In today’s shorter episode, I’m sharing some personal thoughts on dealing with the emotional weight of recent events, including a mass shooting close to home and the constant barrage of political noise.
We get into the concept of emotional spillover, why you’re feeling extra stressed at work, and how to create temporary normals to cope. Forget “business as usual”; let’s talk about giving yourself permission to be human, finding that balance, and bouncing back slowly when life gets heavy.
Whether it’s dealing with community grief or just trying to survive the daily stressors we all experience, I’ve got some tips to help you manage.
We live in a world where the weight never seems to let up. Between the relentless churn of political news, community tragedies that shake us close to home, and the quiet struggles happening in our families and bodies, we are constantly carrying more than anyone can see.
And yet, the workplace still often demands “business as usual.”
Emails don’t slow down. Deadlines don’t shift. Meetings keep stacking up. But pretending everything is fine doesn’t build resilience; it deepens burnout.
Why Stress Bleeds Into Work
Psychologists call this emotional spillover, when the stress from one part of your life inevitably shows up in another.
Your nervous system doesn’t distinguish between the fear triggered by a headline, the grief of a loss, or the pressure of a project deadline. It processes them all as load on the same system.
That’s why you may feel foggy, impatient, or disconnected at work after a community crisis or during a season of political unrest. Your brain is reallocating energy to survival, scanning for danger, replaying what-ifs, and holding back tears, while still trying to power through a spreadsheet.
It’s like running a computer with dozens of tabs open… technically functional, but lagging at every click.
Why Back to Normal is the Wrong Goal
The instinct many of us have after something seismic is to force ourselves back into normal. But normal isn’t a fixed point; it’s a moving target.
Clinging to an old version of normal ignores the reality of what you’re carrying right now. And forcing yourself into a role that no longer fits is exhausting, like squeezing into clothes that no longer belong to you.
Instead of pretending nothing’s changed, the smarter path is adjustment. That might look like:
- Lowering the floor. Find your “minimum viable workday.” On heavy days, that might be answering three key emails and showing up for one essential meeting.
- Redefining connection. When you’re stretched thin, connection can feel like one more thing. But the right kind of connection is fuel, not a drain.
- Creating temporary normals. Give yourself permission to build a new rhythm that fits the season you’re in. Temporary doesn’t mean failure. It means flexibility.
Forward, Not Normal
The best advice I ever got in a season of grief was that even if you’re only operating at 50% of your normal capacity, you’re still giving 100% of what you have in that moment. That perspective shifts the pressure from “I have to be back at my best” to “I’m doing my best with what I’ve got.”
Forward doesn’t always look like thriving. Sometimes it’s creative, inspired work. Other times it’s just keeping the lights on. Both count. Both matter.
We cannot keep designing work around the illusion that humans are machines. When tragedy happens — in the world, in our communities, or in our own homes — “back to normal” is not only unrealistic, it’s harmful.
Pretending to be fine consumes more energy than facing what’s real.
The healthier path is honesty, adaptation, and care. Care for yourself. Care for your team. And care for your community.
Because whether it’s political tension, personal grief, or collective trauma, resilience isn’t about forcing normal. It’s about moving forward, together, in ways that honor our humanity.
Got thoughts or questions from this week’s episode? Drop them in the comments. I’d love to hear from you! 🫶
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I’m Tara Kermiet — leadership coach, burnout strategist, and host of The Balanced Badass Podcast®. I help high-achievers and corporate leaders design careers that are successful and sustainable.
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