Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Welcome to the Happy Stack Podcast where we explore the science and strategies behind creating a happier, more fulfilling life. I'm Teriann Richards and I partner with organizations to address the root causes of burnout, disengagement and stress. Equipping leaders and teams with the tools they need to thrive, both organizationally and personally. Each episode we dive into practical habits, insights and strategies to help high performers like you level up from the inside out. Let's get stacking if you have been telling yourself I just need to manage my time better, but your to do list never shrinks, your calendar is always overflowing, and you still feel exhausted at the end of every day, this episode is for you. Because here's the truth. You probably do not have a time problem.
[00:00:58] You have an energy boundary problem.
[00:01:01] And if you're managing your hours but ignoring your capacity, you will always feel like you're falling behind.
[00:01:09] Let's talk about the real reason you're overwhelmed and how to fix it without some more productivity hacks. Another planner or waking up at 4am let's start with this.
[00:01:24] You get 24 hours in a day.
[00:01:28] So does Beyonce. So does the burned out VP or the overwhelmed entrepreneur, and the stay at home parent juggling chaos.
[00:01:39] The question is not how do I manage my time, it is where is my energy leaking and what is actually draining me?
[00:01:51] Because you can block your calendar to the high heavens, you can plan your week and time box your entire life, but if you're making decisions while disregulated, you're saying yes. When your body says no, you're over functioning to compensate for everybody else and you're emotionally babysitting your team, your family, your kids, your friends.
[00:02:17] Then of course you're going to feel like there's never enough time because you're overusing your energy budget.
[00:02:24] High performers love a good productivity hack, right? Color coded calendars. What do they call those? Pomodoro timers. Never use them. Time blocking, habit stacking. Right? Like all of these things, high performers love this stuff. But here's the issue.
[00:02:42] Most time management tools assume unlimited emotional bandwidth. They do not account for the energetic cost of pretending you're okay, the mental load of masking burnout, the cortisol dump from people pleasing, or the emotional labor of keeping everyone else regulated. We have been taught to optimize time when what we really need to do is protect consumption capacity. Energy leaks are subtle. They're not always loud and dramatic. Right? They show up like over explaining yourself in emails or attending meetings you have no role in, or holding Space for others. When your cup is completely bone dry, rescuing team members instead of holding up your boundaries, your walls, obsessively checking your phone just in case, and being the default emotional sponge in your circle, each one on its own may only take five or 10 minutes, right? But the energetic cost is massive. Because when your nervous system is constantly activated, the ability that you have to focus, to lead, to create, to communicate, or recover disappears.
[00:04:04] So let's redefine boundaries.
[00:04:08] Boundaries are not always walls. A lot of times they're filters.
[00:04:14] They're how you decide what's worth your attention, worth your emotion, and worth your energy.
[00:04:22] And energy boundaries specifically are about what you allow in, what you take responsibility for, where you stop over functioning for others, and how you protect your most vital resource, which is you, your presence.
[00:04:40] Boundaries are not just about saying no. They are also about saying, you know, that energy is not mine to hold, or I can help, but I can't carry it, or I'm not available for this anymore, this dynamic anymore.
[00:04:59] It is quite honestly how you build and maintain emotional intelligence. It's how you move from living in this reactive space to a regenerative leadership.
[00:05:14] I want to ground this in data because cognitive science shows that we have about three to four hours of peak mental performance per day.
[00:05:28] That's it.
[00:05:29] After that, most of us are just running on fumes.
[00:05:33] So your decision, fatigue, emotional bandwidth, and nervous system regulation, will they all impact your ability to lead and perform way more than your calendar ever could or would?
[00:05:48] This is why time blocking, a lot of time fails when you're already tapped out. It's why our productivity drops after meetings that feel emotionally unsafe or emotionally draining.
[00:06:01] It's why scrolling for 30 minutes feels like recovery, but it's just not.
[00:06:08] You do not need to do more, but you do need to leak less.
[00:06:14] Right, let's get tactical. How would I put this? There are basically five ways that you can protect your energy, like that beautiful, sacred resource that it actually is, right?
[00:06:30] So one would be to use what we call a capacity check in. So before you agree to anything, and if you're anything like I've been over the years, oh my goodness, somebody asked you to do something, join the board, be a part of a club, and you're like, yeah, I'm in, right? Let's go out Friday night, let's go to the concert Saturday night.
[00:06:49] But we all have like a max right amount of energy. And so the capacity check in just gives you that little bit of a buffer that says before you agree to anything, you're Going to ask yourself, do I actually have the capacity for this? Because you might have the calendar bandwidth for it, but you have the emotional capacity for it. Like, have you ever, like, known you were going to a networking function or like, hanging out with your family and you're like, you know, no, you do not have the emotional capacity for it, right? And you push through anyway? This is me saying, maybe, just maybe, we can start to honor these beautiful systems that we have that are built in to help us live this awesome life and listen to it. So do I actually have the capacity for this or do I just have the time right? And if it costs more than it gives, then just. It's a no. Not a no forever, just a no this time. Because, you know, energy can get filled back up.
[00:07:41] Number two, identify your energy thieves. Make a list of all the stuff that is in your life right now that is draining you versus the stuff that's in your life that fuels you. And then start to reduce it, start to delegate it. Start to delete. One drain this week. Okay?
[00:07:59] Number three, implement buffer zones.
[00:08:03] Stop scheduling back to back meetings.
[00:08:07] Give yourself 10 to 15 minutes to decompress right between calls, between events, between any of your deep work. Because your nervous system needs space to land right? Number four, create emotional labor boundaries.
[00:08:28] If you are always the fixer, always the calm one, the default support system, I want you to ask yourself, what am I holding that is not mine?
[00:08:39] Let people take responsibility for their energy and their shit.
[00:08:44] You do not need to carry it. All right, Number five. Protect your peak energy hours. Find whatever that is, that space of time, usually 90 to 180 minutes a day, and defend it like it's gold.
[00:09:01] No slack, no meetings, no pings, no phone. This is your sacred creative strategy. Time.
[00:09:09] Treat it accordingly. Right.
[00:09:13] Time is finite energy.
[00:09:16] That's what makes time worth it. You cannot out schedule dysregulation. You cannot outplan emotional depletion. You cannot outperform your way through burnout.
[00:09:30] But you can build boundaries that give you your life back. You can reclaim your energy and you can lead from capacity.
[00:09:41] And when you do, that's when performance becomes sustainable. That's when presence becomes powerful. And that's when happiness starts stacking for real. So your challenge this week, Audit your energy. Pick one drain, one leak, one thing that leaves you depleted and set a new boundary around it. Not because you're selfish, but because you are freaking smart. And because you're going to protect your energy because it is what matters most.
[00:10:10] This is me, Teriann, and I'LL see you in the next episode. Peace.
[00:10:15] Hey, thanks for listening to the Happy Stack Podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who could use a little extra happiness in their life. Let's keep stacking those wins together. See you next time.
