As an ambitious former hedge fund PM, now current entrepreneur, it's always been hard for me to turn my mind off. I got to a point maybe 10 years ago where I could really never relax, and it got to be too much. Even on the weekend, with my young kids, my mind was active with work problems and it was hard for me to be truly present to the moment. Not only is this a hard way to live, but I found myself showing up Monday morning intellectually fried. I eventually wore myself out so severely that I needed many months away from work to feel "normal" again. Maybe you feel this way. If you do, ahead of this holiday weekend, I wanted to two few rituals I've learned along the way that helped me. Ritual 1: Empty Your Head on Paper. Write for 3-5 minutes (pen and paper always best) about all the work-related problems still bouncing around in your head. People to call, ideas, problems, things you're worried about. Get it out of your head, onto paper. Even better, ask whatever higher entity feels personal to you to help you untie these knots over the weekend ("dear God/guides/Universe, here are a few things I am struggling with, please help me on these over the next 48 hours"). It's woo-woo, but it works, and I instantly feel better, like I've done something crafty but temporarily assigning my struggles to a higher, wiser entity. Those "aha" moments have a way of finding themselves into my brain come Sunday afternoon, and this sort of work can be just as or even more powerful than more hours behind a computer screen. Ritual 2: Self Talk, "I Did Enough This Week": Look at yourself in the mirror, and tell yourself, "you did enough this week...I did enough this week". Celebrate the progress you've made and what you completed, get into gratitude and thank yourself for all the progress you made. This shifts the anxiety of "I didn't do enough this week" to "you did enough this week", and that kindness with yourself will cause a subtle but important energy shift. Just be kind to yourself. High achievers are very good at flogging themselves into hard work. There's a time for that, too. But be kind to yourself as well. For me, when I'm busy (and I've been quite busy lately, working long hours), this stuff just makes me feel better. And even in the context of long hours, tight deadlines & big opportunities, just slightly, makes work feel a bit more like play. Try it out. Maybe it will work for you, too. I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend with their families. Mrs. Caughran on a sister trip so the Caughran boys are excited for the first ASU football game tomorrow night and riding our new jetskis on Lake Saguaro. Go Devils!