Thriving In Motherhood Podcast | Productivity, Planning, Family Systems, Time Management, Survival Mode, Mental Health, Vision

Ever been part of a book club that fizzled out after a few months? Or maybe you’ve wanted to start one but weren’t sure how to make it stick? This week’s episode is for you!

I’m talking about what makes a book club truly work with Madeline Casey, who, along with Phoebe Cook, started the book club I’ve been part of for four years (and still love!).

In this episode, we’ll talk about:

• Choosing books that people want to read

• Creating a format that keeps the discussion flowing

• Handling different beliefs and perspectives with grace

• Building an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing

• Managing the practical stuff (hosting, leading discussions, etc.)

Plus, we’re sharing our favorite books over the last four years!

 Looking to start a book club that becomes the highlight of your month? This episode walks you through exactly how to make that happen.

This fall has been a very busy season for our family where we are stuck tackling things that are urgent. While it has been exhausting and at times felt like survival mode (some days have been 100% survival mode), I have learned some powerful lessons that are changing how I approach my days that I discuss in this week’s episode.

I’ve found myself living on razor-thin margins lately - where there’s just enough capacity for the scheduled things, but anything else feels impossible. Throughout this season, I’ve been learning some important lessons about how to make things work better, even when we’re at capacity:

• How a simple whiteboard is changing our family communication and getting everyone moving in the same direction

• What happened when I started letting my family help instead of running faster and faster by myself

• Why acknowledging our limitations (and communicating them to our kids) actually makes everything easier

• The mindset shift that’s helping me recognize I’m more capable than I think

• How simplifying and creating systems is slowly giving us more breathing room

All these lessons from our busy season are becoming part of something bigger - The Surviving to Thriving Toolkit.

After years of hearing, “I found your podcast - where do I start?”, I realize that all roads point to this toolkit. It will walk you through each stage of the journey from surviving to thriving, with real, practical help for wherever you are right now.

I’m also including a Family Systems Playbook with video walkthroughs of how we actually make things work in our home. Not because it’s the only way or even the best way, but because having a starting point can make such a difference when you’re trying to figure things out for your own family.

Right now I’m working on Win Your Week Academy (the Thriving phase) and in January I’ll start building out the other modules. I’m hoping to release the full toolkit in early 2025. If you want to be the first to know when it’s ready, you can join the waitlist at: thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/toolkit.

I hope this episode helps you pause and think about where you are in your own life. Whether it’s hard, fast-paced, slow, or busy, there’s always something we can learn to move us forward. 

I’ve been getting questions after the focus on how to merge effective mom planning with planning with your spouse. Andrew and I sat down after we tucked the kids into bed this week and talked about what planning looks like for us in our marriage which I hope will inspire you.

But first, let’s get some misconceptions out of the way:

Misconception #1: We Plan the Same Way

Nope! Andrew has his own style of planning that works for his work schedule and keeping his priorities in check.

Misconception #2: We are good at weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual planning together.

Also, no. We are pretty great at weekly planning (we rarely skip). We are good at doing annual reviews together. Anything beyond that is superb, but we really haven’t been consistent over the last 13 years of marriage. I hope that encourages you. You only need to be pretty good at one thing to have a huge impact in your marriage and family life.

Misconception #3: We follow a clear checklist and it’s the same every time.

Negative. We have fine-tuned what we cover and we adjust it based on how much time and energy we have and how unusual the week is.

In this week’s podcast episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on our real-life planning process. 

You’ll discover: 

• The story of how our weekly planning tradition began

• What actually makes it into our shared planning agenda

• Our individual prep work (and how much we actually share)

• A peek into our typical planning session

• Why these weekly check-ins matter (and what happens when we skip them)

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refresh your approach to planning with your spouse, I think you’ll find something helpful in this episode.

Have you ever felt the need to speed up your child’s life? Like it’s some kind of race to cram in everything they need before they turn 18? Today’s conversation with Leslie Martino challenged my thinking about this in the best possible way.

Leslie has four kids (14, 12, and 10-year-old twins), and she shared something that hit home: older kids deserve a slow childhood too. We often talk about peaceful, slow living for little ones, but somewhere along the way, we forget that older kids are still kids.

In this week’s episode, we talked about some practical aspects of slow living with older kids like:

• How to say no to the right things 

• Finding a community with like-minded families

• Managing the balance between activities and home life

• Creating intentional check-in times with each child

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the pace of life with older kids, or if you’re approaching the teenage years and wondering how to maintain close connections, this episode is for you. Leslie shares so much wisdom about creating a life that reflects your values, even (and especially) as your kids grow older.

Tune in to hear our full conversation, including Leslie’s insights from her new book, The Joy of Slow: Restoring Balance and Wonder to Homeschool Learning. Whether you homeschool or not, her perspective on slowing down and staying connected with older kids is something every parent needs to hear.

When Sierra first discovered the Thriving in Motherhood planner in 2021, she was deep in survival mode. With a three-year-old and an 18-month-old, she had been battling postpartum depression for over a year. “I need something,” she recalled thinking. “I can’t just be surviving anymore.”

Like many mothers, Sierra initially hesitated about investing in a planner. But after discussing it with her husband, she took a leap - a decision that would transform not just her approach to motherhood, but her entire outlook on life.

One of Sierra’s most profound realizations through using the planner was that “goals can be accomplished in small pieces.” This simple, but powerful insight helped her break free from overwhelm. Using the Thriving in Motherhood Planner’s structured approach, she began setting and achieving goals across different areas of her life, from reading classics with her children to pursuing her passion for drawing.

What started as Sierra’s personal planning journey soon created beautiful ripple effects throughout her family life. As she invested time in her own growth and interests through the planner’s guidance, she noticed her children becoming curious and inspired by her examples. Through the planner’s guidance, Sierra found that taking time for personal growth doesn’t detract from motherhood - it enhances it.

Sierra offers this wisdom for mothers feeling overwhelmed about starting their journey with the Thriving in Motherhood Planner: “Take it a little bit at a time.” She recommends:

• Don’t try to fill everything out at once

• Give yourself time to review your year and set intentions

• Focus on one domain at a time

• Remember it’s okay to put it aside during challenging seasons

The journey from just surviving to really thriving doesn't happen overnight. But Sierra's story shows us something beautiful - when you have the right tool and give yourself grace to use it in your own way, you can build a life you're excited about. 

It really can happen, one small step at a time. As Sierra discovered, you don't have to do everything at once. Start somewhere, focus on what matters most to you right now, and know it's perfectly okay to set it aside when life gets crazy. The planner will be there when you're ready to pick it back up again.

If you’re ready to get started on your own journey, order your 2025 Thriving in Motherhood Planner HERE.

Today I’m going to walk you through the the Win Your Week planning system that’s built into the 2025 Thriving in Motherhood Planner. This system is designed to help you navigate the ups and downs of motherhood while still achieving your goals and creating a life you love.

Why Focus on Winning Your Week?

Let's face it: as moms, our days can be unpredictable. Some days are fantastic, others are challenging, and many are a mix of both. That's why I've found that focusing on "winning the week" is the sweet spot. It gives us enough time to balance productivity, self-care, and family time, even when individual days don't go as planned.

So let’s break down how this whole system fits together so you can have a winning week:

1. Vision for the Year: This is where we start. It doesn’t matter how fuzzy it is to begin - you just need to put some ideas on paper. I promise it will become more clear over time.

2. Sandbox/Someday Maybe Section: This is a great spot for ideas you’re not ready to commit to. It’s a way to preserve those ideas without cluttering up your calendar or to-do list.

3. Quarterly Vision: Your yearly vision breaks down into concrete projects, goals, and habits for each quarter.

4. Monthly Planning: Here you have a spot to write down the goals, projects, and habits you want to work on for the next 30 days, based on your quarterly plan.

5. Weekly Plan: This is where we’re really focusing. You’ll have a big three for the week, trying to take that vision and bring it into your week. You’ll also include next actions from your projects, tasks that just come up in life, appointments, and scheduled events.

6. Recurring Tasks and Routines: These feed into your weekly plan too. They’re the things that keep your household running smoothly.

Special Features to Note

• Think and Process Pages: These weekly blank pages are your catch-all for notes, ideas, and brainstorming sessions. They're perfect for corralling all the information that comes at us from different directions.

• Recurring Tasks and Routines: We've included dedicated spaces for weekly and monthly routines to help you manage household tasks more efficiently.

• Habit Tracking: There's space to track four weekly habits – enough to make progress without feeling overwhelmed.

• Looking Ahead Section: A place to jot down future plans and ideas, so you're always prepared for what's coming.

• Index: Like a bullet journal, this feature helps you quickly find important information you've written down throughout the year.

Pre-Order Your 2025 Planner

Mark your calendars! The 2025 Thriving in Motherhood Planner will be available for pre-order from October 21st to 26th. When you order during that time, it allows me to do one big bulk order, take it to a local printer, add coils, and then my kids package and ship it to you. 

I hope this overview gives you a visual of how the Win Your Week planning system works. It’s designed to take you from where you are now, and help you close the gap to where you want to be with baby steps that filter powerfully through into something amazing!

I’m thrilled to share with you the 12 major updates we’ve made to the 2025 Thriving in Motherhood Planner. These changes are based on the latest productivity research, time management strategies, and systems design. I’ve been diving deep into these topics to bring you a planner that truly supports your journey in motherhood. Let’s explore what’s new!

Getting Started Checklist

Ever felt lost staring at a brand new planner? Not anymore. I’ve created a step-by-step guide that’s like having a friendly expert by your side. Whether you’re a planning pro or a first-timer, you’ll be up and running in no time.

Enhanced Planning Sessions Checklist

The planning sessions guide includes detailed checklists for quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily planning. Each session has it’s own acronym to help you remember it’s purpose.

Separated Vision Workbook and 2025 Vision Page

I’ve split these sections to give you more flexibility in your planning process. Why? Because sometimes you need to get messy with your dreams and sometimes you need a clean snapshot. The workbook is for brainstorming, while the vision page is for your refined goals.

Leverage Task List

This new two-page spread allows you to note repetitive tasks or pain points that you can improve or automate. It’s like a “to-improve list” that will help you free up mental and physical energy over time. 

Energy Map

A way to plan your tasks with your natural energy levels throughout the day, week, and month, maximizing your productivity and reducing frustration. No more beating yourself up for not being a morning person (or a night owl)!

Personal Life Philosophy Page

A dedicated space for you to collect inspiring quotes, scriptures, or ideas that resonate with who you want to be and how you want to live. This page is your personal collection of guiding lights, helping you stay true to your values and aspirations.

Quarterly Vision Pages

I’ve repositioned these pages to appear before each quarter, making it easier to plan and review your progress throughout the year. No more flipping back and forth!

Updated Project, Goal, and Habit Planning Pages

These pages now offer more white space for brainstorming and customization, allowing you to plan in a way that suits your style. Scribble, doodle, mind-map to your heart’s content.

Monthly Routine Page

Say goodbye to forgotten monthly tasks. This new page is designed to capture all those important monthly to-dos that often slip through the cracks. 

Improved Monthly Planning Pages

I’ve supercharged these monthly planning pages with new sections for habits and weekly routines. Now you can see your big-picture goals, daily habits, and weekly commitments all in one place. It’s like having a birds-eye view of your month.

Weekly Reflection Questions

Two thoughtful questions at the bottom of each weekly page to celebrate wins and tweak what’s not working. Because you’re awesome and you deserve to know it!

Annual Calendars for 2025 and 2026

By popular request, I've included annual calendars for both the current and upcoming year, perfect for long-term planning

Mark your calendars for October 21st (my birthday - what better way to celebrate?) through October 26th. That’s when you can get your very own planner coil-bound by me and my family. After that planners will be perfect bound (which works great as well!).

Remember, this planner is designed to grow with you as you manage your home, pursue your dreams, and thrive in motherhood. Here’s to creating a life we’re excited to wake up to each day!

We have had a wonderful summer and a lot going on as we get back into life at home, gardening, homeschooling, and friendships. There has also been a lot going on behind the scenes with the podcast, which is what I want to share with you in this week’s Thriving Thursday email so you can know what to expect.

Usually by now I've gotten the next year's planner edited, ordered, shipped to my home, and I've taken photos and gotten ready to share it with all of you. This year I have the draft of the 2025 planner written, but it still needs to be created.

What I've been focusing on the last few months is reading the productivity books that have come out in the last few years, taking a few productivity courses, and translating the principles that apply to us as moms into the planner and courses that go along with the planner. I am excited to share these little but effective tweaks with you soon!

I also sent an email out earlier this year to everyone who has purchased the Made to Soar: Next 90 Days program looking for feedback about what was working and what wasn't working. Two really important points emerged from that feedback.

First, 90 days is a really long time to focus on something and it led to feelings of discouragement when interruptions happened or it took longer to get through the course material. At the same time I've seen so much progress in the lives of the moms I've been working with for nearly 4 years in Soaring Mothers Society (which is the group coaching program that goes along with the Made to Soar DIY course). And the reality is that the baby steps add up to incredible change. 

So the first big change I'm announcing in this email is that the Made to Soar: Next 90 Days program name is changing to Win Your Week Academy. With this focus on creating a winning week you will also experience winning months, quarters, and years. Everyone who has already purchased the Next 90 Days program will get access to this update.

Second, many moms struggled with working on the program because they were in survival mode, re-entry, or buried in the work of normalizing. Which is absolutely right because that content is really focused on the later stages of normalizing, exploring, and thriving. And this is where I realized that I had a major gap I needed to fill and where the idea of the Surviving to Thriving Toolkit came about. This is something I've been making baby steps of progress on for months and I'm looking forward to announcing the beta launch of this program soon.

The women in Mom Matters Too have also been so patient this year as we started that new program and moved around to 3 different tech platforms until we found our home. This was a huge undertaking but I am really thrilled with the results. So much so that I am going to be switching all of the products and courses over to this platform so everything will be in one place. This is a huge project but will smooth things out for everyone moving forward.

With all of these large projects on the horizon, I have made the decision to take my first break ever since starting the podcast nearly seven years ago. This way my team and I can divert all of our energy and attention to getting the 2025 planner ready to go, creating the new Win Your Week Academy program, creating the Soaring Mothers Toolkit, and switching all other digital products to the new platform.

I already have many more episode ideas and raw footage recorded for the podcast, so there is part of me that thinks I can just keep going with both. But honestly, it is a relief to decide to go all in on one thing and create a really strong foundation with things that will truly serve you and help you in ways that I can't do through the podcast. And once we have solid footing, it will be wonderful to put energy and attention back towards bringing you great conversations and insights on the Thriving in Motherhood Podcast again.

During the break you can listen to any of the 330 previous episodes here: https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/podcast/

I will continue sending emails on Thursday to give you behind the scenes progress updates and let you know when episodes will be released again as the time gets closer. I look forward to working with some of you in the Surviving to Thriving Toolkit beta program! You can get on the waitlist here to be the first to know when the doors are opening. 

I went out to harvest cucumbers and green beans with my kids early one morning. The plants looked amazing, with vines reaching everywhere. At first glance, it looked like we would come out with nothing to show for our months of effort water, picking off bugs, and weeding. But after we slowed down and searched for a while, we began to see lots of vegetables (we found 17 cucumbers and an entire colander of green beans!).

Just like the vegetables hidden in the garden, sometimes we get so caught up in the daily grind that we miss all the amazing things we're accomplishing as moms. That's why a monthly review is SO important! It is when we slow down and look for all of the fruit that we get to celebrate and enjoy our daily efforts.

You can do a monthly review on a piece of paper or journal, or use the Thriving in Motherhood Planner.

There's a page each month for doing this monthly review so you never have to remember that it's time to sit down and reflect again.

If you want a little more accountability and motherhood camaraderie we'd love to have you join us in our monthly Soaring Mothers Society Calls. These monthly calls are a fantastic way to connect with other moms, share your review progress, and get inspired.

And here's my favorite part of the whole process (and a way to battle the mom guilt that so easily creeps in): After your monthly review, share it with your kids and husband at the dinner table! Share the things you are learning and discovering. Share your accomplishments. Reflect and remember the things you've done as a family and the places you've gone. Share what you've been reading. And then ask them about their progress too! Your kids want to celebrate with you, be proud of you, and enjoy seeing your success and growth as much as you enjoy seeing theirs.

This is a powerful way to create a strong family culture of motivated, growing individuals who cheer each other on.

Grab a piece of paper, join our Soaring Mother Society Calls, or use your planner – whatever works for you. Just take that time to reflect, celebrate, and share your joy with your family.

I can't wait to hear about all the amazing things YOU'RE accomplishing!

I'm cheering you on!

Jessica

As mothers, we often find ourselves navigating the challenging journey from merely surviving our days to truly thriving. Over the years, I've had the privilege of working with many amazing moms, and I've noticed some common pitfalls that can make this journey feel even more daunting. 

Today, I'd like to share some insights to help smooth your path. In our latest podcast episode, we dive into the five biggest mistakes moms make as they transition from survival mode to thriving. 

Here are the five key mistakes to consider:

1. Focusing on Circle of Concern vs. Circle of Influence: It’s crucial to distinguish between what you can control and what you can’t. By redirecting your focus to your circle of influence, you empower yourself to make meaningful changes. When I was pregnant with my third baby, I found myself overwhelmed by everything outside my control. A wise friend encouraged me to focus on my circle of influence rather than my circle of concern. It was a life-changing moment that taught me to concentrate on what I could truly impact. This shift in perspective enabled me to put my energy into actions that mattered, rather than getting bogged down by things I couldn't change.

2. Phone Scrolling: While it's a common escape, it can hinder your ability to think clearly, connect meaningfully with your family, and solve your problems with God. Reducing phone time can significantly improve your ability to cope and connect.

3. Getting Stuck in Phases: Whether it's survival mode, normalizing routines, or exploring new interests, it's important to recognize when it's time to move on and adapt to new phases in your motherhood journey. I go into great detail about what it looks like to get stuck in each phase.

4. Focusing on Suffering: It's easy to dwell on the hardships of motherhood, but shifting your mindset to focus on what you’re learning and how you’re growing can make a significant difference. Seeing challenges as opportunities for growth fosters resilience. This can't be rushed - it takes time to grieve or work through the emotions and realities of things being hard or different than you anticipated. But I have also learned that it is a skill set and a habit of thinking that can grow stronger with practice.

5. Limiting Strategies to Simplify Life: I spent years thinking there are only a couple of ways to make life easier, like sending kids to Grandma's or eating out. However, there are countless strategies to improve your day-to-day, even without these conveniences.

This is why I'm creating a brand new program, The Surviving to Thriving Toolkit! If you want to be the first to know any details and get on the waitlist, you can head over to https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/toolkit.

Additionally, if you're seeking more support and community, consider joining Mom Matters Too {https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/mom-matters-too} where we work on micro habits together. These calls are a fantastic opportunity to connect with other moms, share your progress, and gain inspiration. The price is going up at the end of July so now is the perfect time to join!

Remember, every step forward, no matter how small, is a victory. Let's celebrate these wins together. I can't wait to hear about all the amazing things you are accomplishing!