Episode 126: Balancing Life: How to Live Your Priorities without Burning Out

In a “more is better” culture, how can women live lives that are balanced, not burned out? It’s easy to mistake a busy life for a meaningful one. Often, we don’t realize how exhausted we truly are until we reach a breaking point.

I’ve had my own season of burnout, juggling a job, volunteer roles, and homeschooling while Rob traveled extensively for work and we prepared for a cross-country move. When the boxes were finally unpacked, I looked around and found myself in a new life that was shockingly quiet. Out of that stillness, I gained a lot of perspective about roles, priorities, and peace.

As women, we care deeply for the close relationships in our lives. We want to love others well. We also want to give our best to the values and commitments that matter to us, whether that be a job, volunteer work, or raising our kids. How do we find the balance?

My guest today has wrestled through these questions as well. Kelsie Zarko is a wife, mom of two, and owner of the small business, Curate Social. We sat down for an honest, mom-to-mom conversation about seasons, roles, identity, and so much more. Kelsie shares powerful insight into how women end up burned out, and how we can find a different path when we stop striving and choose to live from a place of being deeply loved.

In this episode, Kelsie shares:

Practical ideas for being intentional in relationships and priorities
A helpful definition of self-care and how to pursue it
Thoughts on how to live from identity, not performance
And more!

I found this conversation so encouraging and I hope you do, too!

Links:

Our Takeaways:

1) Resting in Christ’s love frees us from having to prove ourselves. Often without realizing it, we base our identity in our roles or accomplishments. This can lead to burnout, as we take on too much in order to feel a sense of security in who we are. However, approaching life with intentionality can keep us grounded in both our identity in Christ and the values we want our lifestyle to reflect. When we rest in Christ’s love, we are less prone to believe the lie that our worth is based on what we produce. Habits of reflection and self-care can counterbalance the pull of productivity culture.

2) Prioritizing relationships and self-care can help prevent burnout. With intentionality, it is possible to work hard and bring our best effort to the Lord while keeping margin in our schedule. Married couples can build rhythms of check-ins and connection to avoid the “divide-and-conquer” mindset. Even more, pursuing activities that replenish you, not deplete you, is a helpful way to define self care. If your schedule has little margin, both relationships and self-care tend to suffer.

3) Burnout can show up uniquely in different seasons. It could be a season of physical exhaustion, such as life with a newborn baby or extended travel for work. It can come from taking on too many commitments or living at a pace of life that leaves no room on the margins. It can also come from trying to hold on to a season when it’s actually time to make a change – be it a job, school situation, or lifestyle. Burnout is often a clear signal that we need to become more aware of what’s stealing our energy, and how we can live a more balanced life.

Meet Our Guest

Kelsie Zarko is a former second grade teacher who accidentally started a business back in 2016. After watching the power that organic content and marketing could have on attracting customers and creating a growing business, she fell in love with marketing and began to help others successfully market their own businesses too.

Since then, she has helped dozens of business owners navigate social media, feel proud of their content, grow their audience, and get their brain space back! She is the owner and founder of Curate Social, a content creation and social media management business. Kelsie lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband Matt and two kids. In her spare time she loves good coffee, Crossfit, and any chance to be out in the sunshine!