Thriving In Motherhood Podcast | Productivity, Planning, Family Systems, Time Management, Survival Mode, Mental Health, Vision

In this episode, I chat with Katie, a mom of three, about how the Thriving in Motherhood Planner has helped her find more purpose and joy in her everyday life. Katie shares the practical systems that have made a difference in her home, from simplifying meal planning to creating family rhythms and recognizing personal growth. We also talk about cultivating our strengths, making space for what matters, and recognizing just how much we're accomplishing, even in the ordinary days of motherhood.

I've been making a few changes to how I use my phone, and it's made a bigger difference than I expected. This week, I'm sharing the simple boundaries I've put in place, what I've learned about my need for quiet, and how spending less time on my phone has helped me enjoy my days more.

Not sure what to do with the monthly calendar in your planner? In this episode, Jessica shares what's changing in the 2027 Thriving in Motherhood Planner and walks through practical ways to make your monthly calendar work for you—from tracking progress and noticing patterns to documenting daily highlights and taking small steps toward your goals. The goal isn't to use every page perfectly. It's to use the tools that support the life you're actually trying to create.

Feeling overwhelmed by everything you need to do, but not sure where to start? In this episode, Jessica sits down with Mallory, a working mom of three, to walk through how to take everything swirling around in your head and turn it into a plan that actually feels manageable. They talk about prioritizing what matters right now, finding a safe place for everything else, letting go of perfection, and using your planner to support your real life, not add more to your plate.

What do you want your family life to actually feel like?

In this episode, Jessica sits down with Laura, a mom of three, to talk about using the Thriving in Motherhood Planner to move beyond simply managing everyday life and start intentionally creating a family culture.

Laura shares how she uses the planner to collect ideas for traditions, plan meaningful experiences, keep her brain from holding onto everything, and slowly work toward bigger goals—even when they take years to come together. They also talk about making space for personal goals and interests in motherhood, le...

Jessica sits down with Lili for a real-life planner coaching session to look at what's working, where she's feeling stuck, and how to make the planner better support the season she's actually in.

They talk about creating a simple vision, using the Big Three to understand where your time and energy are going, what to do with tasks that keep getting moved from week to week, and how identifying the next action can make an overwhelming task feel doable. They also explore how planning can help you make intentional choices without feeling guilty when your priorities change.<...

Guest Jessica Morgan shares how years of small, intentional changes have shaped the way she approaches motherhood and prepared her for an unexpected season of welcoming surprise twins. She and Jessica talk about letting go of control, finding joy even when life feels chaotic, giving yourself more compassion, and recognizing how tiny steps over time can lead to meaningful growth.

Ready to bring more intention and clarity to your own season of motherhood? Get your Thriving in Motherhood Planner at the link below.

https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/planner-priority-list/

Motherhood doesn't always fit into an hour-by-hour schedule. In this conversation, Hannah shares how the Thriving in Motherhood Planner has given her structure and an anchor through newborn days, survival seasons, home projects, and everyday life. 

She shares how she's learned to use the planner imperfectly, take small steps when she only has pockets of time, and recognize just how much she's actually doing and experiencing.

Want a planner that's there to serve you in whatever season you're in? Get your own Thriving in Motherhood Planner here. 

If you have things you want to do but can't seem to find the time, energy, or attention to actually get to them, this episode is for you.

I'm walking you through the five phases of planning that have helped me get all of those thoughts out of my head, figure out what matters right now, and keep making progress even as life and motherhood change.

We'll talk about reality checking, managing what has to happen, creating a vision for what you actually want, building momentum, and ultimately getting to a place where your time...

September can feel a little like a second January. A fresh start, a new school year, and a chance to look at where you are and where you want to go.

In this episode, I'm talking about how to revisit your vision for the year, get clear on what still matters to you, and make the most of the next few months.

I'm also sharing something I've been learning about the middle, that long stretch after the excitement of starting has worn off but before you've reached the finish line. If your motivation has faded...

For years, I thought I needed better systems to make motherhood and life work. Better cleaning routines, more organization, less clutter, better habits. And while I love a good system, looking back over 13 years of motherhood, I can see that systems weren't actually the thing that helped me move forward.

What made the biggest difference was learning how to clear the mental clutter, find a home for all the ideas in my head, and get clear on what mattered to me and what my next step was.

In this episode, I'm sharing how that process...

In this episode, I'm sharing what homeschooling six kids looks like for us this year. I'll walk you through our daily rhythm, the curriculum we're using, what my kids are doing independently, and what we're still doing together as a family. I'm also sharing what's working really well right now, what we're still figuring out, and how our homeschool continues to change as my kids get older.

After more than eight years of releasing weekly episodes and recently passed the 400 mark, I wanted to sit down and share what's really been going on behind the scenes.

In this episode, I talk honestly about this current season of life - adding another baby, full schedules, late nights, early mornings - and what it feels like when you've been living beyond your capacity for a long time.

I share why this podcast is taking a pause, what I mean by doing a "controlled burn," and how I'm learning to stop treading water and start...

In this episode, I share what I've been learning about prayer during a season that's pushed me beyond my capacity. Drawing from scripture and personal experience, I talk about bringing our weaknesses honestly to God, praying for what only He can do, and trusting that He meets us with a plan, power, and promises. If you're walking through a stretching season, I hope this episode offers encouragement, perspective, and hope.

In this episode, I share howmy thinking about politics as evolved over the last decade, and how that shapes the way I talk with my children about it. Rather than focusing on current events or party lines, I walk through the principles we return to in our home:

Separating problems from people

Understanding influence verses concern

Valuing character and leadership

And learning to solve problems without attacking one another

This episode will help you consider how we can help our kids engage thoughtfully and compassionately with a complex world.<...

A few weeks into the new year, it's easy to feel discouraged, especially if the goals you set already feel heavy or out of reach. In this episode, I talk about why that happens and what I do instead.

I share why traditional goal-setting can feel like using the wrong map in motherhood, how shifting to a vision changes the entire experience, and why the real work isn't about doing more, it's about who you're becoming along the way.

I'll share:

Why time-based goals often create pressure and self-doubt in full seasons of...

If you want to homeschool long term, you have to stop letting one hard day convince you you're doing it wrong.

In this episode, I share the mindset shifts (and practical systems) that have helped me homeschool consistently for 10+ years—through changing seasons, growing kids, and all the problems that inevitably come up. We'll talk about how to solve the right problem, how to build systems that work when life isn't ideal, and why your role isn't to panic—it's to become the person who can do this.

Resources:
Masterclass: How to Create a Home...

I'm homeschooling five kids (grades 6, 4, 2, kindergarten… plus a five-month-old baby), and I'm sharing what's actually working now that real life is in full swing.

I'll walk through the "filter" I'm using for curriculum decisions, what changed between my plan from seven months ago and what we're doing now, and the biggest fixes we made (especially in math and writing). I also share what our days look like right now — the flow, the routines, and the small setup decisions that make consistency possible.

Resources:

Other Homeschooling Videos:

Favorite for 2023: PreK, 1st Grade, 3rd G...

As the year comes to a close, I'm talking about what it feels like to reflect when you're discouraged, uncertain, or just tired. When progress feels slow. When goals didn't turn out the way you hoped. When the future feels unclear.

In this episode, I share the thoughts, stories, and spiritual insights that helped me reframe what it means to be "behind," why nothing you've given is wasted, and how to approach vision-setting when dreaming feels hard. I'll talk about seasons of becoming, surrender, and letting God lead when you don't have clarity yet.

Looking for books that will completely change the way you think about weight, health, and body image? From surprising medical history to cultural myths we've quietly absorbed, these reads helped me question where our ideals about "healthy," "thin," and "ideal" actually come from.

Resources:

Happiest Man on Earth: https://amzn.to/49lK5G6

The Secret To Unlocking The Stress Cycle: https://amzn.to/4aul90b

Everything is Tuberculosis: https://amzn.to/3MMAY8F

Semi-Well Adjusted Despite Literally Everything: https://amzn.to/3NbdGt8

As the year winds down, I love slowing things down a bit, opening my 2026 Thriving in Motherhood Planner, working through the vision section, and taking time to reflect on what actually stayed with me this year.

One of my favorite parts of that process is reviewing the books I read.

This year, I read over 60 books. When I sat down to reflect, I narrowed that list first to the ones that truly stood out, and then distilled it even further to my top favorites across fiction, memoir, nonfiction, and a small handful of self-help books...

Before you jump into holiday plans or new-year goals, there are two things I want you to do, because they will completely change how you feel heading into next year.

In this episode, I walk you through the exact reflection and clarity-building process I'm using right now to close out 2025 and prepare for 2026. It's a simple reset that helps you see what really happened this year, understand where you grew, and get clear about what matters most going forward.

In this episode, I'm sharing three things I want you to start thinking about as we get close to the end of the yar. These things will set you up really well when you sit down to create your vision for the new year.

They come from two books I read in November, and it was really encouraging to see how much of the research lined up with what we've been doing in the Thriving in Motherhood Planner and Journal since 2015. But these books also highlighted a few angles that I think can help us look at...

Some decluttering advice sounds great, until you try it with a real house with real kids and real life happening all day long.

In this episode, we're talking about the gap between having a decluttering plan and following through, especially when you're a busy mom. After years of trying a lot of different methods, I've learned what actually makes progress possible when you don't have long stretches of quiet time.

If you're ready to make steady, realistic progress in your home (even with kids underfoot), I hope you'll listen in.

If I could sit my younger self down - the brand-new mom who was sleep deprived, overwhelmed, and convinced she was doing everything wrong - there are five things I would tell her. They're simple, but they have changed everything.

In this episode, I'm sharing the real-life lessons that came from a decade of raising kids, navigating sleep deprivation, stumbling through routines, shifting old patterns, and learning what actually makes motherhood feel lighter. 

I'm sharing:

What helped me manage those long nights so I didn't spiral with anxiety

Why going outside c...

There's a kind of energy that looks productive on the outside but feels frantic on the inside. You're moving all day, checking things off, staying "on top of it," but when the house finally goes quiet, you don't feel satisfied—just tired.

It's easy to assume the problem is time management, but often what we need most is clarity.

Clarity about what matters most.

Clarity about what season we're in.

Clarity about where our energy is truly needed.

When we lose that clarity, it's easy to get swept up in...

This week, I'm joined by Carly Thornock, who's joining us from a 400-year-old farmhouse in Portugal.

Carly and her husband went from running a business and owning their dream home to traveling the world with their three boys—and finding more peace, health, and joy along the way.

In this conversation, she shares the Shift 5, the process that helps them make decisions, pivot with purpose, and live a life that truly aligns with their values.

We talk about:

Creating a vision that keeps evolving

Learning to trust God with th...

If you've ever wondered which microfiber cloths actually work, not just on paper, but in real life, this episode is for you.

I tested the top-rated brands on Amazon and put them through the ultimate mom test:

Kitchen cleanup

Dry dusting

Scrubbing walls and doors

After weeks of spills, crumbs, and fingerprints, I've got some surprising results.

Tune in to find out which ones are worth keeping in your cleaning stash, and grab the free comparison spreadsheet to see how they stack up side by side.

When I first created the Thriving in Motherhood Planner, I was deep in survival mode, barely keeping up and looking for something that made life feel more doable. Over the years, it's become so much more than a planner.

It's a tool that grows with me. The fact is, no one stays in one place for long. We all move through seasons, sometimes thriving, sometimes surviving, and our planning needs change with them.

In this week's episode, I'm walking through what it looks like to use your planner along the five-step path from surviving to...

When I first created the Thriving in Motherhood Planner back in 2015, it was just for me. A way to make sense of life as a busy mom. By 2018, I started sharing it with you, and every year since, it's gotten a little better.

Now, the 2026 planner is almost here, and I can't wait to show you what's new! These updates came straight from real life and from the feedback of current planner users who shared what's helping them and what could make it even better.

In this episode, I'm sharing:

The new vision...

I don't know if you've ever had a week like this, but I really didn't want to get out of bed this week.

Between waking up multiple times a night with a two-month-old, homeschooling five kids, and doing most bedtimes solo, I'm just tired. My husband works long days and is gone many evenings, and right now, this season is stretching me more than ever before. My capacity is growing, but so is the fatigue.

And honestly? This week, I didn't want to do it.

But even in those hard weeks, I've learned...

Every 90 days I like to do a Quarterly Review. With five kids, homeschooling, and running a business, I don't have time or energy to chase the latest productivity hacks or add one more thing just because.

If I'm going to make space for something, it has to be intentional. It has to serve a purpose. And it has to fit into the limited time I actually have.

That's why quarterly reviews matter so much to me. They aren't about doing more, they're about creating clarity. A way to step back, look at the last season...

One of the things I wrote in my 2025 vision was to raise the standards in our home - for homeschooling, for housework, and for our daily routines. But I didn't want to just be about me pushing harder. I wanted the kids to come with me.

This past week we had a breakthrough, and it actually worked without all the meltdowns and fights that usually come when we raise the expectations.

Here are a few things that stood out:

Vision matters. Creating it prayerfully with God changes everything.

Resistance is real...

If you're in a season where you feel exhausted, stretched too thin, and unsure how you'll make it through another day, this episode is for you!

Postpartum, homeschooling, and caring for five kids has reminded me again just how heavy life can feel. But, in the middle of one of my hardest days, I had an experience that completely reframed how I see God's grace in survival seasons. It was simple, unexpected, and exactly what I needed. 

In this week's Thriving in Motherhood Podcast, I'm sharing that story and how it shifted my perspective on h...

When you're in a survival season, it can feel difficult to hold onto hope. Between the exhaustion, constant needs, and lack of margin, even the smallest things can feel overwhelming.

In this post, I'm sharing four mantras that I've been leaning on during these postpartum weeks. These simple phrases have helped me steady myself when the days feel long, reminded me to focus on what matters most, and given me a way to keep showing up with more grace and confidence - even when I don't have all the answers.

I'll share:

A...

It's been six weeks since our little guys arrived, and I thought it would be fun to share how all of my plans and preparations actually played out in real life.

Some things went even better than I hoped - like family evenings together, baby camp activities, and homeschool routines that felt doable. Other things…not so much. Sleep deprivation hit hard, priorities had to shift, and I learned quickly what really matters in a survival season.

In this episode, I share the highs and lows of postpartum life with five kids, how we've managed to...

When life feels overwhelming, it's easy to reach for your phone as an escape. A quick scroll can numb the stress for a moment, but before you know, hours are gone, your energy is drained, and the problems are still waiting.

In this episode of the Thriving in Motherhood Podcast, I share how I re-designed my phone to actually support me in a survival season (postpartum, homeschooling, and juggling life with five kids). Instead of pulling me away from what matters, it now helps me stay anchored in the essentials.

I'll walk you through:

As moms, it's easy to believe our limitations are holding us back. Not enough time, not enough energy, too much on our plates.

But what if those very limits are the key to growth?

In this week's Thriving in Motherhood Podcast, Stephanie Stutznegger shares how embracing her limitations as a mom of four transformed her family life from burnout and clutter to systems that actually work.

We talk about:

The unexpected gift of limits

A surprising addition to the family chore chart

How she made cleaning fun...

As I got ready to welcome our fifth baby, I kept coming back to one question:

What would this look like if it were awesome?

Instead of bracing for survival mode, I asked better questions and came up with simple, practical solutions to make this postpartum season calmer and more enjoyable.

In this episode, I'm sharing the four things I focused on during pregnancy to get ready, plus how you can apply these same principles to any survival season in your life.

You'll hear:

The mindset shift that helped...

This year I did something different: I prepped our homeschool year before  it started.

Since we've added a new baby to our family, I knew I needed systems that would help us stay consistent, without relying on me to coordinate everything in the moment. We're using Alveary again, and after learning what worked (and what didn't) last year, I made four big changes to help this year run more smoothly.

I switched from digital to print: I printed all of our lesson plans and materials so we can be screen-free and fully open-and-go.

I...