Life has a way of filling every empty space.

There are deadlines to meet, laundry waiting to be folded, dishes in the sink, errands to run, messages to answer, and people who need us. Whether you work from home, outside the home, or you’re balancing both, it can feel like there’s always one more thing demanding your attention.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that... we’re supposed to find peace.

For a long time, I thought peace would arrive when my to-do list was finished. When the house was clean enough to others’ standards. When I’d finally caught up on work, which is my writing. When life became less hectic.

But I’ve learned something different.

The to-do list never really ends.

If we wait for life to become quiet before allowing ourselves to experience peace, we may be waiting forever.

Instead, I’ve realized that I needed to start looking for small moments.

A quiet cup of coffee before I interact with anyone else.

Reading a chapter of a good book before bed.

Taking five slow breaths between tasks.

These moments don’t solve every problem, but they remind me that life isn’t just about checking off boxes.

As an author, there are seasons when tasks pile up. Some days I’m writing thousands of words, planning future books, thinking about recording podcasts, and trying to remember what day it is. It would be easy to let work consume every hour.

But I’ve discovered that stepping away for a little while often makes me a better writer.

Our minds need rest.

Our creativity needs room to breathe.

And our relationships need our attention just as much as our careers do.

Balance doesn’t mean giving everything equal time every day.

Some days work needs more of us.

Some days family does.

Some days we need to take care of ourselves. Self-care is really important, and easily forgettable.

The goal isn’t perfection—it’s making sure we don’t completely neglect the things that matter most.

It’s okay to say no.

Every “yes” we give to one thing is often a “no” to something else.

Sometimes protecting your peace means protecting your calendar.

It means recognizing your limits without feeling guilty about them. If you have someone around you who is hateful and mean, it’s okay to just walk away from the situation for a while.

One thing that has helped me is asking a simple question:

What matters most today?

Not this month.

Not next year.

Just today.

When I focus on the most important things instead of trying to do everything, I end the day feeling more peaceful and far less overwhelmed.

And maybe that’s the secret.

Peace isn’t found in doing less because life suddenly became easy.

It’s found in choosing what deserves our attention and letting the rest wait.

I recently found a YouTube video on how to plan with ADHD, I forget the title, and she talks about turning your to do list into three separate areas:

* Quick wins (things that take less than 5 minutes to do)

* Tasks (things that take 5-30 minutes to do)

* and Projects (things that take 30 minutes or more, or have multiple tasks to complete)

So today, I want to leave you with a small challenge.

Take just ten minutes for yourself.

Think about what matters most today. Write down at least three Quick wins, Tasks, and one or two Projects that you want to work on today… keeping in mind the general time blocks for each.

Those few minutes won’t stop the world from turning.

But they might help your heart slow down enough to enjoy the life you’re already living.

Pick one small thing on your list to start with and when it’s complete, you’ll feel a small jolt of energy that will grow as you complete more small tasks.

Thank you so much for spending a little time with me today.

Until next time, remember that peace isn’t something you find after life becomes perfect.

It’s something you create, one quiet moment at a time.

Today, I want to talk about something that many of us struggle with: making time for ourselves.

Life has a way of convincing us that everyone else should come first. There are dishes to wash, emails to answer, errands to run, people to care for, deadlines to meet, and an endless list of responsibilities waiting for us every morning. Somewhere along the way, we begin to believe that taking time for ourselves is selfish.

But it’s not.

In fact, making time for yourself may be one of the kindest things you can do—not just for yourself, but for everyone around you.

Think of yourself like a phone battery. You can ignore the warning for a little while. You can squeeze out a few more minutes. But eventually, if you never recharge, everything stops.

We aren’t meant to live on empty.

For me, making time for myself often means disappearing into a story. As an author, I spend my days creating worlds, but I also know the value of stepping away from work. Sometimes peace looks like reading a book just for fun. Sometimes it’s taking a quiet walk without listening to anything. Sometimes it’s sitting outside with a cup of coffee and simply watching the clouds drift by.

Peace doesn’t always have to be productive.

That’s something our culture doesn’t always tell us. We often feel pressure to earn our rest, as though we have to complete every task before we’re allowed to breathe.

But what if rest isn’t a reward?

What if it’s a necessity?

When you intentionally set aside even fifteen or twenty minutes for yourself, you’re sending yourself a powerful message: I matter too.

Those small moments begin to add up. They calm your mind, lower your stress, and remind you that your worth isn’t measured by how much you accomplish in a day.

If you’re someone who feels guilty taking time for yourself, I’d encourage you to start small.

Schedule ten minutes.

Read one chapter.

Listen to your favorite song.

Take a walk around the block.

Write in a journal.

Sit quietly without reaching for your phone.

It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Peace often arrives in the ordinary moments we usually rush past.

And here’s the beautiful part: when you take care of yourself, you often become more patient, more creative, more present, and more compassionate. You’re able to give from a place of fullness instead of exhaustion.

So today, I want to leave you with one simple question:

What would happen if you treated making time for yourself as important as every other appointment on your calendar?

Maybe the answer is exactly the peace you’ve been looking for.

Thank you for spending these few minutes with me today. I hope wherever you are, you find a small moment of quiet—a reminder that you deserve rest, joy, and peace just as much as anyone else.

Until next time, keep choosing peace, one moment at a time.

Hi! I’m Katrina! I’m the author of 28 books and counting, from Young Adult Fantasy (with or without romance) to Natural Disaster Thrillers and everything in between. I also have a planner coming out in June that focuses on Cyclic planning, which I hope will help everyone (including those like me who are both Autistic and ADHD) find balance in their lives without the pressure of being “perfect”.

Finding Peace explores the quiet ways we search for calm, balance, and meaning in everyday life—through nature, creativity, reflection, and the moments that help us slow down. This podcast is a gentle space to reconnect with yourself and discover what peace means to you.

I hope that you enjoy this podcast.