Reclaiming Energy & Managing Stress
The Three-Part Playbook
Reset your energy, without burning it all down.
First things first. Keeping things simple and light-weight in terms of time is part of the magic! To help alleviate stress triggers and actually make it stick, these are intentionally designed to be 15-minutes or less. Because the problem isn’t knowing these things are important, but instead about making the time to fit it in.
So if you’re a working parent, overloaded leader, high performer who may be silently struggling, or a human trying to keep up with the daily demands of life - this is for you.
Based on neuroscience and lived experience, this 3-part playbook is designed to help you reclaim mental space and clarity inside the life you already have.
Micro-PAUSES
Why: When everything feels urgent, your brain stays locked in survival mode. It’s impossible to think clearly when your nervous system thinks you're under attack.
Why it works: Micro-pauses interrupt the stress cycle and help restore activity in the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s hub for clear thinking, decision-making, and emotional regulation. Even short breaks reduce cognitive load, ease decision fatigue, and increase mental flexibility.
How to incorporate: Instead of treating everything like it’s on fire, pause and ask: “What actually matters right now?” This single question resets your focus and creates space to respond instead of react.
Tactical Practice: Build 15-minute buffers in your calendar at least 2x a day to break (from meetings, work and screens etc). Get up and stretch, or take a short walk. When you return, return the question, what matters most right now?
Micro-SCANS
Why: Most burnout isn’t caused by one big thing. Instead it’s the long-term drain of energy from constant tasks and expectations, having a compound effect on our ability to recover. When we don't slow down to check in, we normalize depletion.
Why it works: Micro-scans and a way to detect what’s going on, and build self-awareness. This helps you spot stress patterns and shift out of autopilot. By naming it, we are able to reduce the intensity of the stress response and reframe the perceived threat. By tuning in, we stop reacting and start choosing.
How to incorporate: When you feel overwhelm creeping up, build a habit of asking yourself: “What’s draining me right now?” Or “what is stressing me out?" Can I name what it is and why?”
Tactical Practice: Build in two 5-minute micro-scan checkpoints 2x per day (perhaps midday and end of workday). Do an energy audit of how you feel and ask what’s draining or causing stress. Then wrap the exercise by naming one thing you can do or let go of, after identifying the stressor.
Micro-CONNECTION
Why: Isolation and chronic stress go hand-in-hand, and can especially be true in hybrid work and leadership roles. When we lose real connection, our nervous systems stay in guard mode and therefore “on high alert”.
Why it works: Human connection supports co-regulation, a process when our nervous systems calm down in the presence of safe, trusted people. It also boosts oxytocin, which counters cortisol and promotes emotional resilience and openness.
How to incorporate: We often cut connection when we’re maxed out, but that’s when we need it the most. Make space for real, meaningful connection. Even small moments count!
Tactical Practice: Build one intentional moment of connection into your workday. It could be a walk-and-talk with a peer, a 5-min check-in with your team that goes beyond tasks, or a quick voice note to someone who gets it.
*Sources linked below
*Research and Sources for the science behind the 3-Part Micro-Habit Playbook
Claim: Micro-pauses reduce decision fatigue, restore access to the prefrontal cortex, and support executive functioning.
Sources:
Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009). Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6), 410–422.
Shows how stress impairs the prefrontal cortex, which governs decision-making and focus.
Baumeister, R. F., & Tierney, J. (2011). Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength.
Popularized the concept of decision fatigue and the cognitive benefits of strategic breaks.
Harvard Health Publishing. (2020). How stress affects the brain.
Overview of how chronic stress reduces prefrontal cortex function and why short breaks matter.
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Claim: Self-awareness activates the anterior cingulate cortex, improves emotional regulation, and disrupts burnout patterns.
Sources:
Creswell, J. D., et al. (2007). Neural correlates of dispositional mindfulness during affect labeling. Psychosomatic Medicine.
Found that mindfulness and awareness activate the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), improving attention regulation.
Siegel, D. J. (2010). The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being.
Explains how awareness and reflection strengthen metacognitive pathways and emotional insight.
Tang, Y. Y., et al. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
Links micro-awareness practices to improvements in stress regulation and default mode network modulation
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Claim: Human connection co-regulates the nervous system and releases oxytocin, counteracting cortisol.
Sources:
Coan, J. A., Schaefer, H. S., & Davidson, R. J. (2006). Lending a hand: Social regulation of the neural response to threat. Psychological Science.
Demonstrates that supportive social contact reduces threat-related brain activity and stress response.
Carter, C. S. (1998). Neuroendocrine perspectives on social attachment and love. Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Explores the role of oxytocin in emotional bonding and its buffering effect against stress.
Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation.
Explains how safe social connection promotes parasympathetic nervous system activation (calm states).