Overwhelm = Too Many Unmade Decisions // Steal My Default Systems
Hi, Reckless Optimists!
You’re not lazy. You’re not scattered.
You’ve just got too many tabs open—mentally, emotionally, literally.
Overwhelm = Too Many Unmade Decisions.
Too many “shoulds” shouting over your own inner knowing.
Too many priorities competing for your attention.
Too many low-impact obligations stealing time from your high-impact goals.
And what happens?
You spin.
You stall.
You work hard—with very little to show for it.
We think we need to add more. Do more. Try harder.
But the most powerful move you can make right now isn’t to hustle harder.
It’s to edit. (My first tool when working with any client is my “Edit to Amplify” filter—do this for your life.)
Want More Ease & Flow? Then You Need a System.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Ease isn’t random. It’s not personality. It’s not privilege.
Ease is the reward for people who are willing to do what most avoid—
Build structure that supports the life they actually want.
We avoid systems because they sound boring. Restrictive. Complicated.
But chaos is way more exhausting.
Ease isn’t what you feel before you start—it’s what you get after you follow through. (This. Hey team—this: THIS!!!)
And the secret to getting there? This community—and fewer open loops. More intentional defaults.
This Week’s Challenge: Close the Loops
Step 1: Identify the Unmade Decisions You’re Avoiding
What decisions are quietly draining your energy day after day?
These are your “loops”—tasks you think about more than you act on.
Examples:
Deciding every night whether or not you’ll work out tomorrow
Figuring out dinner while hangry at 6:00 PM
Replaying a conversation and wondering if you should respond
Letting emails stack up because you don’t know where to start
Avoiding your finances because… ouch
Step 2: Automate or Decide Once
You don’t need to plan every detail of your life.
You just need a few go-to systems that eliminate decisions before they ever drain you.
Here Are Examples You Can Steal:
Mental Loops:
Default bedtime alarm that reminds you to log off (or three)
Pre-drafted “no” email for requests that don’t align
Sunday Scaries mental dump into a weekly priorities list
A “worry hour” once a week so your brain stops spinning every day
Life Loops:
Meal templates (Taco Tuesday, Stir-Fry Thursday—don’t laugh, it works)
Auto-order your groceries or pre-set a go-to order on your app
Schedule a weekly calendar clean-up via Alexa so everyone helps
Move at the same time 4 days a week, even if it's just a walk
Digital Loops:
Use “Focus Mode” on your phone from 8 PM–8 AM
Unsubscribe from the email lists that stress you out
Set your most-used logins to auto-fill and stop wasting time retyping passwords
Emotional Loops:
Write a decision down and put a time limit on rethinking it
Let yourself grieve the thing you’re not doing anymore—so you can close the loop
Decide that you’re not going to solve it today—and that’s okay
Call the person and say, “I just want to close this loop. What’s the conversation we need to have?”
Systems are not about being rigid.
They’re about protecting your energy from the things you already know drain it.
The Reckless Resource
🎧 Podcast:The Lazy Genius – “Decide Once”
Kendra Adachi breaks down how to eliminate constant re-deciding and build “Decide Once” strategies that make life easier without making you a robot.
Community Spotlight
Shoutout to Carrie Ritchie, the founder of the phenomenal brand and community The Lesbian Culture Club and a proud member of the ultra-baddies Reckless Optimist Patagonia Tattoo Club.
In fact, we just had a call last week—months after wrapping a project last winter—just to make sure we had closure on all fronts. Nothing left sitting in our mental, emotional, or professional 'omg I gotta say this, do this, or get this to that person' pile. If that’s not community and compassion, I don’t know what is.
Basically:
Hey, let me take the initiative to lighten your mental load.
I’m sorry, but everyone should reach out to five people—personal and professional—and close the loops!
We’d all have so much capacity we’d basically be like Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting, right???
OK, well maybe we’ll start with matching our socks.
Don’t Miss This: FREE Monthly Salon – This Sunday
"Dial It In: Make Moves That Matter"(This is a good one)
Live [virtual] inside The Reckless Optimists community & Momentum building.
We’ll cover:
✔️ How to stop overthinking and start flowing
✔️ Why hesitation is really just self-sabotage in disguise
✔️ How to build systems that reduce burnout and decision fatigue
✔️ How to edit your schedule, your goals, and your mindset—so your energy actually works for you
📅 Save your spot →
Come as you are. Leave clear, fired up, and ready to move.
Also Enrolling: The Momentum Method (!!!)
My 8-week small group coaching experience to help you design a life that actually works.
Live coaching. Systems that stick. Energy that compounds.
The group is honestly shaping up to be epic, and I’m so personally excited to dive in with you!!
We start April 4. Limited spots available.
Get the full breakdown → THE MOMENTUM METHOD
Pep Talk to Close It Out
You don’t need to do more.
You need to decide once and build a rhythm that works.
Because “figure it out later” is costing you more than you realize.
This week, stop negotiating with yourself.
Close the loops.
Choose ease—on the other side of effort.
Let’s build something that supports you.
Let’s dial it in.
xo,
Jessi