45. Permission to Pause: Finding Balance When Life Gets Full

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In this short and powerful episode of The Nurses' Break Room, host Jenny Lytle, RN, explores what to do when life feels like too much. Whether you're a caregiver, nurse, or simply juggling personal and professional demands, this episode reminds you that pausing isn’t quitting—it’s creating space for what matters most.

You’ll hear real-life stories about navigating medical appointments, supporting loved ones, and honoring your own capacity without guilt. Jenny also shares a simple reflection tool to help you identify your stressors, energy drains, and energizers so you can make meaningful change without overwhelm.

Takeaways & Action Steps:

• Why self-awareness is key to managing stress during busy seasons
• The difference between quitting and pausing with purpose
• A simple worksheet strategy to track your stressors and energy levels
• A journaling prompt: "What’s one thing you can pause or tweak this week?"
• An invitation to schedule a free call to talk it through

If you're feeling overwhelmed, this quick mindset shift is the reset you didn’t know you needed. 💛

If you're feeling overwhelmed, burned out, or like there’s never enough time, I’ve got something just for you! Head to https://selfcareisntselfish.com to grab your FREE copy of my book, Self-Care Isn’t Selfish: The Compassionate Nurse’s Step-by-Step Guide to Personalized Stress Relief. It’s packed with simple, effective strategies to help you prioritize your needs—without guilt—so you can feel energized, focused, and ready to take on the day. Go to https://selfcareisntselfish.com 

Looking for connection with people who get the stress and self-care struggles of nurses and caregivers? Check out https://thenursesbreakroom.com

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennylytlern/

More ways to connect here: https://linktr.ee/jennylytle

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the
Nurse's Break Room with JennyLytle RN.
Today I am sharing a quickthought on what to do when life
gets full.
It's summer and sometimes thatmeans that things are a little
more chill.
But right now we're in thatkind of in-between where things

(00:22):
are finishing up from the schoolyear and just regular life and
easing into summer, but thatlooks different for each of us.
So I don't have kids at homeand in school anymore, but we've
got some grandkids that are outof school for the summer and

(00:43):
life just feels a littledifferent then.
But there's times when it throwsus some curveballs too, where
we have things kind of plannedout.
We feel like we know what'sgoing to happen, and then we're
reminded of the things that wedon't have a lot of control over
.
And so over the past couple ofweeks I've had some pretty big

(01:03):
changes that have popped up andI've had a couple of family
members that have had somemedical issues and thankfully
not super serious ones, but onesthat do necessitate some
further testing and appointmentsand follow-ups and things like
that testing and appointmentsand follow ups and things like

(01:28):
that and because of who they areand because of what's going on
and because of being a nurse, Ijust I like to be involved in
those things and it's it'ssomething that's helpful for me
and for them, and so that'ssomething that has that's been
added to my plate that Idefinitely wasn't planning on.
And then I also have a friendwho is going through a tough

(01:50):
time right now, and so we havedecided to help her out as much
as possible because we're ableto and because we want to.
I mean, that's something that Ifeel called to do is to help
people.
Something that I feel called todo is to help people, and
especially when there's thingsthat maybe are kind of a little

(02:12):
out of their control.
At the moment, and as I'm goingthrough this, then I want to
still do all of the things thatI've been doing, but the reality
is there's only so many hoursin a day and I only have so much
emotional and mental andphysical bandwidth.
It reminded me that I need togive myself permission to pause.

(02:33):
And it's not about quitting.
It's about what really creatingspace for what matters most
right now, and that, I believe,is, when I talk about work-life
balance, that's one of thethings that I really talk about
is that it's not about givingthe same amount of time and
attention to everything, becausethat I mean that just doesn't

(02:54):
work, but it's about having thatflexibility.
It's more like a teeter-totteror a seesaw, depending on where
you're from and what you call it, but it's focusing on what
matters most in the moment andknowing that you can't always do
everything at the same time,and that doesn't mean that
you're failing.
And as I say this like I'msaying it to you, but I'm saying

(03:19):
it to myself as well, becauseit is we want to do it all and I
get that.
I still want to do it all and Iwant to do it all right now,
but that's just, that's notrealistic.
And I encourage you as you lookat your own schedule, as you
look at your own stressors andthink about the way that you're
feeling about things.
Is there anything that maybeneeds to be put on pause for a

(03:40):
little bit?
I sent out a worksheet earlierthis week with kind of a way to
think about your energizers,think about your drains and your
stressors and really just getthat down on paper.
When we take the time to writesomething down, it helps us to

(04:00):
think about it differently andit also helps you to come up
with a bit of a plan for whenthis happens, because life's
going to throw you curve ballsfrom time to time.
So what's the one thing thatfeels heavy right now, what's
the one thing that you may bedread doing or that just feels

(04:24):
like it's going to take up somuch of your time or energy, and
is that something that you canpossibly pause or tweak?
Throughout this, remember thatyou're not alone and you are
human, and it's okay torecalibrate, it's okay to pause
and change things up if you needto.
So you know what is one smallchange that you can make this

(04:47):
week, and I would love it if youwould reply to me.
If you're listening onBuzzsprout, then that's
something that's easy to do.
You can just do that via text.
But if not, reach out to me.
My email is Jenny Lytle atJenny Lytle dot com, and I would
love to hear what you're goingthrough and and feel free to
schedule a free call if it'ssomething that you want to talk

(05:10):
through.
It's something that can helpyou and it also helps me,
because then I know more whatyou're thinking.
And until next time, rememberthat self-care isn't selfish.
It's essential if we want tocontinue to serve others and
live our best lives.
Thanks so much.
Have a great week.