The Day I Went on Strike Against Back-to-Back Meetings
A personal story about boundaries, burnout, and the deeper work of sustainable leadership
It was mid-afternoon and I realized something unsettling:
I hadn’t gone to the bathroom in over five hours.
Not because I forgot.
Because I hadn’t left space. My schedule was stacked—one meeting, then another, then another.
No buffer. No break. Not even a moment to meet my most basic needs.
And my body was screaming at me.
That moment was more than uncomfortable—it was a wake-up call.
Because this wasn’t a one-off. It had become a pattern.
Filling every open slot. Saying yes when I was already full.
Operating like leadership was a game of calendar Tetris I could win by being efficient enough.
That day, something in me said:
“This is not sustainable.”
It wasn’t the word unhealthy that stopped me.
It was unsustainable.
“Healthy” can mean different things to different people—it's debated, prescribed, even judged.
But sustainability? That’s something you feel. Deep down, you know:
Can I keep doing this, day after day?
Can my body? My relationships? My nervous system?
It’s a question only you can answer.
And in that moment, my answer was clear.
For me, the answer was no.
So I made a quiet decision:
I went on strike against back-to-back meetings.
Now, I build in buffers. I don’t book over them (most of the time). I protect them.
And I’ve learned this isn’t just about time management.
It’s about honoring your humanity.
Because sustainable leadership isn’t just about your calendar.
It’s about healing the deeper patterns underneath:
The perfectionism that drives us to overdeliver
The people-pleasing that says “yes” when our body says “please, no”
The internal pressure to constantly prove our value by being in motion
Something I often hear from leaders is:
"Once I get through this stretch, then I’ll slow down."
But that stretch is always there. There’s always another hill.
And I get it. I’ve burned out before.
Not the kind of burnout you bounce back from with a weekend off.
The kind that takes months to recover from. The kind that requires pulling the emergency brake and making drastic changes just to feel like yourself again.
These days, I’m more attuned to what my mind, body, and spirit need—thanks to years of introspection, coaching, and practice.
But I still find myself hovering near that burnout line sometimes.
Not barreling past it like before, but teetering close.
I’ll coast there for weeks or even months before something (like skipping the bathroom for five hours) reminds me to realign.
It’s not perfect. But it’s better than before.
And I’m celebrating that.
Because sustainability isn’t about getting it right all the time.
It’s about noticing sooner, choosing differently, and coming home to yourself again and again.
If you’re feeling the pull to lead differently—
To stop overfunctioning, to trust yourself more, to build something that lasts—
I’d love to connect.
I offer a free Discovery Call where we can talk about what’s feeling unsustainable right now and what you want instead. No sales pitch—just a real conversation in a confidential space.
