“I want you to forcibly slow yourself down,” says Cait on this #straightfromcait episode of FRIED where she offers three tips—and a special bonus—to help you create more ease throughout your day, without taking away from any of your responsibilities or plans. These are short, simple yet effective ways to check in with yourself physically, mentally and emotionally to eliminate unnecessary tension and make life’s tasks more bearable.

Cait will share which parts of the body to focus on to lower your overall stress response and signal to your vagus nerve that you’re OK. She’ll explain why slow grooming reminds us that we’re safe and how we can cut down on the false sense of urgency that drives most of us throughout our days.

Life is busy, and no one can expect to be relaxed all day every day. But taking a few extra minutes to incorporate these tips into your daily routine will do wonders to make you feel more relaxed, at peace and at ease as you tackle your tasks.

Quotes

“With only those three things, you will create more ease throughout the course of your day, and you will be signaling to your vagus nerve that you’re OK, that you’re getting through the day, and you’re not adding any extra tension where it’s not necessary so this will lower and damper your stress response over all.” (1:42 | Cait Donovan)
“When you take those extra few minutes to slowly groom yourself, you are giving your central nervous system a signal that you’re safe and OK because you can’t groom when you’re in danger.” (3:09 | Cait Donovan)
“Not every task is going to feel wonderful and I’m not asking you to make it feel wonderful, but what if you could take just a few moments to turn on the Spotify playlist that you love that makes you feel good while you are folding and putting away laundry.” (4:23 | Cait Donovan)
“Because so many of us function with this really false sense of urgency in every single task we do, I want you to forcibly slow yourself down.” (5:05 | Cait Donovan)

Connect with Cait:

Cait Donovan is a keynote speaker, author, and host of FRIED: The Burnout Podcast, specializing in burnout, mis/match, and sustainable performance at work. She partners with corporate leaders, teams, and professional associations through keynotes, workshops, and leadership sessions that treat burnout as data, not failure, to help organizations reduce burnout without blame or shame and build healthier, high performing cultures.

To bring Cait to your organization or event, book an inquiry call here: https://bit.ly/bookcait

Learn more about Cait’s speaking work: https://www.caitdonovan.com/speaking

Short on time? Watch this 3-min video: https://bit.ly/caitdreel2025

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm