Episode 97 - 6 Systems That Actually Reduce Your Mental Load
6 Home Systems That Actually Lighten Your Mental Load
Back-to-school season brings a fresh wave of schedules, activities, paperwork, meals, laundry, and household logistics, which means it's the perfect time to put a few simple systems in place.
In this episode of De-Stress the Nest, Hannah Morgan shares six practical home systems designed to reduce decision fatigue, clarify responsibilities, and make everyday family life feel more manageable. From meal planning and shared calendars to a 10-minute nightly reset and a system for handling your kids' artwork and school papers, these strategies can help your family spend less time figuring out what needs to happen and more time actually living your life.
Key Takeaways:
Meal planning reduces weekly decision fatigue. Plan dinners around your family's actual calendar, then use that plan to build your grocery list.
Ownership is different from reminding. Clearly assign responsibility for household tasks rather than making one partner responsible for remembering and delegating everything.
Use your calendar as a single source of truth. Color coding can make it easy to see who's responsible for getting kids where they need to go.
Create a predictable rhythm for recurring chores. Doing laundry and dishes at the same time every day can eliminate last-minute scrambling.
Focus your cleaning efforts where they matter most. A 10-minute reset of a few high-impact areas can make your entire home feel more manageable.
Give school papers a designated home. A weekly review keeps paperwork from piling up while still giving kids the opportunity to show off work they're proud of.
Bring kids into the systems. Chore charts and other visual systems can help children understand and take ownership of their responsibilities.
Quotes:
"Just remind me" is not actually transferring ownership.
"When you and your partner can sit down and establish clear responsibilities, this is a game changer for sharing the mental load."
"The point is that you're coming up with an intentional schedule."
"Let's just spend 10 minutes a day clearing off the kitchen island...or whatever is highest-impact for you."
Resources Mentioned
Hawkeye Focus Coaching — Episode Sponsor
Hawkeye Focus Coaching helps ADHD entrepreneurs and executives do deep work, prioritize their to-do lists, and get things done through focused work sessions and accountability. Packages are available for 5, 10, or 15 hours per month.
HawkeyeFocusCoaching.comHeron House Management – Virtual house management for busy families: we handle your to-dos so you can focus on what matters most. Learn more at www.heronhousemanagement.com.
Asana — Mentioned as one option for assigning and tracking household responsibilities.
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Episodes Released Weekly on Tuesdays
This episode of De-Stress the Nest is sponsored by Hawkeye Focus Coaching. Learn more at www.hawkeyefocuscoaching.com.
About Heron House Management:
Heron House Management is a virtual house management service that takes the stress out of your busy life by taking on your mental load and managing your To Do list. We provide fractional virtual house management for busy families at 10, 15 and 20+ hours/month.
Meal planning, signing up for kids activities, scheduling doctor's appointments, finding a house cleaner, planning your kid's birthday party, getting quotes for that home renovation project, or scheduling a monthly date night with your significant other and so much more. We do it all! Learn more at www.heronhousemanagement.com.
About Hawkeye Focus Coaching:
Hawkeye Focus Coaching helps ADHD executives, entrepreneurs, and busy professionals turn ideas into action. Through personalized, hands-on coaching, deep work sessions, accountability, and practical systems, we help clients overcome overwhelm, stay focused on what matters most, and make consistent progress toward their goals.
Whether you're launching a business, leading a team, managing a major project, or trying to get out of constant firefighting mode, Hawkeye Focus Coaching helps you work with greater clarity, confidence, and momentum. Learn more at www.hawkeyefocuscoaching.com.
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[00:00] Intro
Hannah Morgan: Welcome to De-Stress the Nest, a podcast for busy parents where experts share bite-sized tips on how to create systems that minimize stress at home. I’m your host, Hannah Morgan.
[00:11] Sponsor Message
Hannah Morgan: Today’s episode is sponsored by Hawkeye Focus Coaching, a new offering that allows ADHD entrepreneurs and executives to do deep work, prioritize their to-do list, and get things done.
If you need help starting or finishing a project, we got you. You can sign up for packages of 5, 10, or 15 hours a month to do your best work and live your best life. Check it out at HawkeyeFocusCoaching.com.
[00:35] Meet Bri Pollard
Hannah Morgan: Today, I am so excited to welcome Bri Pollard, our fabulous Operations Manager, to the podcast.
Today, she’s going to be sharing some tips and tricks for us on how to stay focused. This is a challenge that we run across so much with our clients, and I think it’s a challenge for just people in this digital world feeling so distracted.
When you are sitting down to work on something, if you feel like you’re being pulled in a million directions, this is the episode for you.
So, Bri, let’s start by hearing a little bit more about who you are and what you do.
Bri Pollard: Yes, Hannah. Well, thank you so much for having me, first of all.
I’m the Operations Manager for Heron House Management, and I’ve been with the company since day one. Hannah and I have known each other for probably a decade at this point, and we’ve worked together for a really long time.
I’ve assisted in building Heron House, and as the Operations Manager, my scope includes all things operations and people at this point, basically. I write our policies, our procedures, I build out our digital ecosystem, manage our team, onboard new house managers, all that good stuff.
Hannah Morgan: Excellent. Bri is the reason everything works so smoothly.
All right, Bri, let’s talk about your tips and tricks today for staying focused. What have you got for us?
[01:40] Tip #1: Pick One Thing
Bri Pollard: Staying focused in today’s digital world, like you said, is a huge challenge, and this is a big thing that we help our clients with.
Many of our clients come to us overwhelmed, and they can’t even pick one thing to start with. So, my first tip for staying focused is just that: pick one thing to start with. Find exactly what you want to work on.
For example, “I’m going to tackle my inbox, and I’m going to respond to five emails.” Give yourself something with a clear finish line.
Hannah Morgan: Love that, because it helps you break down the overwhelm, where you have this huge, overwhelming, amorphous problem you need to solve. Like, no, okay, one task at a time. Love it.
[02:20] Tip #2: Create and Protect Time Blocks
Bri Pollard: Exactly. Don’t get overwhelmed by the huge list.
My second tip to stay focused would be to create time blocks. I know a lot of people know about this tactic of time blocking, but I think the second important piece of that is to tell people about your time blocks.
Let your team know, “I’m unavailable every Wednesday between two and four because I’m doing XYZ.” Tell your assistant, your spouse, your kids, whoever might come and poke you during that time, to please not disturb you because you’re working on something very important.
You really have to protect that time block once you create it.
Hannah Morgan: I love that, because it’s not just about making sure people aren’t interrupting you, but it’s also speaking it into the world.
For something like time blocking, it makes perfect sense. It’s both a theoretical benefit and a physical benefit. I love that.
[03:17] Tip #3: Use Do Not Disturb
Bri Pollard: Another tip would be: just put your phone on Do Not Disturb.
There are so many customized settings in the phone now, so you can set up focused work sessions to filter the noise. Let through people who maybe need to get through in an emergency situation, but otherwise, just put that thing on Do Not Disturb so you can really be focused.
Hannah Morgan: Love that. The phone is so distracting.
Bri Pollard: It is. It’s a mess.
[03:50] Tip #4: Try Co-Working
Bri Pollard: Co-working sessions are super, super helpful if you’re the kind of person that gets things done while you’re being watched or you need accountability.
Find a friend or a colleague and plan to meet virtually for a predetermined amount of time. Share your task—what you’re going to work on—with each other at the beginning, and then work simultaneously to get it done. So, parallel play, but parallel work.
Hannah Morgan: I love that, and that’s one of the benefits of our Hawkeye Focus Coaching services that we offer.
It has the element of body doubling along with that strategic prioritization that we do to make sure you’re using your time most effectively, but then also holding that space so you’re working together live with somebody—sometimes troubleshooting, sometimes just in parallel silence.
It makes such a difference because then you’re not just operating in a vacuum.
Bri Pollard: Exactly.
[04:52] Tip #5: Create Your Focus Soundtrack
Bri Pollard: My final tip is a little bit different than the rest of them, but for those of us who are maybe music-motivated or like to have some type of audio or sound in the background, create or make yourself a playlist that gets you in the groove of getting things done.
That can look like music, if you like music. Maybe you like podcasts. Maybe you like audiobooks. Whatever can get you focused and in the moment, and whatever works for you, just turn that on.
Hannah Morgan: Okay, so talk me through this, because I am a total silence queen. One drop of sound will distract me.
What do you feel like enhances your work environment? Do you like a particular type of music, or do you do a podcast when you’re cleaning the bathroom? Tell me how you pair the audio with the task.
Bri Pollard: Me personally, I cannot listen to words or talking while I’m working. Podcasts and audiobooks—I don’t usually listen to those anyway. Audio processing is not my wheelhouse.
Anything talking or even music with lyrics is not really great while I’m working, because I know all the lyrics, so then that’s distracting my brain.
I do like a lot of instrumental music. There are a lot of really great mixes on YouTube, like lo-fi music or focus piano music—whatever you like. There are all types of lists that are already created, so you don’t have to spend your time making one. Just find one that works for you.
[06:18] Finding Your Focus Zone
Hannah Morgan: I feel like it’s finding the one that scratches your brain in just the right way, right?
The different types of white noise, like white noise and brown noise, and finding the one that really makes you feel like, “Okay, I’m setting the tone. I’m in the zone. I’m able to focus,” without feeling like I need to get up and break out into song and dance.
Bri Pollard: Exactly. You don’t want the music to distract you; you want that to put you in your focus zone.
[06:50] Recap
Hannah Morgan: Awesome. I love it.
Okay, so just a quick recap: five tips. Defining what you’re going to accomplish, creating time blocks, phone on DND, co-working sessions, and music or a playlist that helps you do your best work.
Thank you so much for sharing these, Bri. I love it. Super actionable, and I hope this really helps our listeners do their best work out there.
Bri Pollard: Yes, thank you so much for having me.
Hannah Morgan: Awesome.
[07:20] Outro
Hannah Morgan: Thanks for listening to De-Stress the Nest, the podcast where experts share bite-sized tips on how to minimize stress at home.
Don’t forget to subscribe and tune in every Tuesday for more ways to simplify your life.
