Hey friend,

This week I’ve got a special guest and reader of the Slow Digest sharing her insights on the cost of emotion dysregulation on productivity (and 3 practical ways to build emotional fitness).

Sabrina is a burnout coach and neuroscientist who helps ambitious achievers regain calm, focus and stress-resilience so you get back to peak performance.

Her insights stems from a call we had together talking about her current challenges with Notion and productivity a few months back.

Now let’s hear from Sabrina, and I’ll circle back at the end to share my own insights.

It hit me during a conversation with Janice: My problem wasn’t organisation—it was emotional dysregulation.

I’ve spent decades managing global projects in my corporate career and building my burnout coaching business on the side - both of which require serious organisation. And yet, I constantly felt frustrated by the lack of structure in my coaching tasks.

I hold so much in my working memory that it should’ve been straightforward, shouldn’t it?

Last year, I decided to tackle it. I invested in Obsidian Sync, convinced this sleek app with its promise of seamless organisation would be the solution to my efficiency woes.

I pictured myself sorting resources, gathering data, and mapping out tasks like a pro. Tags, folders, backlinks—the lot.

I was all in!

But within weeks, the novelty wore off. I found myself dipping in and out of the app before eventually cancelling my subscription.

Cue the disappointment spiral: I started telling myself stories like, “Maybe I’m just not organised,” or, “I didn’t try hard enough.” These narratives stuck, reinforcing a false identity of, “I’m not organised,” which only made things worse.

It was during that chat with Janice about productivity systems that the penny dropped:

My problem wasn’t the app, my skills, or even the complexity of the system. It was emotional resistance.

My corporate work relies on structure and meticulously tracking every detail, but when it came to my personal projects, I was already at capacity. My brain had started rebelling against anything that felt like more rules or structure.

Identifying the root cause helps you target the right issues.

The truth? I didn’t need more structure or systems at that moment—I needed space. My mind was signalling loud and clear that it was overwhelmed, pushing back against anything that felt like more pressure.

Instead of bringing calm and clarity, the idea of “getting organised” had become another burden. So, I procrastinated, avoided tasks, and felt stuck in a frustrating cycle.

The irony was, I still wanted to be organised.

I craved the clarity and focus a good system could bring, but every attempt felt like too much.

My struggle wasn’t about skills or apps; it was about mental fatigue and emotional avoidance. I’d been so focused on what I should be doing—staying efficient, getting everything sorted—that I’d missed what I actually needed: a break from relentless expectations and a bit of breathing room.

My first step to moving forward was building emotional fitness.

By focusing on tools to understand and regulate my emotions, I could move past the avoidance and create space for meaningful action to get organised.

Here are three simple but effective ways to start:

3 ways to build emotional fitness and move forward

1. 5-minute Emotional Check-In Journal

We’ve been conditioned to think emotions are irrational or over-sensitive, but neuroscience tells a different story. Emotions are your mind’s way of labelling physical sensations based on your context, like a personalised alert system.

But they’re not always accurate - sometimes your first assessment is a bit off.

This is where the 5-Minute Emotional Check-In comes in. It helps you recognise and reframe emotional patterns:

Set aside 5 minutes at the start or end of the day and write down:

• What did I feel today?

• What triggered those feelings?

• How did I respond?

Here’s a tip: don’t just accept the first emotional label. For instance, anger might actually be masking sadness. Get curious about what’s underneath, and you’ll make better choices moving forward.

2. Mood-to-Movement Sketches

When words fail, creativity steps in.

Translating emotions into movement on a page taps into non-verbal emotional processing and helps release pent-up feelings.

1. Grab a blank page and some coloured markers or pencils.

2. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths to slow things down, and notice how you’re feeling or emotions appearing.

3. Translate those feelings/emotions into shapes, lines, or textures on the page - don’t overthink or self-censor.

4. Reflect on the energy you’ve captured and think about your next steps once you’ve released those emotions.

It’s a simple but powerful way to process emotions without getting bogged down in endless overthinking.

I’ve used this approach with clients and they always notice something hidden from their conscious awareness. Once you understand the wider picture, you take more useful steps to resolve issues.

3. Thought Labelling

Disruptive thoughts often derail our emotional state.

Writing them down and categorising them can help you take back control:

1. Identify unhelpful thoughts related to productivity (e.g., “I didn’t try hard enough”).

2. Assign them to categories like:

   • Overgeneralising

   • All-or-Nothing Thinking

   • Catastrophising

   • Minimising the Positive

3. Reframe the thought: “I didn’t try hard enough” becomes, “I haven’t found the system that fits my life yet, I’ll start small and build from there.”

Recognising and reframing these cognitive distortions reduces their emotional charge and improves your focus. Believing you can’t do something becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Sabrina’s wrap up

Build a discovery mindset and get curious about new ways to move forward. You might not have the answers—yet—but there’s no reason why you won’t create a solution to fit your work and life.

By addressing the emotional barriers behind productivity struggles, you create a calmer, more sustainable approach to your goals.

Progress isn’t about perfection or rigid systems.

It’s about finding what works for you in the moment and building from there. Then you’re ready to adopt the systems to achieve the goals that matter the most.

Curious to know if you’re at risk of burnout? Try this quiz. Recognition if you’re experiencing burnout is the first step to unlocking your peak performance.

Back to Janice speaking.

I've indulged in all things productivity for the past 14 years—In my professional life as a hospital pharmacy senior manager, my solo-business life as a Notion consultant, and in my multi-passionate personal life.

I used to think productivity is all about having the perfect or right system, then you can’t help but be productive with your time and focus.

But in the last few years, after experiencing burnout a couple of times in my professional life… I've come to realise our emotions play a huge part in our ability to be productive, organised and focused.

Don't get me wrong.

The right systems and tools that work for you is still mission critical.

I would be absolutely lost without Notion to help me organise and manage my business and personal life in today’s world.

(by the way, Notion makes work faster and easier. So if you need help using Notion to manage and organise your business and life, just reply to this email—happy to help)

But the right productivity and organisations systems that work for you and being in the right emotional and mental state for productivity are two sides of the same coin.

Lacking in either will drag you down, one way or another.

Being productive isn’t about checking off the maximum number of to-do’s and falling into bed feeling spent.

Instead, I think success at the “game” of productivity is really about:

• Doing work that felt good.

• Spending your time with intentionality.

• Feeling content about how your day went when you turn off your laptop.

• Achieving what you set out to do for the day (without feeling overwhelmed).

• Leaving emotional and mental headspace for life outside of work—your relationships deserve it.

That’s the “game” I’m playing.

What about you?

Janice

(p.s. I love collaborating with my readers! If you’re like Sabrina and want to cross collaborate in your newsletter, just reply to this email—would love to see how we can work together!)

📌 Resources for Coaches and Consultants

1. How to overcome productivity guilt (Chris Bailey)

   Productivity guilt is real! I’ve felt it plenty of times, and I think you might have too. Read on for Chris’ simple approach to this mental mess.

   → Check out the article

2. Mastering the Art of Negotiation with Kwame Christian (All The Hacks, Christ Hutchins)

   Whether we like it or not, we’re negotiating something every day in our life. If you’re curious about things like what most people get wrong about negotiating and how to prepare for a negotiation in 3 minutes, I think you’ll enjoy this episode.

   → Check out the podcast episode

3. Try 'Slow Productivity' to Increase the Quality of Your Work (and Prevent Burnout) (LifeHacker)

   In case you needed a refresher on Slow Productivity.

   → Check out the article

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