Stop Letting Your Day Run You: How to Shift Out of Reactive Mode
You know that feeling when your entire day runs away from you—responding to everyone else's emergencies while none of your planned work actually happens? That's reactive mode, and it's exhausting.
In this episode, I'm breaking down the difference between proactive and reactive entrepreneurship and giving you one simple shift to take back control of your day this week.
These lessons come straight from what I teach inside Chaos Detox—because sustainable productivity starts with mind management before time management.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why high-achieving women default to reactive mode (and how to catch yourself doing it) (00:01:20)
The 11 reactive habits that derail your day before 9am (00:01:42)
What proactive entrepreneurship actually looks like (hint: it's not rigid time-blocking) (00:04:00)
How theme day planning gives you structure without suffocating your flexibility (00:05:27)
One awareness question that rewires your entire approach to work (00:07:40)
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Want to read the original blog post that inspired this episode?
CLICK HERE → Entrepreneurial Mindset: Proactive vs. Reactive
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Full Episode Transcript
(35) Stop Letting Your Day Run You: How to Shift Out of Reactive Mode
[00:00:00] You know that feeling when your entire day just runs away from you, like suddenly you're responding to everyone else's needs, notifications, and emergencies, and none of the things you planned actually happen. Welcome to Ditch the Chaos. I'm Cara Chace, and this is your space to figure out how to run your life and business without running yourself into the ground.
[00:00:23] Today I'm walking you through the difference between being a proactive entrepreneur and a reactive one, and how to shift into proactive mode little by little.
[00:00:35] Before we get started today. I have to apologize for my stuffy voice. I'm getting over a cold and the show must go on.
[00:00:42] We all know that part of being a high achieving woman, an entrepreneur, a mom, whatever role you take, is sometimes just buckling down and getting it done. So here I am showing up for you. here's the thing, being an entrepreneur is way more of a mindset game than anyone prepares [00:01:00] you for. Sure you start your business for freedom, flexibility, creativity, but then the reality hits the ups and downs, the unpredictability, the constant demands on your brain.
[00:01:12] And if you're anything like me or any other woman in business, it's really easy to fall into reactive mode without even noticing it happen.
[00:01:20] You start the day with good intentions, but suddenly you're responding instead of leading, you're putting out fires instead of moving forward on what matters. Does that sound familiar? Yeah, I get it. I've been there and in fact, almost my entire adult life trained me to operate reactively. Lemme tell you what I mean.
[00:01:40] I started my career in law enforcement at 21 years old. Talk about an environment that's built on reacting. A crime happened. We responded. And it was all about what just happened and what needed to be done next. Even proactive investigations were still rooted in responding to what had already occurred.[00:02:00]
[00:02:00] Fast forward to 2011 and I volunteered for Megadeth managing their Facebook community. Yes, I got to be creative with contests and campaigns, but honestly, most of my time was spent deleting spam, removing trolls, and handling chaos in the comments reactive all over again. And then eventually I became a small business owner working from home.
[00:02:22] Finally, I had the space to create, to make my own plan to be proactive, except if I wasn't careful, I'd find myself slipping right back into reactive mode in about 30 seconds. A notification here, a client request there, a random distraction being bored, and suddenly I'm off course again. And that's when I realized maintaining your productive creativity while also keeping your business running requires mindfulness tools in real accountability.
[00:02:53] So let's talk about the way entrepreneurs, especially women, juggling a million things fall into reactive [00:03:00] mode. And listen, if this list hits a little close to home, you're not broken. You're totally normal. We all do these things. Here are the big culprits. Checking email first thing in the morning, responding to emails immediately, having audible or flashing phone notifications, checking your phone every five minutes, constantly scrolling social media just for a second, or because you're procrastinating.
[00:03:28] Not taking actual breaks, taking unscheduled calls, not knowing your top priorities for the day. Working with distractions like tv, music or noise during deep thinking tasks, responding to last minute client requests like they're emergencies.
[00:03:48] And if you're thinking, oof, yep, that's me. I get it. Here's the pattern. Reactive mode is what happens when you let your day pull you along instead of you directing your [00:04:00] day with intention. It's like you're being dragged behind a vehicle that you're supposed to be driving. Now, let's shift into what it looks like when you're proactive.
[00:04:09] And listen. Proactive doesn't mean rigid. It doesn't mean time blocking every minute of your day like a robot. It means you make decisions from intention, not from chaos. Here are the proactive habits I use in my own business and throughout my day I start with knowing my top three priorities for the day.
[00:04:30] They don't always have to be work. Most often. At least one of those priorities is something personal for my health or wellbeing. I also theme my days, which is part of my theme day planning method that I teach inside Chaos Detox. I only check email to look for urgent client needs and everything else can wait.
[00:04:50] I take regular movement breaks, getting up from my desk and stretching or moving or going for a walk. I take a 20 minute nap [00:05:00] almost every day. Lunch happens away from my desk.
[00:05:05] I only check my email during scheduled times and client calls only happen on scheduled days. Plus, I make time to read and learn because my creativity and inspiration depends on it. Do you notice the pattern, priorities, schedules, checklists? They aren't about constriction, they're about freedom,
[00:05:27] because here's what I've learned and where it gets interesting. A lot of people hear structure and immediately think, Nope, too much. I can't follow something that strict. I don't want those kinds of rigid routines, and I agree. That's why I don't time block my calendar in a rigid way. I don't do the check emails at 9:00 AM sharp, spend one hour blogging every Tuesday afternoon.
[00:05:50] I, I don't do that kind of thing because real life doesn't work like that. Instead, I use theme days because they give me structure and [00:06:00] flexibility. For example, Mondays is for marketing, Tuesdays is for client work. Wednesdays is for content creation. Thursdays is for operations and admin, and Fridays is for CEO work or overflow.
[00:06:14] As a flex day, depending on your business and your responsibilities, those general theme days might look different for you. You decide the big bucket of work for each day, and then during your weekly planning session, which I do on Friday afternoon, sometimes on Sunday. You plug your tasks into the day that matches that category.
[00:06:36] It's enough structure to guide you without having to fall into decision fatigue over every single to-do list item. But it's enough flexibility to handle real life. A system that can't bend will eventually break in a broken system. It's the fastest way to slip right back into reactive mode and just hang on for the [00:07:00] ride.
[00:07:00] Let me give you one more piece of this puzzle. Your systems are supposed to evolve. Your business changes, your life changes, your energy changes. So the more you fine tune and evaluate your systems, the better they work for you. When something stops working, it doesn't mean that you failed.
[00:07:19] It means maybe your season has changed or your schedule has changed and your system needs to change with it. The mindset shift alone from, I must stick with this perfectly to I can adapt this as I need to, is a proactive entrepreneurial mindset. So what do you do with all of this? You start noticing. You ask yourself, did I choose this action or am I reacting to something?
[00:07:48] Awareness is your first tool for shifting into proactive mode. Here's your reset and reclaim action step for the week. Choose one reactive habit from the list earlier. [00:08:00] Maybe it's checking your email first thing in the morning and replace it with one proactive habit for the next seven days.
[00:08:07] Maybe you stop checking email. First thing, maybe you turn off your phone notifications. Maybe you set your top three priorities before you open your laptop. Because one shift done consistently is what rewires your entire day. That's it. Just start there. Okay. Quick recap for you. We talked about how reactive mode happens when your day leads you and you're responding to everyone else around you.
[00:08:33] Proactive mode starts with priorities, structure and awareness, and theme day planning can give you that flexible structure that bends without breaking when your day goes sideways.
[00:08:45] If this resonated, I'd love to have you join the productivity rebellion. My free monthly Guide for women who refuse to choose between Success and Sanity, you'll get Strategy Boundaries and Real Talk delivered once a month, not weekly 'cause [00:09:00] you're already exhausted.
[00:09:01] Plus, you can ask me anything and I'll answer your questions right here on the show. Sign up@CaraChace.com.
[00:09:07] Thanks for listening. If this helped, please leave a review. It helps other women entrepreneurs find the show. I'm Cara Chace from reminding you to keep questioning the rules and making your own.
[00:09:18] And by the way, if you're ready to stop white knuckling your way through your weeks check out Chaos Detox, my weekly Planning Method Built for High Achieving Women. Learn more at Cara Chace.com/chaos. Dash detox.
