Time Realignment – Her Guided Evolution®

Why You’re Tired Even After Rest: The Real Reason You Can’t Recharge

Shanice Jones Cameron, PhD — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 18:16:06 +0000

You took a nap. You canceled the plans. So why are you still exhausted?

Modern rest is often shallow—optimized but not nourishing. And if you’re like many of the women I support, you’ve tried all the typical strategies: bubble baths, a digital detox, maybe even a wellness retreat. But the fatigue returns. Quickly.

I’m a professor, and my life tends to be pretty hectic during the [fall and spring] semester. So, in May when the semester ended, I gave myself a week to unwind. That week flew by! And I still felt drained even after that break…

If you’ve ever found yourself in a similar situation, here’s what might be happening:

The Real Reason You’re Still Tired

1. You’re mentally overextended, not just physically.

You wake up every day and walk into a wall of tasks that you don’t want to do. Plus, everyone else’s expectations and your own spiraling thoughts are swirling around in your head.

This type of cognitive load doesn’t go away with a nap.

2. Your “rest” is performative.

If your rest still centers productivity—”rest so you can do more work”—you’re not restoring. You’re still operating from a model of: overworking now=justification to rest and have fun later.

3. You’re out of alignment with your actual needs.

Rest isn’t just about sleep. It’s about reconnection—with your rhythms, your values, and your evolving identity.

What to Do Instead

Start with realignment, not performance.
Ask: What does my body need? What emotions have I ignored this week?
Let your rest be inefficient.

Ready to reset for real?

Grab a free copy of the Daily Self-Care Plan for small rituals you can follow throughout the day to feel more grounded and supported.

Pin this post to remind yourself that real rest starts with reconnection.

What is a Guided Evolution?

Shanice Jones Cameron, PhD — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 12:26:40 +0000

I think the world, especially Black women, who I’m talking directly to at this space, Black moms in particular, we need more well-being spaces. We need more spaces where we can focus on our own well-being and doing what’s in our power on a daily basis to make sure that we are the healthiest and the happiest that we can be.

I think we need spaces where we are supported and able to be intentional in thinking about ourselves, how we feel, and how we are able to exist in the world. There are generations of Black women who have been doing this work and spreading this message of wellness, spirituality, and well-being. And I want to add to that by sharing my own story and sharing the knowledge that I have.

So, that’s part of the reason why I created Her Guided Evolution. I’m interested in evolving as a person, and I want to advocate for each of us to have a personal evolution.

When I talk about evolution and evolving as a person, I’m thinking about it in contrast to this idea of simply growing older, aging, and not knowing who you’re evolving into.

If you are not intentional about evolving, you might not have any solidified plans or ideas about your future.

You just wake up one day, maybe at 35 or 45 and you realize—I’m not the person that I want to be or intended to be. Like, how did I get here? How did my life turn out like this?

And I want to contrast that with this idea of evolution and evolving in a way that you have this guiding vision about the type of person you want to be and who you want to become.

If you are intentional about your guided evolution, you’re making daily strives to transition into that and to become that person.

For me, a guided evolution is being guided by your inner intuition and an image of how you want to cope, how you want to exist in the world, how you want to feel in your body.

Evolving doesn’t necessarily mean you are striving to be really successful in your career or having all the external trappings of what we oftentimes think of when we hear success in a Western society. That’s one way to look at evolving and growth.

When I think about evolving, I’m also talking about how do I want to cope? How aware am I of my emotions? Am I cognizant of what is happening around me and the circumstances around me? And how am I able to respond to that? Am I coping in a way that supports me and makes me feel good, that makes me feel empowered and resilient? In other words, am I grabbing that glass of wine, or am I taking a few minutes to do yoga poses because I know that makes me feel grounded and makes me feel safe and empowered?

I also think about evolving as doing the inner work that supports our overall well-being. This is what I mean by a guided evolution, and its the reason behind this space!

What to Do About Poor Time Management

Shanice Jones Cameron, PhD — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 15:05:20 +0000

In this episode, Shanice talks about her new role as a time management coach and shares how she helped her first client be more productive and intentional with her time while working from home with children. Shanice talks about the importance of gaining awareness about your current time management situation, being proactive about self-doubt, and setting realistic goals each day– especially considering the constraints that accompany working from home as a mom. If you’re struggling to manage your time, listen to this!

Free Video Training: 3 Ways to Maximize Your Time

My coaching program, Beyond Productivity , was born out of my own experiences with motherhood (read: struggling to assume this new identity) and still having this desire to be creative, ambitious, and high achieving. I know the struggle of lacking motivation because you are so overwhelmed that you don’t even know how to break the cycle of self-doubt, procrastinating, feeling like you’re running on a hamster wheel all the time.

I know what it’s like to wake up knowing that your kids need baths, breakfast, to be entertained, and you are looking at all the tasks in front of you, and you just want to crawl back in bed.

I know what it’s like to battle the self-defeating thoughts like – “I have kids so I can’t do X, Y, Z.” “I don’t have time; I don’t know enough.” “Eventually I’ll do X, Y, Z.” All the while, time is passing me by. I’ve spent years planning and working on the same goals only to get get nowhere. I’ve been through it, and I still go through it. And I’ve learned that sometimes I have to actively bring myself back to a place where I can be creative and get into a flow by relying on the tools and strategies that I teach in my own coaching program.

That’s why I feel drawn to this work.

I want to alleviate a lot of the unfair pressure and expectations that mothers often put on themselves while recognizing that we (at least those of us in the USA because that’s where I live) live in a society that demands all this labor from us regardless of how it impacts mothers on a personal level.

So, in this post I am going to share some things you can do when you are a mom who are working from home at least part-time and struggling with time management.

What to do About Poor Time Management

One of the first things I recommend for anyone who is struggling with poor time management is to gain awareness.

Gain awareness about any self-defeating thoughts that you may have about yourself, about your ability to parent, about your ability to accomplish what you need to get done during the day. Gain awareness about how you procrastinate and how you spend the time that you do have.

When I think about my friends, family members who often say “I don’t have time” or those folks who are always working on the same project, task, or goal for years and years without making any progress, I know they need more than a new planner or another time-blocking strategy. If you have spent weeks, months, or maybe even years planning to do something and working on a goal, I guarantee there are probably thoughts and habits that are keeping you stuck.

That’s why I think gaining awareness about what’s going on in your mind, how and why you procrastinate is the first step to solving any time management issues.

One of the things that my client said was most helpful about working with me was we spent time figuring out exactly how she was spending her time and why. She was able to see when she was watching Amazon Prime and YouTube videos. This also helped her see why her current time management tools weren’t working. And from there, we were able to organize her schedule in a manner that considered those sneaky self-defeating thoughts and habits that were keeping her stuck.

So, I always say the first step to addressing poor time management is gaining awareness.

2. Next, if you are struggling with poor time management, I would suggest that you learn how to manage self-doubt and negative feelings.

So much of time management involves your mind.And I suspect that if you are struggling to complete tasks and not following through on what you wanted to accomplish, you probably have some self-doubt and uninterrogated beliefs about yourself and your circumstances that are not serving you.

Or, you’re actively trying to avoid being bored, feeling awkward, or some other negative feeling that is associated with the task.When I say self-doubt, this can be self-doubt related to your ability to achieve a bigger goal that is unrelated to your 9-5 job like going back to school, starting a business, applying for a new job.

This can be self-doubt related to your ability to tolerate and handle negative feelings like boredom, frustration, and anxiety throughout your day, so you end up avoiding tasks like email and returning phone calls, which can cause you to lose time during the day. You may have self-doubt related to your ability to be compassionate with yourself because you may think a lot of self-defeating thoughts throughout the day.

If you don’t manage your self-doubt and your negative feelings, in my experience, that’s when you fall into this trap of trying to avoid tasks and procrastinating. Of course, as a mother working from home, you have real constraints on your time. I’m not downplaying that at all.

You know I can relate. But I want you to think about your day. Or think about what you did yesterday. Did you get on Facebook, Instagram, or spend time scrolling through TikTok videos today? Did you watch Netflix, Hulu, stuff on Amazon Prime? If you’re like most people, including myself, you probably did a couple of those things.

And that makes sense because most of us have ways of coping and spending our time that isn’t always aligned with our short term and long-term goals EVEN if you have kids. And that is okay!

Even me, I’m super busy, but I still spent some time on Facebook today. I scrolled through my Instagram a couple of times today because I am working on something career related that is bringing up a lot of self-doubt and frustration for me. That’s why I say, mindlessly scrolling through your phone is not necessarily a bad thing.

We all need time to chill and honestly, just BS on our phone if we want.

But I think it’s also important to consider what may be driving this desire to watch those YouTube videos or get lost in Instagram Reels.

For a lot of us, it’s easier to mindlessly scroll through our phones rather than dealing with the self-doubt or other negative feelings that may surround starting your business, or applying for graduate school, applying for a new job, or even sending an email.

Self-doubt is so sneaky because it can show up as, “I’ll never be able to accomplish that.”

But sometimes self-doubt is hidden under other thoughts that seem unrelated and harmless like, “I don’t have time” or “not right now” or “I’ll get to it later.”

Self-doubt can show up as perfectionism and constantly questioning everything you do. Self-doubt can show up as questioning if you’re a good mother and mommy guilt.

So, if you are struggling to manage your time, I recommend figuring out how you are going to navigate self-doubt and other negative feelings.

It’s important to manage self-doubt because it doesn’t matter if you plan out your schedule perfectly or do time-blocking, you’re less likely to follow through on those tasks if you aren’t actively managing that fear, boredom, and other negative emotion that those tasks bring up for you.

3. My last suggestion is to create a schedule that’s realistic and fits your specific circumstances.

One of the things that I’ve struggled with in the past and one of the things that my client also struggled with is not being realistic about what we can accomplish in a day. If you start each day or week planning all these lofty goals, and you end up not completing everything, this sets you up to fall into a cycle of self-doubt and having low confidence in your ability to manage your life.

Let me give you an example.

My husband, Chris is on a research trip right now, so that means I have all three of the kids while he’s gone for a little less than two weeks.

I am very fortunate to have help—my mom and my sister-in-law help when my husband travels, but as most parents know, the help you receive from family and other people is just different than what you would receive from a partner (at least it should be).

For me, my mom and my sister being here helps so much—but when my husband is gone, I still have to do all the household management tasks—all the laundry, grocery shopping, taking out the trash, cleaning, scheduling for the kids, etc. on top of actually taking care of the kids and working from home.

Considering this, it’s not realistic for me to say that I am going to finish making my syllabi for next semester, get an academic paper under review, record 6 podcast episodes, do 2 interviews for my dissertation all within the next two weeks while my husband’s out of town.

It’s just not realistic. And mothers—that’s often what we’ll do without even realizing it. We know that we are working from home which automatically creates these circumstances where we have to split our attention between responding to emails, figuring out what our kids are going to eat, giving them attention, and then we still think we are going to have the capacity or time to tackle all these tasks.

Most of the time, we’re lucky if we even get to take a shower or get through two things on our to-do list! Society puts all this pressure on women, especially Black women, to do all these things and put in all this labor, both invisible AND visible labor, and we start to internalize those things, which leads to us holding ourselves to these unrealistic standards.

That’s why my program, Beyond Productivity , is designed to help my clients work on self-compassion while we are all navigating internal and external pressures that often lead to us making these impractical schedules and to-do lists.

In all actuality, to be honest, I think a to-do list and/or a schedule can be harmful if you are not using it correctly. That’s why creating a realistic schedule is so important. If your daily or weekly tasks feel realistic and manageable, they are going to bring up a lot less resistance and be a lot less intimidating when it’s time to follow through. And you run less of a risk of falling into this cycle of procrastination self-doubt and not knowing how to get out of it so you can be productive.

Summary: So just to recap, if you are working from home with kids and you feel frazzled, frustrated, and like you have no control over your time and your day, I want to encourage you to gain awareness about any self-defeating thoughts and how you may be procrastinating? I also suggest learning how to manage self-doubt and negative feelings because avoiding these often leads to procrastination. And my last suggestion was to be realistic about what you can accomplish in day considering everything you have going on and be compassionate with yourself.

If you want to learn to apply the content of this post, apply for a free Making Time for Me Assessment Call today.

When You Procrastinate

Shanice Jones Cameron, PhD — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 00:56:11 +0000

There is psychology behind procrastination. Our brains want instant gratification rather than delayed gratification. But I’m not going to focus on that part in this episode. I feel a lot of people talk about that. I want to talk about this from the vantage point of someone who used to procrastinate on my well-being goals. For the longest, I would say, I’ll go vegan one day. I’m going to start being consistent with yoga. I am going to start a well-being brand) to now, today being someone who is actively pursuing my goals and prioritizing my well-being. I am so grateful for the Shanice that chose to go on this journey toward evolving. I’m grateful for the Shanice that chose to be guided by her own voice, her own intuition, what she wanted for her career and the lifestyle I wanted to live even when it wasn’t all that clear, and I felt completely out of place with everything I was doing. But it has not always been like this. I’ve been open about this. I’ve known I wanted to be vegan and start a well-being brand for a long time.

DEFINING THE PROBLEM

I think about the times I wasn’t in this really creative space and how I felt. Feeling like I was stuck in the cycle of procrastination, particularly in terms of things that don’t have external deadlines. And I’m not saying that procrastination is something that I’ve completely overcome, because I think this type of procrastination and this feeling comes in cycles. Sometimes you feel a lot more productive, creative, and energized than other times. That’s just how it is. But I think often times when we are stuck in this cycle of procrastinating, it’s because we have a fear or some other emotion that’s lurking in the background that we don’t want to feel.

WHAT PROCRASTINATION LOOKS LIKE

Think about all the people you know who are super talented, have all of these ideas that want to do this and do that, and they aren’t taking any steps to make it a reality. And you ask them why they haven’t done it, and they say “Oh I’ll do it once I have this or that.” “I need this amount of money.” “I need to wait until the kids are at older.” “I don’t have enough experience.” “I don’t have time to do that (this is one of my personal favorites). Or they count themselves out completely and say – “I could never do that [go vegan, run a marathon, start a side business, practice yoga consistently].” This could be something that you are experiencing right now. Think about it: what have you been saying you will do for months or years that you just “haven’t gotten around to?” And the thing is, we can always find an excuse to not do the work or follow through on that idea. And we often do this without looking around at the resources that are at our disposal in this moment.

HOW PROCRASTINATION SHOWS UP

Procrastination can show up in a lot of ways. I like to think of these as little procrastinations that can lead up to you missing small goals like turning in a work assignment on time or when you said you would. Or, it could also be the little procrastinations that prevent you from growing and evolving in big ways that can change your life or your health. Like going vegan, going back to school, starting a business, being the parent that you want to be. Those small decisions to put something off and procrastinate add up, and you miss out on all the good things that your growth and your evolution will get you. Because there’s a difference in actively working toward this vision that you have for yourself and just thinking about it, planning, and procrastinating without following that up with action. I wanted to highlight what you are missing out on when you stay stuck in this cycle of making little decisions to procrastinate. Peace within yourself that you’re honoring your vision. Not going for a goal that you want is uncomfortable. It is painful! You going about your business, and you just feel that little twinge like, man I should be doing this. Or I really want to go vegan. Or I really want to start yoga. You constantly have this nagging feeling that you should be doing this or doing more. And I know from experience. You see other people maybe in a similar field or with a similar idea making big things happen for yourself and now you’re low key envious because you really want those things too. You’re just scared and procrastinating. That is painful. For years when I was working jobs that weren’t for me, not using my skills, I felt so lost. For years I had the thought that I need to exercise. I need to stop eating so much sugar. But I always had some reason why I wasn’t following through. Not chasing something you feel in your spirit you need to pursue is painful because that discomfort that you’re feeling is meant to push you forward. You know you’re not aligned. You know you’re not letting your intuition guide you. Now that I am honoring my vision, I feel a sense of peace. My research and my identity as a scholar is coming together. And you miss out on that feeling of peace, wholeness, and grounding when you continue to procrastinate and run from your vision. Another thing, you miss out on building a better relationship with yourself. Look, I still have so much imposter syndrome, issues with perfectionism, and all that. But these past few years of growth have really helped me build a better relationship with myself. And this looks like, a better relationship with myself means less internal chatter when I need to do things that I am not excited about. It means I am more confident when I have to write a paper or submit an assignment because I know I can survive and perform under pressure. It looks like eating plants (legumes, grains, fruits, veggies) because that’s what my body needs and deserves. When you are committed to growing and committing to evolving, that’s what you get access to. You gain access to more confidence and knowing you can do hard things and are capable of doing what is best for yourself and your body as well. When you procrastinate on your dreams, you don’t strengthen you confidence and build a better relationship with yourself in the same way. The last thing I’ll mention, you miss out on meeting a new version of yourself. When you procrastinate on your dreams and your goals, you ignore the part of yourself that is trying to blossom. I want you to imagine that you’re a plant or a flower. And you have petals that are trying to open up to show how beautiful and vibrant the flower is. When you procrastinate and ignore that part of yourself that is trying to grow, you stay in that state where your petals aren’t visible. And you don’t get to see what the other version of yourself looks like, sounds like, and how she feels. You don’t get to consider what she thinks about, and you don’t get to see how she shows up for herself. You don’t get to see what she is going to create and how she cares for her body and the types of new relationships she forms. I think about myself 5 years ago. If I had stayed in this cycle of perfectionism and “oh, I ate this one thing that wasn’t vegan so I guess I have to eat a standard American diet.”Or, I didn’t exercise on Monday, so I’m not going to work out at all this week. If I didn’t get a handle on my brain and then my actions, I wouldn’t have met the Shanice that is about to become a PhD candidate, who eats vegan, who practices yoga regularly. Yes, this Shanice still struggles with perfectionism and fear, but I am much more capable of dealing with it now because I’ve actively put in the work move past it anyway. But if you stay stuck of this cycle of procrastinating and not believing in yourself, you miss out on meeting that person, you don’t get to be that flower, you’re the flower that never blooms.

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FREE Journal Prompts: https://herguidedevolution.com/4

How to Create a Vision Board

Shanice Jones Cameron, PhD — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 23:07:45 +0000

If you want to be balanced and operating at your highest vibration, I think creating a vision board is one step you can take to move toward that in a tangible way. What is a vision board? A vision board is a visual representation of what you want out of life and for yourself in terms of career, personal life, relationships, etc. It’s a visual articulation of how you want to exist in the world, what you want out of life, and what you want to accomplish. You may be thinking, visualizing something is not going to make it a reality. Why should I even do this? And yeah, that’s true. But I think creating a vision board is worth the time for a few reasons. Why you should you create a vision board? • One, you can use a vision board process to listen to yourself. Coming from a place of love, asking yourself what is it that you want to accomplish or how you want to feel, what do you want to create in your life. • Two, I think making a vision board can help you stay motivated and recommitted to my goals. There is psychology research (I’ll put links in show notes) that shows visualization can help you feel more confident and help motivate you toward reaching a certain outcome. • Three, it’s an amazing feeling to look back and realize that you’ve put in the work and created what you wanted in your life. I’ve created vision boards in the past. I remember creating a vision board a few years ago, finding pictures that represented earning a PhD and eating a vegan diet, and here I am. I truly believe there is power in taking your dream or your vision out of your head and going through this process because it puts it out into the universe. AND you’re admitting to yourself that this is what you want. That’s why I want to share my current vision board process with you. I expect this process will evolve and change as I grow in my spirituality. But right now, this is the exact process I am going to follow to create my new vision board. Going to create a vision board after I’ve turned in everything for this semester. I put it on my calendar, and I am going to do this process, maybe have some tea, combine it with a little at home mani-pedi, some meditation music. I’ve broken down this vision board process into 3 steps. Step 1: Do a Brain dump. This should be a written or typed brain dump where you stop and take a moment to think about what you want for yourself. No judgment, write the first thing that comes to mind, don’t consider if it “realistic” or not. I do this digitally. Do it in Word, on your phone, or write it in your journal. But yours could be written in a journal. I like to limit it to accomplishments in the next two years. That way it feels more immediate for me. It’s less overwhelming, and I can tell if I’m making progress along the way because I know, 6 months into working toward this, I should have something to show for it at this point. Start by writing paragraph where you describe your ideal self in detail. Think about: If you could wake up tomorrow and be your ideal and best self, what would this person sound like? What would she think about? What would she not think about? What habits would she have? What habits wouldn’t she have? For me, this would be someone who is living a balanced life, committed to sticking to an Ayurveda lifestyle, practicing yoga and other spiritual practices. Following a routine, exercising consistently. Practicing meditation and deep breathing to feel more relaxed and at peace. Journaling. Keeping space neat and clean. Feeling creative and doing more design. Disciplined with working AND taking breaks. Not drinking regularly, if at all. Feeling confident enough to work consistently toward things that scare me in terms of my career and as a scholar. This is the type of person I’m working toward being. So, really think about who you are trying to be and write out the first thing that comes to your mind. Take about 5 minutes or so. Next, I like to write out bullet points and describe my vision based on different areas or segments of my life. Segment into areas: Career, Personal, Social/Relationships. I encourage you to do whatever segments make sense for you. 2. Make it visual and easily accessible to you. Make it visual and put your vision board somewhere that is easily accessible as a reminder of what you’re working toward and to keep you motivated. You can create a physical or digital vision board. Or you could even do both. Create a physical vision board, use posterboard and use magazines or print out pictures. Choose pictures that correspond with your vision and hang it up on your wall in your office or bedroom. You could paste the images in your physical journal or notebook. Print out a bunch of pictures. If you want to create a digital one, like me, you have a bunch of options. You can make it on Pinterest. Create a new board and name it 2021 Vision Board or something. Pin things that correspond what your goals and vision that you laid out in your brain dump. Link to content from Pinterest. For example, if you want to buy a house, do search on Pinterest on home buying tips. If you want to start practicing yoga regularly, pin some articles about a regular yoga practice. You can keep it simple and make a vision board in Word or Canva. Post images that correspond with your brain dump. Whatever format you choose (physical or digital), you want to make sure that your vision board make it accessible. Physical – put it up somewhere around your house. Office, bedroom, on the refrigerator. Digital – If you do make your vision board in a Word document, link to it on your computer desktop. You can put it in your Dock is you have a Mac. Take a picture of your physical or digital vision board and put it on your phone home screen via a widget. 3. Last thing you’ll do, make a plan and follow through. It’s easy to go through this process and stop at #2. You get all the good feelings of thinking of yourself accomplishing these things, but it’s harder to take strides and actually put in the work. But I encourage you to plan out how you’re going to make your vision a reality. Break them down into smaller goals and put it on your calendar. So, the last thing is to break down your vision into action steps and do the work to bring your vision to life.

FREE Daily Self-Care Plan: https://herguidedevolution.com/plan
FREE Journal Prompts: https://herguidedevolution.com/4

Healing from Perfectionism

Shanice Jones Cameron, PhD — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 19:02:07 +0000

Perfectionism is a personality trait that involves striving to be perfect in order to avoid criticism. Shanice opens up about her struggles with perfectionism and how she is making an effort to heal and break-free from this mindset. She offers suggestions on how you might recognize your own “toxic” personality traits that may be holding you back and negatively affecting the people around you.

FREE Daily Self-Care Plan: https://herguidedevolution.com/plan
FREE Journal Prompts for Unproductive Days: https://herguidedevolution.com/4

Refresh Your Mind, Reset Your Life

Shanice Jones Cameron, PhD — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 16:40:35 +0000

You might need to refresh and reset your mind if you:

You feel unmotivated and stuck in a pattern.

Every day feels that same.

You don’t want to do anything, and even little things feel like a battle.

You may be slacking on your self-care: you may have been planning to paint your nails, practice yoga, but you’re just in the same funk every single day.

Meetings and any work that you have to do feels like a literal chore.

You might spend every second counting down to when you can go back to scrolling through Facebook/Instagram, watching TV, or eating junk food.

You might start isolating yourself from people.

Texting your friend back feels like too much.

You don’t want to answer your phone.

If you’re in this place and any of this sounds familiar, I encourage you to start with refreshing your mind. Refreshing your mind means recognizing unhelpful thought patterns and identifying any behaviors and bad habits you might have fallen into…so, you can feel energized, get unstuck, and move forward.

Now, I want to highlight some unhelpful thoughts because you know I always encourage you to start with your mind.

Recognize Unhelpful Thought Patterns

But it’s hard not to get caught up in my head. And when I’m stuck in these patterns, my actions and behaviors look different too. And that’s where it becomes important for me to recognize what I am doing to cope with these thought patterns and how this shows up in my life and the things I do.

I’ve been spending hours and hours at a time working and not taking breaks even though I know that only makes me feel more overwhelmed. I feel more overwhelmed when I don’t stop and take a break because it makes me feel like I have absolutely no control over my time.

I want to encourage you to take a moment and check in with yourself. How do your unhelpful thought patterns show up for you in your behavior? Do you overeat? Do you eat processed foods? Do you forget to eat? Do you drink alcohol? Drink a lot of coffee? Do you stop exercising? Do you exercise too much? Do you avoid cleaning up? Do you keep a lot of clutter? Do you let your laundry pile up? Do you avoid people? Do you procrastinate? Really sit with this for a moment.

So, to recap, when you need to refresh your mind:

Step 1: The first step with refreshing your mind is recognizing old thought patterns that don’t serve you. Observe those thoughts. Let them pop up, but I think it’s important to recognize and label these thought patterns as such.

Step 2: Recognize the behavioral patterns that follow your unproductive thoughts.

You can get to the root of some of this by journaling. You can keep it simple. Action Step: Make a note in your phone, set your timer for 5 minutes, and just type. What thoughts do I have on repeat right now? What situations or scripts is my brain stuck on? What habits or patterns have I been stuck in lately?

So, I recommend that short journaling exercise. Once you recognize the thought patterns and the unproductive habits, I think this is a great time to think about what actions you can take to reset your life. Remember: If your brain is stuck in the same patterns, of course you are going to feel stuck in your life and feel like you can’t move forward!

Once you are in a place where you are refreshing your mind and want to move forward, you can start focusing on how you are going to reset your life and well-being journey.

Action Steps for Resetting Your Life

I think about resetting your life as a moment where you are recommitting to your well-being. It’s a moment where you acknowledge, okay I fell off and I’m in this pattern, but I’m not going to stay in this place.

A reset is your opportunity to do something differently. You have access to a reset any time you decide that you want to feel better. Your well-being journey will likely require you to do a reset over and over again. It’s hard to break cycles that your mind falls into and then your actions follow your mind.

What to Do When You Need a Reset

Gain clarity by journaling. Start with the activity I just laid out to figure out: What are your unproductive thoughts? What are you focusing on that’s causing these negative feelings? What bad habits are you falling into?

Stop avoiding things and take action. Be it work, exercise, eating healthy, texting. Use that energy that you are expending avoiding stuff just doing the thing. I know you don’t feel like it! Your brain won’t want to, but YOU have to take control and decide that you are going to reset your well-being journey. Go back to what inspires YOU. You know I’m always telling you to keep a repository of resources to help you stay inspired and motivated. Listen to old episodes of this podcast.

Make a vision board. Do something that helps you tap into your creativity, whatever that looks like for you.

Make a list – and focus on no more than the 3 things in front of you. If you struggle with overwhelm like I do, decide to focus on the things that are due immediately. This helped me a lot because I went into this weekend with a to-do list that basically made me contemplate my whole trajectory in life. But I remember my mom always telling me, “How do you eat an elephant? Cut it up and eat it one piece at a time.” That’s not particularly vegan friendly, but the message is on point.

Those are my tips!

Remember, you probably will need to do this process over and over again on your well-being journey. But it doesn’t matter how many times you fall off or how often you fall into those old thought patterns and behaviors. What matters is that you keep trying and that you’re willing to reset your life whenever you need to. You can always access a fresh start.

How do you know that you need to refresh your mind and reset your life (1:45).

Recognize your unhelpful behaviors (12:25).

Action Step (18:17)

Set a timer and take a note in your phone. Type out your responses to the following:

1) What thoughts do I have on repeat right now? What situations or scripts are stuck in my head?

2) What patterns or behaviors have I been stuck in lately?

How to Reset your life and well-being journey (20:02)

“A reset is your opportunity to do something differently. You have access to a reset anytime you decide you want to feel better or do things differently.”

Strategies when you need a reset (23:26)

Journal to figure out your unproductive thoughts

Stop avoiding things and take action.

Go back to what inspired you and tap into your creativity.

Make a list and focus on no more than three (3) tasks that you need to complete.

Introspection (26:48)

Continuing even when it’s difficult.

Resources

FREE Daily Self-Care Plan: https://herguidedevolution.com/plan

FREE Journal Prompts for Unproductive Days: https://herguidedevolution.com/4

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3 Signs that You are Growing and Moving Toward Your Purpose

Shanice Jones Cameron, PhD — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 20:39:02 +0000

When you’re evolving and being moved toward your larger purpose, it can be a scary, unsettling, and difficult experience. Simply put, growth is uncomfortable. In this episode, Shanice prompts you to look at three areas of your life that might signal that you are in a period of growth and transition. She offers strategies to help you adjust your mindset and rise to (or cope with) the occasion. Shanice also shares guided journaling prompts, so that you can connect with your intuition and gain clarity into who you are meant to be.

The Conversation

3 Signs that You’re Growing and Moving Toward Your Purpose

You are struggling emotionally. (5:20)
You feel called to move in a certain direction and accept new opportunities. (13:33)
Your relationships are changing. (20:56)

Journal Prompts

If you’re struggling, what might you learn from this experience?
What could this season of growth be pushing you toward?
Am I running from my purpose? If so, why? What am I afraid of?
How are your relationships different now than they were 6 months or a year ago?
Who in my life supports me and is growing with me? Who isn’t?
If I could wave a magic wand and become my ideal type of person, what would she look like? What would she sound like? What would she do everyday? What would she not do that I’m currently doing?

References

Peer-reviewed study on uncertainty and the human brain

Resources

FREE Journal Prompts: https://herguidedevolution.com/4
FREE Daily Self-Care Plan: https://herguidedevolution.com/plan

The Truth About Work-Life Balance

Shanice Jones Cameron, PhD — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 22:09:39 +0000

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In this week’s episode, Shanice talks about why she thinks the pursuit of work, life, and family “balance” may not serve women. She discusses how these conversations often rely on the assumption that moms should be giving their careers and their families an adequate amount of time and energy (often at the expense of herself). If you have ever felt like you were struggling to measure up in motherhood, your career, and your life in general, this episode is for you.

The Conversation

(3:55) Work, life, and family balance is often a standard that only applies to women.

(6:21) Shanice doesn’t have a problem with women who want to take on traditional roles and are choosing to fulfill that role.

(13:44) Shanice takes issue with the expectation that women should to take on these roles along with the other expectation of maintaining careers.

(10:39) Conversations about work-life balance are even more complicated for Black women who are often stereotyped as mammies, superwomen, and Strong Black Women.

Action Step/Journal Prompts (13:44)

Do you feel guilty when you have to work and can’t be with your kids? If yes, why? What does this mean to you?

Does it feel impossible to maintain your house while you’re working from home? If so, does this bother you? Why?

Do you feel less than worthy when the dishes are dirty, the bathroom needs to be cleaned, the floor needs to be mopped? If so, why?

Introspection (14:56)

Shanice shares what inspired this week’s episode.

Books Mentioned in Episode

Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins

In the Wake: On Blackness and Being by Christina Sharpe

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7 Productivity Tips for Working from Home

Shanice Jones Cameron, PhD — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 12:58:07 +0000

If you’ve been struggling to be productive while working from home, you’re not alone. As a mom and a PhD student, I have to be a self-starter and be productive no matter what’s going on in my house. So, I’m sharing 7 of my best productivity tips to help you navigate working from home. If you have children who make it more difficult for you to focus, if you struggle with procrastination and have a hard time avoiding Netflix and Instagram when you need to be working, this episode is for you.

The Conversation

Manage your mind. (6:22)
Break down tasks to their smallest form, and just start somewhere. (9:28)
Use the Pomodoro Technique, and build breaks into your day. (10:49)
Make use of a variety of spaces that are available to you. (13:03)
Listen to instrumentals. (15:20)
Multitask when you can, but beware of splitting your attention for certain tasks. (17:10)
Be aware of how you procrastinate, and plan ahead. (19:04)

Introspection

Vulnerability makes us human. Reach out to a friend if you’re struggling. Express gratitude for someone in your life who means a lot to you. You never know who needs to hear that you appreciate them. (22:29)

Resources

FREE Daily Self-Care Plan

FREE Journal Prompts for Unproductive Days

4 Journal Prompts to Make Peace with Unproductive Days