040- Summer Energy Series: I Can’t Hear Myself Think- The Energy Cost of Constant Noise, Chaos & No Alone Time

Feeling constantly pulled in a hundred directions and never alone long enough to even hear your own thoughts? In the final episode of the Summer Energy Zones Series, we’re talking about one of the biggest midlife energy drains: mental noise, overstimulation, and the complete lack of alone time.

If your nervous system is fried, your patience is thin, and even your downtime feels loud, this episode is your reset button.

🔑 What you’ll learn:

• How overstimulation leads to “yellow zone” energy crashes
• The link between lack of quiet and decision fatigue, reactivity, and burnout
• 3 realistic micro-shifts to create mental space (even in a loud season)
• Why protecting your alone time is responsible energy leadership and not selfish

You’ll also hear how to use your Energy Zones Map to get out of the yellow zone faster and fuel your day with more intention.

💛 Ready to stop running on mental fumes?
 Listen in, breathe deep, and take the space you’ve been craving.
 And if someone in your life needs this message too, share it with them. Let’s normalize rest, reset, and quiet in the chaos.

Listen to Episode 33 on Energy Mapping here

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Disclaimer:  I am not a medical doctor. The information and recommendations provided during our coaching sessions are intended to support your overall health and wellness and are not a substitute for professional medical diagnosis or treatment. Always consult with your physician before making any changes to your medication, treatment plan, or if you have any concerns about your health. 

Transcript

Welcome to Mental Space

Speaker 1 2:28

Hey, hey, and welcome back to the Smash, the Crash. And if your nervous system is currently fried from all the noise, all the mess, the chaos, that schedule whiplash still making its rounds, the questions, the people, the travel, the tasks, this episode has just become your deep breath. Episode has just become your deep breath. This is the last episode of the Summer Energy Series and we are setting the scene to talk about noise, chaos and that craving for mental space. Think about yourself during the day and all the tasks that you're doing and how you're being pulled in multiple directions. You're wearing those multiple hats for all those roles that you play and transitioning from one to the other. You are constantly on answering, managing needs, reacting to noise, with no transition time between those tasks, meetings, roles or requests. You're running late to get to the next thing simply because you have to take a restroom break, refill your water bottle or grab a bite to eat. What nerve and every downtime feels interrupted. Kids are yelling, dogs are barking, someone calling your name again. The FedEx carrier is ringing the doorbell when it's your time to speak on the Zoom or's call. This is exactly a really good example of the yellow energy zone Overload. Your mind is cluttered, your emotions are short-fused and your bandwidth is maxed the F out. So let's think about how lack of alone time drains your energy. When your mind is cluttered or you are mentally exhausted, you experience decision fatigue. You also have a heightened sense of emotion. No, alone time is no time for self-regulation and puts you in a heightened sense of emotion. No, allot time is no time for self-regulation and puts you in a heightened reactive mode. Think of the times that maybe you react to something that when you look back on it probably really wasn't that big of a deal or an issue, but at the time it certainly felt like it. You time gets bumped to the bottom of the list in favor of logistics, laundry and logistics again, and overstimulation. It's not just loud, it's constant mental access. So I want you to think about this for one second. When you can't hear yourself, think you also can't hear what your body needs. Yeah, if you can't hear yourself, think you stop hearing what your body needs. Now this is a perfect pivot for me.

Three Micro Shifts for Mental Quiet

Speaker 1 5:53

This was not in my outline of what I wanted to talk about, but we have an energy tracker and we also have an episode on energy mapping, and this would come in really, really handy, because when you are in a green energy zone level, at the time that you create your own energy zone map, you will have what it feels like, or what it looks like for you to be in green, yellow or red, and you will also already have a game plan or bullet list of what you can do if you can feel yourself in the yellow or in the red. So, even though you might be in a heightened sense due to lack of alone time, if you have your energy zones mapped out, you can simply just look at it and see oh okay, I'm going to go for a walk or I'm going to have a quick bite to eat, I'm going to step away, I'm going to let everyone know I need five minutes and I'm going to make some non-negotiable time for myself. So if you haven't had a chance to listen to the energy map episode, I truly encourage you to do that so you can better prepare yourself to be proactive versus reactive in those times where you're feeling emotionally and mentally drained. So how can you create that mental quiet? Even if it's a loud season and I say season I don't just mean summer, I mean a season for me could be a day, right, this eight-hour workday, sitting in front of my computer screen with my corporate job and I'm back to back to back meetings.

Speaker 1 7:49

What are three micro shifts that you could try this week, tomorrow, today, right now that would help you create some mental quiet. Here are three micro shifts that I suggest. Number one non-negotiable quiet time. We're always starting small 10 minutes a day, no talking, no screens, no multitasking, just stillness, just stillness. You don't need a retreat, you just need to stop and pause.

Speaker 1 8:27

Two use sensory anchors to calm the noise. Touch something grounding, like an ice cube or a soft blanket, or maybe putting on a clay mask, playing some calming sounds on your Alexa or Echo or phone, maybe lighting a candle, something soft to soften the stimulation through your senses. Walk outside in your bare feet and put the grass in between your toes. And three, design what you would consider your default rest spot. This could be a recliner chair in your house. It could be a corner of one of your rooms. It could be a car ride where you're just driving with no specific destination, but you don't talk to people here. You reset here. It's not selfish to need space, it's responsible energy leadership, responsible energy management.

Track Your Interruptions

Speaker 1 9:34

Small micro shifts that you do yourself will be seen by others around you and that will open the invitation for others to do it as well. Because if you have, if you're overstimulated and heightened, and someone else is also in the same boat overstimulated, heightened what type of interaction does that cause between the two of you? So let me be clear there's definitely a difference between being around people and being accessed by people all day long. I want you to think about a day your work day, or a weekend day at home, when everyone's at home. But pick a day. How many times do you get interrupted in that day? How many times do you get interrupted in that day? It really makes you think. Consider making yourself a tally sheet, a whiteboard on the fridge or a little thing on your note, or just a pencil and paper, and just tally every time you're interrupted and, might I add, interrupted by multiple thoughts in your own head can count. I certainly have that as well.

Speaker 1 10:52

Total ADD over here and even though I might be in a room of silence, my inside of my head is not silent. There's lots of swirling going around, making a point to make quiet time so you can refocus, re-energize, re-ground in a dedicated, non-negotiable 10 minutes of alone time and notice the difference how you feel before versus after. And if you don't have 10 minutes, you can do five. If you don't have five, do three. But do something to take a break from that current mental overstimulation, to bring you back to a point to where you can feel a little bit more calm, grounded and able to participate in what's next. If you are nodding along like yes, this is me, then I bet there's another woman in your world who's right there with you, quietly craving some peace but not sure where to find it.

Share This With Someone Who Needs It

Speaker 1 11:59

So I urge you share this episode with your friend, your coworker, your sister friend, your coworker, your sister, who's juggling all the things and needs intentional quiet time. Sometimes the most supportive thing that you can do is just say hey, I heard this and I thought of you. Let's make space for each other to breathe again, to slow down. Okay, this wraps up our summer energy zone series, but we're not done talking about energy leadership or the chaos of midlife. Keep listening, keep checking back in and keep choosing the small shifts that bring you back to you. Until next time, go and find five minutes of quiet and guard it, like your peace and your energy depends on it, because it truly does. You got this.