#221: The 2pm Reset

In this episode, I walk through what I call the 2 p.m. reset—those moments in the afternoon when the day starts to feel like it’s slipping away. I paint a realistic picture of that mid-day overwhelm: a messy kitchen, kids needing constant attention, dinner still unplanned, and a growing sense that nothing has really been accomplished yet. I talk about why this time of day feels so hard, not because we’re failing, but because of decision fatigue, energy dips, and the weight of everything still ahead. Then I share a simple, flexible reset I use in real life: choosing one small admin task, one household task, and one thing that helps my future self at dinner time or tomorrow. It’s not about catching up or fixing the whole day—it’s about re-entering the afternoon with a little more clarity, calm, and intention so the rest of the day feels steadier instead of chaotic.

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Transcript

Welcome And Podcast Purpose

Dara Boxer 0:00

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Raw on the Cooked, a weekly podcast that provides simple routines around the home plus raw and honest book reviews. My name is Dara. I'm a Midwestern stay-at-home mom to four young kids, and I thrive on simplicity. Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode.

The 2 P.M. Slump Scenario

Dara Boxer 0:18

Today we are talking all about the 2 p.m. reset and really what to do when you feel that the day is starting to slip away from you. And I wanted to paint a realistic picture because it's one that I feel a lot, and I can't be alone in this. So, okay, just imagine for a second it is 2.07 p.m. The kitchen is a mess from lunch. A lot of little areas in your home are a mess from the morning. One of your children is asking for a snack, another is crying, dinner isn't started, you've been busy all day, but somehow it kind of feels like nothing has actually gotten done. Oh, and you have school pickup looming in the not so distant future. So this is where everything kind of starts to slip, and it's not because you're failing, but because this is a real transition point in the day that nobody talks about because you have a beast ahead of you. You have dinner time, you have homework, bedtime, backpack resets, you have closing down the house, you have a lot of hours in front of you before bedtime, but they are going to be really busy hours, especially when everyone gets home from school. And you still, and like also simultaneously, like they are so busy, but like the stuff that you wanted to get done doesn't like still hasn't gotten done, and you're definitely not gonna have time for it once everyone gets home from school. So grab yourself another cup of coffee. This is what I do when I'm like, oh boy. So what I like to do, and I want to just give you like a picture of what I do for the quick the quick 2 p.m. reset. So the first things first, I'm either gonna brew myself a cup of tea or I'm gonna make another coffee. I do allow myself caffeine until 3 p.m. and then I cut myself off. So when it's 2 07 p.m. and I look around and the house is an absolute disaster, I did not get to those phone calls. I have three text messages that I need to reply to. I have to schedule something for the kids. I have four emails that need attendance attention. Like there's a lot going on, and I want to get some of it done before the rest of the day takes

Why 2 P.M. Feels So Hard

Dara Boxer 2:16

over. And I'm just gonna quickly sh before I even share like what I do, I just wanted to talk about why 2 p.m. just feels so hard. And I have like no good solution for you. I really don't. I just wanted to normalize it because this is where you're at a point in the day where the energy just drains out of you. You have decision fatigue from basically 6 a.m. up until that point, and the psychological weight of the day it's just not over, and like that's kind of heavy. And then also, if your kids are up and not napping and they're dysregulated, you are getting dysregulated, and that is a whole thing. And so by 2 p.m., you kind of feel like you've lived an entire day, yet you still have the hardest part of the day in front of you, and it would be nice to feel like you could go to bed with some sort of productivity under your belt. That's it. So that's it. I have no good solutions for that, it's just that's kind of the reality of 2 p.m. on one of those days, and so instead of emotionally spiraling out of control, bouncing between tasks, um, there's just like a lot to do and get done, and giving yourself just like some grace and empathy. Okay, so I'm gonna just go

The Coffee And Kitchen Reset

Dara Boxer 3:32

back. I will start another coffee or tea, and in the time it takes to brew the coffee or the tea, I'm going to quickly go through the kitchen. I'm gonna clear surfaces, wipe down counters, uh, any laundry. Like, why is there always laundry in the kitchen? Like someone's like dirty shirt or pair of socks, right? I'm getting the laundry, putting it in the laundry basket. I'm just gonna do a super quick power tidy of the kitchen, and I'm gonna set a timer for five minutes, and I'm gonna pick up any communal spaces. Um, our house isn't that big, so on the main level, we really only have the living room, and I'm just gonna set a quick timer. I'm gonna reset as much as I can.

One Admin Task And One Chore

Dara Boxer 4:07

I'm gonna settle the kids with a snack, and I'm gonna go ahead and just look at my schedule, look at my to-do list, and I'm just going to pick one admin task. I'm gonna pick one household task other than the kitchen and the living room. And then I'm just going to have to say that like good enough is good enough, right? And maybe that is putting away laundry uh that was sitting in the dryer or sitting in a clean laundry basket. Uh, maybe that is picking up another room of the house. Um, maybe it is going to get around to those text messages that I've been avoiding for several hours. Maybe that is going to be getting on the phone and scheduling appointments that need to get done that have been lingering on my to-do list. Um, maybe it is just sitting down with my email for five minutes if the kids are occupied with something else. Right. And then for the household tasks, again, we talked about like the really small, easy wins, clearing surfaces, switching over laundry and dishes. Really, that's kind of it. And then the last thing that you can do to really get ahead of yourself is figuring out what needs

Three Minute Dinner Head Start

Dara Boxer 5:18

to get done for dinner. What can you do right now that takes less than three minutes that will make dinner time rush a little bit easier? Is it getting out the plates, the cups, the forks, and the napkins ready to go? Is it chopping a couple of uh vegetables? Is it thawing something out really quick in an ice bath? Like, what is it that would make the 5 p.m. U happier and things going easier and smoother? Sometimes something as simple as filling up a pot of water and like salting it and putting it on your stove to be heated up later when 5 p.m. rolls around, even something as small as that can save you. Um, maybe that is getting ahead and packing lunches or snacks for tomorrow, like just a few things. So when it's 2.07 p.m. and you are consuming that coffee or tea that you made to kind of get you through as like a little reward for your slump, right? Knowing that by the time three o'clock rolls around or 2.55 when you need to get in the car to go pick up your kids, like you will have just done like less than an hour's worth of work, but you wrapped up a bunch of stuff. Your house won't look like a disaster when you get back. You will have replied to those text messages, those emails, made those phone calls or scheduled those things. You can cross them off your to-do list finally, right? Like, what is it? What are some small things that you can do between 2:07 p.m. and 2 55 when you need to get in the car? For us, the schedule's a tiny bit different, but I would feel like more or less um 3 p.m. is like a normal school pickup time, but whatever, you get my point. It could be the 1 p.m. reset, like whatever it is. For me personally, my kids don't get out of school until a little bit later. So for me, it's like 3 p.m. to 3 55. Like, what can I get done in that time to make me not feel like the entire day is gone?

Re Enter The Day With Purpose

Dara Boxer 7:11

And so I want to say it's like not totally about catching up, it's more like re-entering your day with like purpose because you're not necessarily behind, it's just 2 p.m., right? Like that's it. And so when you walk back into the home after school pickup, or even if your kids are not in school yet, like 3 p.m. and onward, right? Like will feel a little bit calmer because the kitchen is a little bit cleaner. Dinner doesn't feel like it's looming so much, and your brain is no longer buzzing with all of those things that you thought you would have gotten done by now at this point, and so nothing dramatic, just like a power hour, like 2 p.m. Um, so like there's a version of your afternoon that can feel like survival, like you're like just you know, doing what you need to do to survive, and then like there's a version that can feel like steady and calm and with purpose. And so I feel like the difference is just in an

Closing Encouragement And Sign Off

Dara Boxer 8:07

intentional reset and crossing just a couple of things. So, again, you don't need to fix your whole day, you just need a 2 p.m. reset. So think about it, let me know how it goes for you. Cheers, and I'll see you back here next week.