Sometimes I don’t need another productivity hack.
I don’t need a new planner, a better morning routine, or someone telling me to wake up at 5 a.m. and meditate.
Sometimes I just need to feel grounded.
And I’ve found that grounding can be surprisingly simple.
Not expensive. Not complicated. And definitely not something else I need to be good at.
Here are a few things I’ve been thinking about lately.
Start with your people.
Get out an actual piece of paper and a real pen.
Write down the 3–5 people who matter most to you.
And yes — include yourself.
For me, this is about identifying the people whose needs I am going to prioritize most of the time. Ideally, this is the small group of people who make up your immediate household and the people you’re building your life around.
Draw a circle around them.
Then make a second list.
Write down your 4–5 ride-or-dies.
These might be friends, family members, neighbors, or some combination. They’re the people who make you feel truly seen. The people who will pick up the phone and listen without judgment. The people you think to call when something wonderful happens.
And importantly, these are relationships where the pouring into each other goes both ways.
Draw another circle around them.
Now you have your two circles.
This doesn’t mean you stop caring about everyone else. It doesn’t mean you stop helping people or showing up for your extended family.
It just gives you permission to understand that not everyone’s needs have to have the same urgency in your life.
Your inner circle gets your first consideration.
The people outside that circle can still matter deeply — but they don’t automatically get the same access to your time, energy, or emotional bandwidth.
And honestly? Sometimes just putting this on paper can be incredibly clarifying.
Here’s a story from my outdoor journaling this summer – outside, hammocks, long leaf pines and sunflower fields.
This is my favorite journal if you need one!
Figure out what actually fills your cup.
Not what should fill your cup.
Not what looks good on Instagram.
What actually leaves you feeling energized, empowered, peaceful, or grateful.
Write down five things.
And make them specific.
Maybe it’s:
- Volunteering at your kid’s school because being involved makes you feel connected and useful.
- Coffee with the friend you’ve known forever where you don’t have to explain yourself or perform.
- Mindlessly scrolling a hilarious Instagram account for ten minutes because sometimes your brain needs something completely pointless.
- Standing outside barefoot after the kids go to bed, listening to the night sounds without your phone, podcast, or headphones.
- Doing a craft with absolutely no purpose. No deadline. No gift. No Pinterest-worthy finished product. Just making something because it feels good.
You could also straighten up one tiny space in your house and make it cheerful.
Not the whole house.
One little corner.
Give yourself a place that feels good to look at.
The point isn’t productivity.
The point is noticing what gives something back to you.
Try bilateral calm sounds
This one can be incredibly simple.
You don’t have to go to a sound bath or buy anything.
Take a walk without headphones and deliberately look from side to side as you walk. Notice the trees. The houses. The sounds. What’s happening on your left and your right.
Or put on noise-canceling headphones and listen to one of the calm bilateral stimulation playlists on Spotify.
Sit somewhere quiet.
Even better: take your shoes off and put your feet in the grass.
There is something about combining that rhythmic left-right sensory input with being outside and physically connected to the ground that I find incredibly calming.
Keep it simple.
You don’t have to turn it into a whole wellness routine.
Plant something.
Seriously.
Plant something. Anything.
Inside. Outside. A pot of herbs. A flower. A houseplant. Something you’ve never grown before.
Then learn about it.
What does it need? How much sun? How often does it need water? What kind of soil?
Spend a few minutes each day actually caring for it.
There is no grade.
If the plant dies, the plant dies.
You didn’t fail.
There is no such thing as some magical group of people who are simply born with a “green thumb.” It’s 2026. Pretty much anything you need to know about keeping a plant alive is available online.
Ask your neighbor.
Ask the person at the garden center.
Ask the friend whose plants are somehow thriving despite having children and a full-time job.
And touch the dirt.
Pay attention to what you’re doing with your hands.
Watch something grow.
For a few minutes, let yourself be responsible for exactly one living thing that isn’t asking you for a snack, homework help, a ride, or a clean uniform.
You don’t have to fix your whole life.
I think that’s the biggest part of this.
Grounding isn’t about becoming a calmer, more organized, perfectly balanced mom.
It’s about giving yourself little opportunities to come back to yourself.
Know your people.
Protect your energy.
Notice what fills you up.
Get outside.
Listen.
Walk.
Make something useless.
Touch the dirt.
Stand barefoot in the grass.
And remember that you are allowed to take care of yourself before you are completely depleted.
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