and our time is just constantly divided by our kids, our job, our business, our family, our friends. We want to finish things quickly because we know that there's always something else waiting for our attention. In the moments that we can't, it triggers that little voice in our heads that says, "You're falling behind," or "You should have gotten this done by now." That little voice just feeds that anxiety, and it makes it even harder for you to move forward. But here's the truth, and I want all of us to understand that big projects take time, and that unfinished doesn't mean that you're failing. It just means that you're human. 

My clients, they'll say, "Dee, I have so much going on. I don't even know where to start," or "No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to get it together." Let me tell you, as a single mom of five kiddos—three kids with special needs—and running a business, I get it. When there's always something pulling at your attention, staying organized and productive feels like a pipe dream at times. But here's the truth: it *is* possible to bring that sense of calm to your day, even when life feels overwhelming. 

Now that the holiday season is coming up, a lot of moms are feeling a lot of the pressure from business, from family, from holidays, all of that. So today, I'm going to share this simple three-step framework that's going to help you cut through that chaos, to prioritize what matters, and to actually get those things done without the overwhelm and without the stress. But I want to address why this happens first.

As a mompreneur, you're wearing all of the hats, okay? You're the CEO, the chef, the chauffeur, and everything in between, right? And when there's so much happening, your brain sort of starts to treat everything as urgent. You're constantly reacting, putting out fires, answering emails, solving problems. Then you feel like you're rarely making any progress on the things that truly, truly matter. That's because chaos takes over, and you don't have a system to help you focus. This is something that's been coming up in my sessions. 

Have you ever stopped and thought about why everything feels urgent? Is it because the tasks themselves are truly a life-or-death thing? Or is it because of the sheer volume of things pulling at your attention that make it feel that way? As you're listening to these questions, take a moment to reflect on that. Because this is the key to you breaking free from all of that overwhelm. The thing is, instead of trying to tackle everything at once, you need to slow down. You need to create clarity and then decide where your energy is best spent. I know it sounds easier said than done, but trust me, it's not about adding more to your plate. It's about working smarter and not harder. 

I want to talk about this framework that I use with my clients to help them stay organized and productive. It's the 3P method, where we prioritize, we plan, and we protect. If you find yourself just struggling with overwhelm and struggling to stay organized, step one is to prioritize. When everything feels urgent, nothing actually is. That's why the first step is to figure out what really matters. I like to ask myself two questions: "What needs to get done today to move me closer to my goals?" and "What's optional and can wait?" ---

For example, if your goal is to grow your business by signing a new client, then organizing your desk or tweaking your website design can wait. I want you to write down the top three things that will make the biggest impact for you today. And if you're listening to this sometime at night, well, you can still write it down for tomorrow and give yourself permission to let the rest go.

This is what I do for myself. I'm going to share with you what I needed to do in order to create a successful launch for my podcast. When it came to wanting to do this, when it came to celebrating the moment, and when it came to really sharing the word of what I was going to do, I knew that tweaking some slides or reformatting some emails wasn't necessary. So instead, I shifted my focus to three priorities: venue, guest, and message. Because of that, I was able to 5x the number of women that showed up for my event. I was able to book an amazing venue, and I was able to really get my message across to my guests. Those were my priorities at that time, and I do that for every single thing that I want to do. 

Also, I made sure that my podcast made it past the seven to ten episodes that people say most won't get to. That's where a lot of podcasters burn out or experience "podfade," which means they start a podcast and after the 7th or 10th episode, they fade away and never return. However, we’re 23 episodes in, and I’m really proud to say that. I want to make sure that I’m continuously putting weekly episodes out there. So I have to plan for that—I have to plan what the topics are going to be, I have to plan when to record. I have to make these things possible for me in order to keep going.

And that leads us into step two: plan. Once you know your priorities, it's time to map them out. This is where a simple tool like time blocking really comes in handy. It’s where you take your top three tasks for the week and assign them to specific slots in your day. When I’m teaching this to my clients inside of my one-on-one program, we call this the "deep dive zone." The deep dive zone is a focus hour. It’s where you’re going to work to produce a result. It’s going to go from beginning to end. Within those two hours, you will have completed a task that you set out for yourself.

You also need to be realistic about how long each one of your tasks is going to take. For example, the amount of time that I give myself to write and record five episodes is three hours, and I usually do it on Monday mornings after I’ve done my morning routine, taken my son to school, and completed my workout. That is when my energy is the highest, so I’m able to knock out those three hours, knock out the topics, and knock out the recordings within that time. Then, for shorter tasks like responding to emails or checking in on my clients, I save those things for the afternoon, where it doesn’t require as much effort or energy as creating episodes.

By giving your tasks a home on your calendar, you’re not just hoping for them to get done. You have a specific time and length of time to make it happen.

Now, when you have all of that—when you understand what you’re going to be doing, when you’ve planned it out—the last and final step in this 3P method is to *protect* it. And this is where most people struggle. You’ve set your priorities, you’ve made your plan, and then life happens, right? The phone rings, a notification pops up, your kid needs help, or a client sends an urgent email, and suddenly your plan to get it all done flies out the window.

I know this sounds familiar to a lot of you. But this is where boundaries come in, okay? Protecting your time doesn’t mean you’re ignoring your responsibilities. You’re still a mom. You’re still a business owner. You’re still a coach. You’re still whatever you are. It means being intentional about when and how you respond.

For example, when I set the time block for myself and say I have three hours to write and record this podcast, I need to make sure my notifications are silent. I need to let everyone else know that I’m unavailable unless someone is dying or bleeding. And when interruptions do happen—because they will—my kids sometimes stay home during the day, I have to adjust. If my son comes in and I need to go tend to him, let’s say to make him a snack or help him with something he can’t do himself, and I lose 30 minutes helping him, I need to shift that unfinished task to later in the day—or possibly even tomorrow.

However, the key is to get it done within that timeframe and to stay flexible without abandoning your plan entirely. It’s so easy to say, “Well, my kid needed a snack, and then we did other things,” and then just say, “I’ll get to it later, later, later,” and then later never happens. So it’s important to say, “Okay, this requires me to be a little flexible, but I’ll adjust to make sure it gets done.”

The thing that causes the most stress is not doing the thing we know we need to do. So, if I know I couldn’t finish my task because of an interruption, I make it a point to put it on another day and complete it. The longer I let it go, the longer I avoid it, the more stress I feel. Instead, I stay flexible and move it to another time or day, but I make sure it gets done. That way, I can avoid unnecessary stress and maintain momentum.

Teaching this to my clients has been transformative. Being able to prioritize, plan, and follow through—regardless of life’s interruptions—creates a sense of relief. It helps calm the overwhelm and prevents anxiety. For example, one of my clients recently came to me completely stressed out. She’s a business owner, homeschools her kids, and, with the holidays approaching, decided to host Thanksgiving at her house. She told me, “I feel like I’m failing. I can’t keep up with all of this—it’s too much.”

When we applied the 3P method, she realized she was spending hours on things that didn’t truly matter, like trying to perfect every little detail for the family event. Once she prioritized what was essential to her—spending time with her kids and preparing for her business launches—she felt a weight lift off her shoulders. She started outsourcing things like grocery shopping by using delivery services. She didn’t just feel more organized; she felt more present as well.

So, let me ask you this: What would your day look like if you woke up knowing exactly what to focus on? How would it feel to end your workday accomplished, not scattered? Imagine having a clear plan for your day and still having time to connect with your family, your loved ones, your friends, or even just yourself. It *is* possible—you just need the right systems.

If you’re listening to this and thinking, “I need this in my life too,” I want to invite you to check out my program. Inside, we create a custom system tailored to your unique life. You’ll learn how to stay organized and productive, even when life feels overwhelming. Head to the link in my bio and book your call today. Don’t wait, because every day spent in chaos is a day you’re not fully stepping into your potential.

Remember, staying organized isn’t about perfection. It’s about creating clarity. It’s about giving yourself grace. And most of all, it’s about taking control of your time—one step at a time. You’ve got this, mama. Keep breathing, keep showing up, and I’ll see you next time.

Well, that does it for today’s episode. Thank you so much for joining us on the Inhale, Exhale, Success podcast. If you enjoyed today’s topic, I’d love for you to subscribe so you don’t miss out on other valuable discussions, along with answers to questions from busy women like you who are looking for ways to make life, business, and weight loss easier. I look forward to having you here with us again next time. And remember, my friend, success begins when you take a moment to breathe, find your balance, and believe in yourself.