Say goodbye to burnout with help from local mama, Jess Massey, founder of Hustle Sanely
We’ve all been through a whirlwind these past few years, between pivoting our way through a global pandemic, dealing with a world that feels like it’s constantly on edge, inflation, and trying to keep up with day-to-day family life. If you feel like you’re running on empty, you’re not alone.
As we get ready to step into a new year, a time when many of us look to reset, we’re introducing you to a local mom who has been right where you are—smack dab in the middle of burnout.
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Jess Massey not only found her way out, but she developed a planner and system to help other women find their path to a more “peacefully productive” life.
First–tell us about yourself and how you got started!
Jess Massey: I’m Jess Massey, Tampa native, wife to my high school sweetheart, Adam, and mama to my sweet almost one-year-old daughter, Everly. I’m also the CEO and founder of the community-centered productivity company, Hustle Sanely®.
Hustle Sanely® exists to teach high-achieving women how to trade running on fumes for living a peacefully productive life. I spend most of my work days podcasting, coaching, and designing planning tools.
How did you know when you were burned out?
Jess Massey: I started to dread things that normally brought me joy; everything started feeling like a chore. For example, I’ve been into weightlifting for over a decade and I started to dread going to the gym. Another sign that I experienced was feeling really apathetic toward things I was normally passionate about.
Signs I’ve seen some of my students and clients experience include overworking because they feel like they always need to catch up (refusal to rest), the inability to make decisions (even low-stakes decisions), and having a mostly cynical attitude toward life.
What inspired the creation of Hustle Sanely®?
Jess Massey: I started Hustle Sanely® when I was a 28-year-old speech-language pathology graduate student because I so desperately needed it! At the time, I was working three part-time jobs, taking graduate classes, doing a clinical internship, and trying to show up as a good wife and friend.
My plate was full, and I knew that I needed more than a pretty planner to help me get organized. I needed a lifestyle system that supported me in taking care of myself as I worked toward my goals.
I spent the first one-and-a-half years of Hustle Sanely® developing The 5 Keys to Hustling Sanely™ framework that helps women with full lives pursue their goals while prioritizing their mental health and relationships.
I’ve now had the honor of teaching this system to over 30,000 women so they, too, can live their version of a peacefully productive life.
How has motherhood transformed your hustle?
Jess Massey: When I got pregnant in early 2022, I knew that I really wanted to shift gears in how I was running my business so that I could be as present with my daughter as I could while still running my company. Motherhood has made my hustle a lot more intentional than it used to be.
Before motherhood, I said yes to a lot and gave a majority of my energy to setting and achieving business-related goals. I sort of lived in a business-before-life kind of world.
I’ve since shifted into a new way of doing business and run a life-priorities-based business—I know what my life priorities are and I’ve redesigned my business to prioritize what’s important to me outside of work. Work is a part of my life now instead of my entire life.
And the cool thing is, since shifting into this way of doing things, I’m more excited about what I’m doing at work (because I only have room on my calendar to say “yes” to things I truly want to be doing) and we’ve seen an increase in revenue (because I’m not working from a place of burnout anymore).
What’s your advice for moms on how to reset for less stressful, more productive days?
Jess Massey: First, have a catch-all task list that holds all of your open loops so they’re not floating around in your brain, taking up your precious mental space.
Second, my holy grail routine for peacefully productive days is called Hustle Sanely 5™– it’s five habits to do each day to make sure that you’re making progress on your goals while nurturing your mental health and the important relationships in your life.
The five habits are:
- Complete your Focus 3 (the three most important tasks on your to-do list each day).
- Move for 30 minutes.
- Tidy for 15 minutes.
- Say or do one kind thing for yourself.
- Say or do one kind thing for someone else.
I’ve used Hustle Sanely 5™in so many seasons of my life from growing my business to pregnancy to now being a CEO + mama. I don’t believe in balance but HS5 really does bring a sense of harmony to my days and I’ve seen it do the same for thousands of other women, too.
Since it’s planner season, tell us about your planner and what sets it apart from other planners.
Jess Massey: You won’t find another planner with “The 5 Keys to Hustling Sanely™” built right in! The 5 Keys exercises in our planners help you create healthy habits and a schedule that supports your actual priorities so you can take care of your mental health and relationships as you pursue your goals.
Anything else you want to add about Hustle Sanely or last words of advice?
Jess Massey: Ditch the idea that you have to earn rest. Instead of asking yourself if you’ve done enough work to earn rest, ask yourself if you’ve rested enough to do intentional work. When we operate from a place of rest, the work we produce is better quality and we are less likely to feel burned out. You deserve to rest regularly!
What’s your favorite part about living in Tampa Bay?
Jess Massey: Never running out of things to do (and places to eat!). We are an active family and go on walks just about every morning on the Riverwalk, Bayshore, or down Water Street. We love playing pickleball at Cuscaden Park and biking around downtown. And you can often find us sipping coffee at King State, enjoying wine at Wine On Water, or having lunch at Bartaco.
How to reset a morning that’s trash:
Jess Massey: I’m a big believer that our mornings set the tone for our days. I think when we start our days doing some mental health hygiene, by filling our cups, we set ourselves up to have a better day since it puts us in a good headspace. You know it’s like the whole an object in motion stays in motion thing: A solid morning creates momentum for a solid day a lot of the time.
However, some mornings, let’s be honest… stuff hits the fan.
While I do believe that a good morning creates momentum for a good day, I don’t think that a crappy morning has to mean a crappy day if you don’t want it to.
One of my favorite sayings is, “You give life to what you give energy to.” What I like to do if I have a less-than-ideal morning is reset so I can reclaim the day by redirecting what I’m giving my energy to.
I came up with an acronym – R.E.S.E.T. – to help me explain how I reset when my morning sucks. Or honestly, if any point of the day feels like trash, this is what I do to reset.
You don’t have to wait until the next day to reset; you are allowed and capable of resetting whenever you need it. Each moment is an opportunity to show up how you want to. Here’s the acronym (and yes, it is in reverse order):
Take a brain break
Explore how you’re feeling
Step out for fresh air
Eat
Refresh your daily vision and begin again
How to know what’s important when everything feels important:
Imagine everything in your life is a ball. The deadline that you have coming up in two months for a huge project at work is a ball. Planning your best friend’s baby shower is a ball. Going on a weekly date with your partner is a ball. Spending one-on-one time with your kid is a ball.
Now imagine juggling them all. Like actually imagine the act of juggling, like a clown at a circus. Here’s what we have to realize – some balls are glass while others are rubber. Glass balls shatter and break when they’re dropped. That’s not good. Glass balls are urgent.
Rubber balls bounce when they’re dropped. That’s not a big deal. Rubber balls might feel important to you but they’re not urgent when it comes down to it. I think you know which balls represent your true priorities – the glass ones.
It’s your job as the boss of your life to determine which balls are glass and which balls are rubber. And here’s the thing – a ball that may have been glass in one season of your life, could be a rubber ball in your current season of life.
Connect with Jess Massey: jessicamassey.com | hustlesanely.com
Photo credit: Joelle Elizabeth / Jo & Co | Originally published in the December 2023 issue of Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine.