Thanksgiving week.  One minute everything is normal and the next you’re coordinating travel, groceries, early-release school days, multiple Thanksgiving dinners, while still carving out time to watch Ohio State beat That Team Up North.

It is gratitude season, yes.  But it is also elite-level calendar gymnastics.

And the small stuff often piles up at once.

That missing ingredient.

That “quick question” email that is never quick.

The kid who suddenly needs something tonight.

The family group chat debating side dishes like it is national policy.

It is all good… just stacked.

And this year we added one more block to the tower…moving.

As in… boxes everywhere, tape dispensers disappearing into thin air, and a full house move happening the Monday after Thanksgiving.  Because why not keep things interesting.

Still, I’ll be extremely protective of the parts of this week I love every year. Watching the Macy’s parade with my girls. Eating way too much food. And settling into that warm, slow time with our families where everyone is full, happy, and slightly drowsy.

Those moments always remind me what the season is actually about.

We do not need permission to slow down.  We just need the intention to make a little space in a very full season.

Let’s make room for the good stuff..

Tetris, moving boxes, and a calendar that fills up fast

If you played Tetris growing up, you remember how simple it starts.  The pieces drop slowly, you place them neatly, and everything feels manageable.

Then the pace picks up.  The blocks fall faster.  The music speeds up.  And suddenly you’re trying to fit pieces into spaces that clearly weren’t made for them.

This time of year feels the same way.

The calendar starts calm.  Then everything begins dropping at once. Grocery runs, travel plans, early-release school days, Christmas events, multiple Thanksgiving dinners.  And this year, we added moving boxes to the mix.

Some days it feels like the calendar is just stacking one block on top of another until there’s barely any room left.

That’s the Tetris trap.  We start believing we have to fit every single piece.

But here’s the simple truth:

You don’t have to.

Not every block needs a place.

Not everything belongs on the calendar just because it showed up.

The win isn’t a perfectly filled schedule.

It’s choosing to focus on the pieces that actually matter.

How to decide what takes precedence when everything feels important

When the calendar fills up, it’s easy to treat every request the same.  But things aren’t equally important.  Essentialism helps you see what truly supports your values versus what simply landed on your schedule because the season is busy.

What deserves your time are the things that add meaning, connection, or calm…the moments that matter to you and keep you steady.

And here’s an important thing to understand…protecting your time, energy, and space may make some people uncomfortable at first.  They’re used to the old version of you who said yes to everything.  Their discomfort isn’t a sign that you’re wrong.  It’s a sign that you’re choosing with intention instead of reacting to what shows up.

But people do adjust.  When you’re consistent and clear, they learn your boundaries and usually respect you even more.  Boundaries don’t push people away, they just teach others how to treat you.

Once you can see what truly matters versus what merely arrives, the choices get simple.

Keep what adds meaning.

Let the rest shift or wait.

The goal isn’t to fit everything in.

It’s to protect what matters most.

In this section every week, I’ll give step by step instructions on how to tackle one project. It could be something simple and small like this week’s assignment, or it could be more involved. Once you take on a few of these, you’ll learn some of the common strategies that can be applied to just about anything.

My hope for this newsletter is to make it feel like a mini-coaching session with me.

So now, it’s time to…

This week, try giving yourself one small pocket of space every day, even just ten or fifteen minutes.  No tasks, no errands, no “one more thing” before the next thing.  Just breathing room.

It sounds tiny, but in a week where the calendar fills faster than you can blink, that little gap becomes an anchor.  It helps you slow down enough to notice what matters, enjoy the moments you look forward to, and avoid feeling like you’re sprinting from one obligation to the next.

If you want to take it a step further, remove one thing from your plans that doesn’t need to happen this week.  A small cancellation or delay can create more space than you expect.

The goal isn’t to overhaul your week.

It’s to give yourself enough room to actually enjoy the good parts..

Weeks like this can blur together if we let them.  The errands, the plans, the timing…it all stacks up fast.  But a little intention and a little space can make the important parts stand out again.

Enjoy the parade.

Enjoy your people.

Enjoy the food you’ll swear you won’t overeat next year.

And give yourself enough room to feel the good parts.

If you try a little reset this week, hit reply and tell me what you made space for.  I love hearing how people protect what matters most.

Happy Thanksgiving!