Ever notice how often you need to switch gears in a day?
We refer to these as “transitions” in the world of parenting. They can be tough on kids… and adults, honestly!
Personally, I love momentum. With a demanding day job and two young kids myself, I need that momentum to keep me going throughout the day. The problem is that every transition adds friction.
A prime example: Trying to flip from an energetic school drop-off to the deep concentration needed to tackle an intimidating work project. With nothing in between to smooth out that transition, it’s hard to gain workday momentum.
When I worked in-office, my lengthy commute served as a bridge between worlds. That buffer disappeared when I started working from home. Jumping straight into the workday left me feeling ungrounded and mentally scattered.
One morning I was feeling particularly frazzled, so I instinctively grabbed my bullet journal for a bit of a “brain dump”. This made a huge difference! That experience inspired me to create a simple reset routine to calm the mental chaos and take a sure-footed step into the rest of the day.
If you’re curious, here’s the reflection that fueled this 5-Minute Reset: Back to Bullet Journaling: The Grounding Magic of Pen & Paper
Want to give this 5-minute reset a try?
You can download the one-pager here! (It’ll also let you join the newsletter for monthly updates, creative tidbits, and other good stuff. I’d love to connect! Of course, unsubscribe any time.)
Below we’re exploring five actions you can take in about 5 minutes to get grounded, declutter your mind, and move forward with clarity.
Feel free to make it your own! Borrow any steps that intrigue you, then add your own grounding activities to create a practice unique to you.
1. Begin with breath to reset your nervous system
This is always my first step in getting grounded. I like to close my eyes and breathe deeply from the belly.
Inhale for 3 seconds – pause – exhale for 5 seconds – pause.
For an added sense of grounding, you can literally feel the ground (or the chair, or the bed) supporting your body while you breathe.
Thank you to all of the guided meditations that have inspired this step!
Why belly breathing? It promotes slow, full breaths that calm the body and mind, slowing everything down.
A friend once showed me how blowing into a small whistle can help if you’re feeling particularly panicked. You can replicate this airflow control by pursuing your lips as though blowing gently into a straw. This helps relax the nervous system further.
Why an unequal breathing pattern? A longer exhale further stimulates your nervous system to relax. Plus, an unequal breathing pattern takes more focus, drawing your attention toward your breath (and away from any mental clutter).
Now that we’ve had a moment of calm, it’s time to check in with ourselves.
2. The 3-word check-in to bring feeling into focus
When life is hectic, we tend not to check in with ourselves. So, let’s do it!
How are you feeling today?
Naming feelings can help them feel more manageable. For those of us who are anxious, this can be especially helpful in cutting through that nervous energy to stay connected with ourselves.
Bonus points: If you are feeling a certain way, is there a small action that would help? If you’re frustrated, do you want to call a friend? If you’re feeling sad, would a warm mug of tea help? This is a great opportunity to make space for some light self-care.
And you deserve it. 🙂
Now let’s take a moment to get those down onto paper, along with anything else taking up mental space.
3. Rapid-log to quickly declutter your mind
Remember all those things that were cluttering your mind before we started?
They’re probably still there.
This is a great moment to grab a notebook or your bullet journal and write everything on your mind in short-form. No editing allowed – just get everything down as fast as possible!
The one-pager includes a dot grid and a “rapid logging key” for bullet journalers. Not a BuJo enthusiast? You can just use the space to write short-hand!
If you do want to learn about rapid logging, check this out: How to Use a Bullet Journal: Key Spreads & Basic Methodology
If you’re like me, you’ll feel lighter just by getting everything out onto the paper. Don’t forget to capture the things you love or are curious about to inject a little creativity into your day!
Now that everything’s out on the page, it can be easily prioritized.
4. Prioritize your to-do list to focus on what matters most
Go through your notes and put a star in front of anything that must be done today, or that feels important.
Now you know where to focus today’s energy!
Of course, not everything can get done in a day. Feel free to add tasks to your calendar to make sure they don’t get lost in the shuffle.
Yes, that includes researching that cool new hobby you can’t stop thinking about. That sounds like a priority to me!
Bullet journalers: you can pick some signifiers and add those to your list as well to give context to what you wrote.
Curious? Read about signifiers here: Beyond Basic Bullets: Customizing Your Rapid Logging System with Signifiers
We’re making great progress! The last step is to identify your very next step today, big or small.
5. Pick the ONE thing you’ll do next for momentum
Here’s where we get our forward momentum going!
The final step of the reset is to write down the one thing you will do next.
What exactly that is depends on how you’re feeling!
- Feeling energetic? Shoot for a lever-moving task to make progress on a big goal.
- Feeling overwhelmed? Break the next part of your day into small, manageable bits. Keep breaking it down until it feels doable. And yes, that could be as simple as “pour coffee + enjoy first sip,” or “open Outlook + check unread emails”.
You just need one action item to focus on that will help you transition into the next part of your day.
The rest will follow!
Parting words
These steps are a cumulation of my favourite grounding, calming, and refocusing techniques that I’ve gathered over the years from books I’ve read, things I’ve tried, and the bullet journaling system I love.
Leave a tip, take a tip: Drop your favourite transition-time reset tips in the comments, and let’s share some more ideas!
If you haven’t already, grab the free one-pager here: 5 Minute Reset
Pull it out first thing in the morning, when transitioning between activities, or any time you need to get grounded.
Until next time, wishing you calm clarity and much momentum.
