262804066 197. How to Leave Work at Work & Be Present at Home | 5 Min Journal Prompts - Beyond Awareness: Closing the Gap Between Knowing and Doing

Episode 197

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Published on:

20th Nov 2025

197. How to Leave Work at Work & Be Present at Home | 5 Min Journal Prompts

You're physically home, but your brain is still replaying that 2:30 meeting. Again. You're making dinner, but mentally drafting tomorrow's email. Your kid asks you a question and you have to ask them to repeat it—because you weren't actually listening.

You want to be present. You're just not sure how to turn your brain off when there's still so much left undone. This episode is for YOU. It will help you figure out what's actually keeping you mentally at work—and give you permission to let it go

Strategic Journal Prompts:

  1. What specific work thought keeps replaying when you're trying to be present at home? Don't just say "everything." Name the exact thing—the decision, the email, the conversation—that follows you home.
  2. If you let this go for the evening, what are you afraid would happen? Go to the worst-case scenario. Would you forget something? Would someone think you don't care? Write about the fear beneath the mental replay.
  3. Think about the last time you were fully present at home. What was different about your internal state that day? Not just your schedule—but your nervous system. Were you calmer? More confident? What allowed you to be mentally there?
  4. What if being present at home is the productive choice? If that were true, what would change? What would you give yourself permission to stop thinking about right now?

This is what one of my clients said after working with me:

"I've finally learned to leave work at work even if work is still stressful. I no longer bring work home with me and I'm a more supportive partner, especially when I don't explode at my husband from misplaced frustration at work."

Resources Mentioned:

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About the Podcast

Beyond Awareness: Closing the Gap Between Knowing and Doing
Closing the Gap Between Knowing and Doing
Beyond Awareness (formerly Journal Entries) is for successful women in leadership and business who know exactly what they need to do but can't make themselves do it.

You know you need to prioritize yourself, delegate more, set boundaries, stop bringing work home. You've tried therapy, coaching, retreats. You know the solution - but you either can't follow through, or when you DO, it doesn't stick.

Host Samantha Hawley helps business owners and executives earning $100k+ excavate the root beliefs underneath the execution gap. Why do you keep not doing the thing? Why doesn't it feel better when you do? Using strategic journaling and emotional excavation, we go beyond awareness into why you're actually stuck in the pattern.

This isn't about more tactics or tips. This is about understanding why awareness isn't enough and what actually needs to shift for you to change.

You'll hear about: decision fatigue, why you can't prioritize yourself, nervous system regulation, being present with your kids, root cause of overwhelm, why boundaries don't stick, self-sabotage patterns, and how your internal state impacts everything.

Perfect for: Female CFOs, VPs, directors, executives, business owners, and women in leadership who are tired of knowing what's wrong but not being able to change it.
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Samantha Hawley