Making Room: How to Handle Life's Busy Times

Feeling overwhelmed by endless to-dos? Join us as we uncover how to carve out time for what truly matters, even when life is nonstop. In this episode, we’re sharing personal confessions, real victories, and practical tips to help you make space for self-care and spiritual growth. Dive into honest conversations with the ladies at Imagine Yourself that remind you it's possible to stay centered and connected with God—even in the chaos.

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Imagine Yourself is hosted by Lanée Blaise and Sandy Kovach. Lanée is a TV writer and producer, motivational speaker and podcaster. Sandy is a radio personality, voiceover artist and podcaster. They come to you from the Detroit Metro area and invite guests from all over the world to help encourage you in your health, career, faith journey and more!

Transcript

Lanée Blaise [00:00:02]:
Hello, everyone. I'm Lanee here with Sandy. And as you know, the title of our podcast is Imagine Yourself. So I want to start this episode out with everyone sitting still for just a moment. Let's all just take a dang on breath. There's work and there's life and there's stress and there's all kinds of things going on in the world and in our lives and in our homes. And I just wanted to encourage everyone to imagine yourself taking a deep, big, beautiful, well deserved breath and letting out all the junk before we start. Because today, Sandy and I really wanted to talk about some things that we have built upon through all the years here, but we have so many wonderful guests.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:56]:
Our most recent guest was kinda talking about balance and getting rid of burnout, and that episode was From Chaos TO Calm. And we just really wanted to keep enforcing that, keep nourishing that because there are so many of us hurting or overwhelmed or frustrated, and we want to turn that into feeling more centered, more able to unwind and relax, even though things aren't perfect. We also wanted to have everyone sit because a lot of us are thinking like, when is that next big, great thing gonna happen that God has for us? When is it gonna be our time?

Sandy Kovach  [00:01:43]:
So we did talk a little bit about that before we push the record here, and Lanae and I got a couple of different things out of this episode. It was with Josh Snyder, and he had a lot of things to say about balance versus burnout and taking time to relax, but also about acting as if. And and this is to touch a little bit, Linae, about what you were saying is, you know, god's made promises or you perceive that something bigger needs to be happening in your life, but it really hasn't gotten there yet. And he introduced this thing, and we named it YTIE, which is like Wi Fi, when I then I'll. Basically, that's, you know, when I get married, then I'll be happy. When I, retire, then I'll be happy. When I get this new house, then I'll be happy. And that's kind of something that just people do.

Sandy Kovach  [00:02:32]:
I mean, that's human nature. We're all gonna do it to some extent. But he wanted to us to start living more in the moment and even kind of living as if those things have already happened, which is kind of a weird concept. And you hear it a lot biblically too. It's like, God's made promises to you, or you feel in your heart that he has, and you feel that there's something bigger, but you don't really see anything. One of the examples that I have is after a year of dealing with medical issues, I was sort of back on my feet, and I thought, well, okay. I gotta really start getting back up to speed in work. And most of my success in more recent years has been in voiceovers, you know, as well as podcast.

Sandy Kovach  [00:03:18]:
And radio was kind of a thing of the past, but I kept dreaming about radio. And I thought, god, what is this going on? Like, every night, something some crazy dream involving where I used to work, or sometimes it was like I wanted to do a good job, but there was something holding me back. Like, people would be hiding the music, and I couldn't play the music. It was really weird.

Lanée Blaise [00:03:39]:
You had one about your former boss was giving you, I think, advice or something as well.

Sandy Kovach  [00:03:44]:
Yeah. He was saying, and this is really stupid. He was saying, don't talk about New Girl. Talk about Star Trek, which is because New Girl is, you know, a show that's popular or was, but I don't know anything about it. But I am a Trekkie. So basically talk about what you know. Do what you know. So yeah.

Sandy Kovach  [00:04:03]:
So I was getting advice. I was getting challenged, but I was basically dreaming about radio all the time. So I thought, well, this is really stupid because kinda radio is not like an expanding industry with digital platforms and, Spotify and Apple Music and all that, but there's still a great place for it, especially locally, people depending on personalities and news and just connecting on a local level. So I I am far from thinking that radio is a thing of the past. And I won't go into any detail about this, but I will say that in the past I don't know. Even in the past few weeks, I mean, I have, doubled the amount of radio work that I'm doing. Now I you know, in radio these days, a lot of times, you'll do what's called voice track for another radio station, and And it doesn't necessarily even have to be in your hometown as long as you, you know, know about the local area. And, of course, they balance that with their local personalities as well.

Sandy Kovach  [00:04:57]:
So, yeah, I have gotten all kinds of interesting work. And and one other thing I wanna add to this is one of the things I felt God pushing me to do is, of all things, getting a job in something where I had no experience or basically none. So I went and got a retail job. I won't say where, but one of my favorite stores. And, I mean, I did a little bit of retail in college and maybe high school, but come on.

Lanée Blaise [00:05:23]:
How many years ago was that? That's that's it's been a little minute.

Sandy Kovach  [00:05:26]:
It's been a little minute since then. So I did it, and I ended up just really liking it. Just really having a good time. And as soon as I did that, that's really when the doors started opening for the radio and some of these other opportunities. So sometimes, God just wants you to step out in obedience to what he's putting on your heart, and you don't understand, like, what the heck retail would have to do with radio.

Lanée Blaise [00:05:49]:
And I like the attitude because a lot of people who have listened might realize I mean, you aren't stressing it hardcore right now, but you did go through a very hard season with health issues. And I I see that the blossoming is now seems to be on the other side of it. And you really, I think, I've got to applaud you for not allowing yourself to just stay in the rut because many times when things are unexpected and not going the way you had planned and wanted, a person can really just lose that hope. Sometimes we wish like we could see a glimpse of what we're gonna be like a little bit down the road, then there's that evidence that everything's gonna be okay and you didn't have that. But if you could go back and talk to your 2 year ago self, you could tell her things are really still in bloom, still happening all the time. God is orchestrating all kinds of wonderful things around the corner and live like it, act like it, be like it already. I think that's kind of the essence of White Tie, in my opinion.

Sandy Kovach  [00:06:58]:
Yeah. When I then I'll don't act like that, but act becoming. You're becoming what you wanna be. And in the middle of all these things, you're right. I was down. I was ill. I didn't feel like doing anything. And, I was like, okay.

Sandy Kovach  [00:07:13]:
Well, is this it? You know? Am I just gonna slide the rest of my life? But, you know, I didn't wanna do that. But, basically, people were praying for me, including you. And I was praying, and it really is down to my trust in god and his plan. I mean, I put work in. You don't just pray, and then I'm just gonna sit here on my butt and not do anything. You know, I got together contacts and resumes and stuff like that even if I wasn't thinking anything was gonna come of it. That's making it sound simple. I know especially people who are really searching for a job, it can be very frustrating, but God will open the door at some point.

Lanée Blaise [00:07:53]:
Yeah. And, actually, I have to say a little something. There is a time and a place for just sitting there on your bum just waiting too because, there are times when God has told me, has given me that nudge to sit down, be still, be quiet, be in my presence, get yourself charged up and ready, because I want you to be rested and well and ready for the hustle and bustle that might come in the very next season. And also sometimes, if we think about it too, you have to let God work. Like there's positions that actually literally do need to open up for you to be placed in them, and there needs to be, you know, something on that manager's heart or mind or something with the workload or something that just still needs to open up and the timing has to be right, and we just wanna give encouragement even though we know it does not feel good at the time when you're waiting, but we have episodes on that too, of course. But, but you can still thrive and still see yourself becoming. You know, you're becoming in those roles. So

Sandy Kovach  [00:09:05]:
Yeah. I mean, you put in a lot of I remember during the pandemic how much you were telling me you put in a lot of networking and a lot of work to see a lot of what you are seeing now in your industry in television come into fruition.

Lanée Blaise [00:09:20]:
Thank you for reminding me of that because that is true. That was a, you know, a weird space for everybody, but Zoom became very popular. People became more accessible because it didn't matter where in the country or in the world you lived, and all the different webinars, workshops, reaching out through LinkedIn and social media, all of that was coming. And to be fair, I wasn't saying, oh, I'm an aspiring writer. I would just say I'm a writer, I'm a screenwriter, I am open to producing as well. And now all of those things have come to fruition, you know, now that the pandemic is over. There's a got a Christmas movie coming out a year from now and got a television show that's gonna premiere at the top of the year. It's all blossoming, and it didn't always look like that.

Lanée Blaise [00:10:13]:
And that's part of what we love about this podcast is that we try to give encouragement to remind ourselves and others it's still coming. We're still becoming.

Sandy Kovach  [00:10:23]:
So Absolutely. But the other side is the what you were starting to say about relaxing. Right? I mean Yes. Josh did mention that in his episode.

Lanée Blaise [00:10:33]:
Oh, he talked about some real good ones. I mean, even just a few minutes of quiet time and that like 5 minutes of stillness, I've been trying to practice that. We live here in Michigan, so we know that winter is coming soon. So I have been trying to spend more time outside just breathing and looking at the leaves change and watching the little squirrels go by and really getting quiet because even to the point where, like I said, we're gonna film this Christmas movie in a couple months. It's going to be extremely busy then. I know for sure that that'll be one of the busiest seasons ever, so why don't I take a little bit of breathing time now and get used to that before the crush comes in. I want to talk a little bit too, Sandy, about overwhelm. I have been, really good, I think, about not buying into the white tie, like, I'm I'm really doing the becoming, like, I am already where I want to be is is what I'm saying to myself and acting out, and it is helpful.

Lanée Blaise [00:11:36]:
The only problem has been, and this is something Josh talked about also, was the ability to put a priority on your space and your margin in life, and I'm not just talking about resting or spa days, I'm actually even kinda looking at the word self care a little differently too, but I just wanna I guess I wanna give a either a testimony or a confession. I don't know.

Sandy Kovach  [00:12:06]:
Well, I mean, it can be both at the same time.

Lanée Blaise [00:12:09]:
I think it's gonna be both at the same time. It'll start, I guess, as a confession, and then it'll turn into a testimony. But we had another guest on here actually back during the pandemic. Her name is Elizabeth Sherman, and she is a nutrition and health and wellness coach. And I went ahead and, you know, have been working with her. Her services are amazing, and it's all supposed to be about, you know, of course, what you're eating and what time you go to bed and your stress levels and your cortisol levels and the fact that I'm in menopause and all that stuff. Great. But we took an entire session, and we ended up accidentally talking about margin and where your priorities are.

Lanée Blaise [00:12:57]:
This is another one where god is working on us personally because this Josh episode was so crucial for me and my life right now, the episode that we just had on Chaos to Calm, because I was starting to, like, just spiral out. I was doing too much. I wasn't taking any time out of any day to sit still for 5 minutes, and I wasn't prioritizing right. And I just want to give a little example of what Elizabeth Sherman and I talked about in our little personal time. She said she wanted to, to know what are the things that I value in life. And so I'm thinking like I'm talking to a nutrition and health coach, so I said, my health and nutrition and fitness. She's like, okay. That's one.

Lanée Blaise [00:13:39]:
I was like, my family. She's like, okay. That's, of course, great. My career in television and film and podcasting. She's like, okay, that makes sense. My marriage with my husband and relationship wise, and I'm saying also my kids and family that lives at home, but also family outside the home. And she's like, okay, did you get a number 5? And I was like, I don't think I have a number 5. And I waited and I said, oh, wait, myself and my faith.

Lanée Blaise [00:14:08]:
She's like, yeah, I was thought that would be number 1. You are like, you do this inspirational podcast. You seem to be a very faith filled person. You seem to care about yourself, but you put yourself last place. I was like, dang. No wonder I've been stressed and overwhelmed. And then she said, what percentage of your day are you spending on each of these categories? And it seemed like I was doing about almost 25% in the health and fitness because I've really been doing great with my eating and my walking and everything, and with my family about 25%. We've been spending time together.

Lanée Blaise [00:14:48]:
The career's been about 25 or maybe more. I don't know. The career's been taking a heavy load. All this to say, there was maybe about 2 or 3% that I have spent on myself and my faith in the past few months, and that was terrible. How do you give 2% to yourself and god? And I just wanted to mention this because I wonder if everyone could just take a little quick analysis of the 5 or so things that you value and the percentage of time that you spend on those things, and did you remember to include yourself and or your faith? Because once I changed and shifted and did these things, I feel more blessed, I feel more balanced, I feel more, alive. I feel less overwhelmed, and I keep telling my husband, I'm just gonna live life. I'm gonna wear clothes that have been in the closet that are cute, and I thought I wouldn't wear them because they were too cute to go to the grocery store. And I'm just gonna go to the grocery store cute.

Lanée Blaise [00:15:50]:
I'm gonna sit outside, and I'm gonna, you know, take my shoes off and stand in the grass and feel the earth. And I'm going to take walks and talk to God while I'm, you know, ride my bike. And he's just like, wow. Okay. You are doing the most, but alright. Do do it. Enjoy it. You know, he's happy for me, but I just wonder if there are these little bursts that we can have in the midst of all the chaos where we slow it down and we we value ourselves and our god and our nature and our our lives?

Sandy Kovach  [00:16:23]:
Okay. There's a couple of things I feel like you're talking about. 1 is the percentage, the percentage of prayer you know, prayer or faith or Yes. Giving it to God, and then the other is taking it in little bursts where you can get it because you are you're full. You're full, and I'm kind of afraid because some of these commitments that have just started happening to me haven't started yet. But I'm literally doubling my workload. And so I'm thinking, okay. How am I gonna do this? So I don't know.

Sandy Kovach  [00:16:54]:
I'm gonna have to pray. And then if something doesn't fit, something doesn't fit, and I have to be open to that too.

Lanée Blaise [00:17:00]:
That's actually a that could be a whole episode just on that. If something doesn't fit and you have to make a boundary because you wanna preserve your peace and your life and your relationship, and then sometimes that happens too.

Sandy Kovach  [00:17:12]:
We seem like we're in different parts of the circle. Like Yeah. You were working on a bunch of stuff believing that it's gonna happen, and then it happens. And then you get too busy, and then you gotta come around again and take a step back or at least make your different priorities. And I feel like I'm following behind you. So now that you have said, okay. I have to take a step back and place God first. I better make sure I do that, or I'm gonna fall right on my butt.

Lanée Blaise [00:17:40]:
You sure will.

Sandy Kovach  [00:17:41]:
You sure will. I mean, it is

Lanée Blaise [00:17:43]:
like it's that has just been a message for me for the past 7 years that God is like, if you don't slow down at certain chunks, even when I'm blessing you with all these great opportunities, if you don't take time to slow down, then you are going to fall literally and figuratively. And we don't want either of those. Unfortunately too, I have, I think I've said this to you before, Sandy, about how and this was said 7 years. 7 years ago is when God was giving me the nudge to slow down and I wasn't listening and I was just going full speed ahead and and about to unravel. God saved me from myself by something I didn't like. I had to have foot surgery on each foot, separately. And, I had to be really laid up with my, like, I couldn't go anywhere type of thing for it ended up kinda taking, like, a whole year by the time they did both, but both feet. But all this to say, it forced me to slow down.

Lanée Blaise [00:18:46]:
So then I went through, and I slowed down, and I got in my good rhythm, and I'd been doing really well. And then all these great opportunities came with TV and film, and all my dreams are coming true, and all this great stuff. And so we fast forward to 7 years later, which is now, and I'm already telling you that I've, I'm giving like 2% of my life to God and myself. So guess who has to have surgery again? Lanae. Oh no. Your foot? Yes. Yes. I will have to have surgery on both feet again.

Lanée Blaise [00:19:16]:
Different area this time. It's not even the same area of the fluid as last time. So 7 years later, I didn't give enough margin in my life, and I also have hereditary bad feet. And so I will get to be laid up again, next year, and slow things down, and get myself back together. And I hope that you won't be talking to me in what's that? Like, 2031, and I'll have you know, that'll be 7 years again.

Sandy Kovach  [00:19:46]:
7 or something natural. If we can't get it in 7 years, maybe the next 7 year cycle, you'll get it. No. Wow. Well, God has a plan, and maybe, you know, this is

Lanée Blaise [00:19:59]:
Maybe I'll learn.

Sandy Kovach  [00:20:01]:
Yeah. Maybe I'll learn. But, you you ended up being blessed. I mean, nobody wants to be down for that long, but you did get to spend time with mama. Right? And

Lanée Blaise [00:20:10]:
Yes. And I wrote so so my mom came to take care of me then, which I savored the time with her, but I also ended up writing 2 screenplays during the you know, because when you're laid up and you're you can't move, you can write still. So, it still ended up being a blessing. And I took a lot of time to be still and rest as well without writing. So I don't know. I don't know where that came from. I just know that word to the wise, build margin into your life, into your schedule. Put God at the top.

Lanée Blaise [00:20:42]:
Make please put God as your number one value. Your number not your last value. And think of self care as literally being still and quiet and just appreciating some of the smaller things in life. We don't always have to do big things, but I'd also believe that god has us ready for big things in the next season. I know that's weird advice, but, like

Sandy Kovach  [00:21:06]:
No.

Lanée Blaise [00:21:06]:
There's times when you're supposed to do that ebb and flow. Right?

Sandy Kovach  [00:21:09]:
Mhmm. That circles. So I believe that God is gonna do something great through your downtime as well. Yeah. And Yeah. You know Me too. And trusting God. And it it's really funny.

Sandy Kovach  [00:21:19]:
You were saying about the 2%. Just last Sunday, I was at church, and the pastor was he was asking a similar question, only, you know, in a more spiritual way, I guess. How big of a part of your life is God? And everybody had to think about that. And he says, even if you're giving time to it, if you're not being intentional like, I could sit there and and read my bible app or pray or do whatever, but I if I'm not really wholeheartedly seeking God through it too, if I'm just putting in my time, if I'm checking off my boxes, it's more than that. It's kind of a heart condition as well as a time condition.

Lanée Blaise [00:21:54]:
Yeah. And how about this too? Even what you're saying makes me think when we say these things to our friends or our spouse or our kids, I think it spreads goodness. When I say things like this, when we talk about like, hey, don't forget to spend time with God. I think it spreads because I just want to give a little shout out. I have a friend named Tara, and actually Sandy, you know Tara also from the Bible study. She just reached out to me this morning and let me know that she had listened to the most recent episode on Chaos to Calm and how it really was soothing to her, and it really made her think about some of the things that she wants to remember to incorporate. And she had her husband listen to it. And what I'm getting at by saying that it's spreading is the more we're filling ourselves up with all of this good centered type of thinking and behavior, the more we'll be able to handle all the crises that happen in the world or at work or in our lives in better, stronger ways.

Lanée Blaise [00:23:03]:
And it it'll build up a beautiful community of that.

Sandy Kovach  [00:23:06]:
Absolutely. And God is in control. And no matter what happens in the world, and there are a lot of things happen that leave you shaking your head, and there can be things happening in your personal life or your professional life that leave you shaking your head. But God is in control ultimately and, and leaning on that and trust God in his plan. I know it's not always easy, and we're certainly not perfect at it, but putting it out there. We are from somebody who has to get surgery twice because she doesn't listen

Lanée Blaise [00:23:30]:
to me. Yeah. We're not perfect. And I know you're

Sandy Kovach  [00:23:33]:
you know, people who are like,

Lanée Blaise [00:23:37]:
just because you don't do something. It's not that god is punishing me either. He's actually saving me from myself. He's using and he's working all things together for good, using something that already I had a hereditary condition and orchestrating the timing so that it forces me to sit still and rejuvenate and regenerate.

Sandy Kovach  [00:23:58]:
Yes. Allowing it to happen. Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:24:00]:
Allowing it to happen in this case. And, yeah, like you said, we don't have all the answers. We don't get it right all the time, but we are committed to pushing out some great stuff. So and like I said, shout out to Tara who who does that always also, but I guess we have told everything we know as my grandma Susie used to say. She'd say, pumpkin, I think I done told you everything I know. I'm gonna go watch my my news show now. Like, go back.

Sandy Kovach  [00:24:24]:
Should be our our new outro.

Lanée Blaise [00:24:26]:
Yeah. Like, well, we told everything we know. Imagine yourself having a great time. Bye. But no, I think we'll just wrap up with imagine yourself really focusing in on what your priorities look like, what your percentages in life look like, what your time with God looks like, and that goes into the circle of what's coming around the corner, what you're becoming. Put that as the secondary part. Really live the principle of seek first the kingdom of God, then all the other things will be added unto you instead of rushing ahead and trying to jump and do all the things or be frustrated when all the things are not happening yet. Go ahead and live and become.

Lanée Blaise [00:25:18]:
Don't wait until the what if then I'll.

Sandy Kovach  [00:25:21]:
When I Say it for me. Wait. When I then I'll. Then I'll. Yes.

Lanée Blaise [00:25:28]:
Takes us a minute too, but no. Imagine yourself sitting and being patient and loving with yourself and with God as you get to that magical place.

Sandy Kovach  [00:25:39]:
And this is the place where we thank you for listening. So glad you took the time to even listen to the whole episode. Hope you enjoyed it, and please get in touch with us and let us know by giving us a rating or review in the app where you're listening or locating us on social media or at imagine yourself podcast.com. There's actually links to all that stuff in the show notes and a place to text us as well. Until next time, when we have something new to imagine, be well, take care. God bless you.