As a motivational speaker I can be on the road alot, on exhausting travel days it feels like a hustle hangover.
It’s like you’re running on a treadmill, going full speed, but not actually getting anywhere. That’s because we live in a culture that worships achievement. More emails, more meetings, more goals, more everything. But here’s my challenge to you: What if the key to achieving more isn’t doing more—it’s thinking better?
We celebrate hustle, but when’s the last time someone gave you an award for sitting quietly and actually thinking? The truth is, real breakthroughs—the game-changing ideas, the creative solutions, the big innovations—don’t happen when you’re drowning in busyness. They happen in deep work—focused, undistracted thinking.
Research backs this up. Cal Newport, a professor at Georgetown and author of Deep Work, argues that deep, focused work is becoming increasingly rare—and increasingly valuable (source). Meanwhile, a University of California, Irvine study found that it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back on task after a distraction (source). Distraction isn’t just annoying—it’s expensive.
Motivational Speaker Soothes Hustle Hangover by Encouraging Us to Dig Deeper
But here’s the deeper issue—most of the time, we’re barely scratching the surface. We rush through our work, skim our conversations, and gloss over our relationships. We’re stuck in autopilot. But when you slow down—when you listen deeply, reflect longer, and relate more intentionally—you start seeing things you missed before.
As a female motivational speaker, I’ve seen this firsthand in rooms full of exhausted leaders. Once they pause and reflect—not just react—their entire approach shifts. They stop working just for output, and start leading with insight. That’s when the real breakthroughs happen.
In fact, research from the Harvard Business Review found that reflective thinking improves performance and decision-making by increasing understanding and reducing emotional reactivity (source). Slowing down doesn’t make you soft—it makes you smart.
How to Actually Practice Deep Work
Deep work doesn’t just happen. You have to build a space for it.
- Block the time. Put it on your calendar. No one’s handing you focus—you have to claim it.
- Eliminate distractions. Silence your phone. Close your inbox. Let the world wait.
- Work in sprints. One task. One goal. No toggling between tabs.
- Recover with intention. Walk. Breathe. Think without forcing. That’s where clarity lives.
Even just 30-minute sessions can retrain your brain. Over time, you’ll be shocked how much more you get done when you go deep instead of wide.
Motivational Speaker Soothes Hustle Hangover and Reconnects Us to What Matters
Most of us don’t need more motivation—we need more meaning. We don’t need louder leadership—we need deeper presence. And that comes from re-learning how to think, not just react.
As a female motivational speaker, I help teams trade burnout for clarity, and disconnection for real collaboration. We don’t need to hustle harder. We need to pause longer. We need to reflect. We need to listen—really listen.
And when we do, our work starts to mean something again. Our leadership becomes rooted in wisdom, not reaction. That’s where depth lives. That’s where connection happens.
The Takeaway
So, what’s the next step? Don’t just hustle harder. Think better. Connect deeper. Work wiser. Take just one hour this week—no distractions, no multitasking—and commit to deep work.
You might just rediscover a part of yourself—and your purpose—that’s been waiting in the quiet all along.
Written by female motivational speaker Jody Urquhart.
