By the end of the workday, my batteries used to be completely drained. After back-to-back meetings, endless Slack messages, constant context switching, micro-decisions, and high-stakes challenges, I wasn’t just mentally foggy—I was physically exhausted.
And yet, the hardest part of the day wasn’t behind me. It was ahead of me. That moment of transition. That role switch.
From executive to mom.
From decision-maker to partner.
From leader to friend.
It felt like crossing an invisible threshold where the skills that earned me recognition at work didn’t always translate at home. At the office, efficiency and decisiveness ruled. At home, patience, presence, and softness were what mattered most. And making that switch—instantly, gracefully, wholeheartedly—was harder than any boardroom challenge I’d ever faced.
The Cost of Decision Fatigue at Home
Decision fatigue doesn’t clock out when you leave the office.
It follows you home.
I knew I wasn’t showing up the way I wanted to for the ones who mattered most. I could see it in their eyes, the hesitation, the way they tiptoed around me at the end of the day, waiting until they knew mom was back.
It was a wake-up call: decision fatigue wasn’t just costing me clarity at work. It was stealing presence from my personal relationships.
The Shift: From Exhaustion to Presence
The truth is, presence doesn’t happen automatically. It has to be created.
That’s why in Awakening Performance, we focus on building mindful transitions. Even small resets help protect your bandwidth and bring your full self into the next moment.
Here’s a simple 2-minute end-of-day reset that changed everything for me:
- Close your laptop and silence notifications.
- Take three slow breaths in and out through your nose.
- Notice where tension sits (jaw, shoulders, back).
- Exhale and release.
- Resolve how you want to show up next. Feel calm, present, and connected.
It’s a tiny practice with a big impact. By creating space between roles, I could switch from exhausted executive to present mom, partner, and friend.
Why This Matters
We often think performance is about productivity, but the real measure of performance is how we show up in the moments that matter most, not just at work but where it matters most, at home.
When you protect your clarity and presence, you not only make better decisions in the boardroom… you build stronger connections in your living room.
