Ditch the Chaos: The Productivity Rebellion

Cara Chace
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

The productivity podcast for burned out women entrepreneurs who are tired of holding their business together with duct tape and coffee. Your week fell apart by Tuesday. Again. You started Monday with a perfectly planned calendar, and by Wednesday you're drowning in "quick requests," rewriting the same to-do list for the third time, and rage-eating lunch at your desk because you're behind on everything. You've tried the productivity systems. The morning routines. The time-blocking. The apps that promise to fix everything. And they all assume your life goes according to plan—which it never does. Here's the truth: You're not bad at time management. You're exhausted from being everyone's backup plan. Your brain is running three parallel to-do lists during client calls. You're carrying the mental load for both your business and your family. And no planner app can fix that. You need weekly planning that bends when life doesn't cooperate. Boundaries that actually protect your capacity. And permission to stop apologizing for needing rest. That's what Ditch the Chaos: The Productivity Rebellion is for. I'm Cara Chace—entrepreneur since 2015, homeschooling mom of two, and recovering people-pleaser who learned the hard way that most productivity advice is built for people whose days are predictable. Mine aren't. Yours probably aren't either. This isn't another podcast telling you to wake up at 5am, batch your content, or hustle harder. This is where you learn to build your own systems instead of following everyone else's rules. Every week, you'll get strategies for entrepreneur burnout recovery, real talk about setting boundaries without guilt, and practical ways to create white space in your calendar and breathing room in your brain—before you hit the wall. You'll learn how to stop white-knuckling your way through every week, get your Fridays back, and run your business without sacrificing your sanity. No templates. No rigid time-blocking. No productivity guilt. Just relief that actually works when your Tuesday falls apart. Ready to stop being the failsafe for everything? Subscribe now and let's ditch the chaos together.

  1. 3d ago

    The Social Media Burnout Cure Chapter 1: Before The Scroll

    Send in your question or leave me some love! She was sixteen, sitting across from her dad in a Denny's booth in San Diego, when she told him she wanted to be a writer — and he asked how she'd ever make a living doing that. That single lunch didn't just close the door on writing. It taught her that her own gut instinct couldn't be trusted, and that the only thing that mattered was external approval. It's not a story about one bad conversation with her dad. It's the origin story of every hoop she jumped through for the next thirty years, including the ones on social media. In this episode, you'll learn: How a single lunch with her father, at sixteen, taught her that jumping through hoops — the GPA, the honors, the six-figure job by 27 — was the only path to being seen as worthyWhat it was like working as a federal Special Agent in the years before and just after social media arrived, and why she and her coworkers saw it as a threat long before anyone called it "burnout"The story from a St. Patrick's Day arrest that showed her how fast phones had become an extension of people's memory, identity, and safety netHow she got "sucked in" to posting anyway once she became a mom, and what that says about how few of us actually choose our way onto these platformsKey Topics Covered: The Denny's Booth: "How Will You Make a Living Doing That?" (00:00:00)From Possibility to a Tunnel of Hoops (00:03:00)"Hoop, Done": Chasing Every External Milestone (00:04:00)Becoming a Special Agent (00:06:00)Why She Knew Social Media Was a Bad Idea, Even Then (00:08:00)The St. Patrick's Day Jail Story (00:10:00)Becoming a Mom, and Getting Sucked In Anyway (00:12:00)What That Denny's Booth Really Taught Her (00:13:00)Closing + Where to Get the Book (00:14:00)Resources Mentioned: The Social Media Burnout Cure (out now, everywhere books are sold): socialmediaburnoutbook.comConnect with Cara: Website: carachace.comInstagram: @carachaceEmail: hello@carachace.com My book, The Social Media Burnout Cure: How To Ditch the Scroll, Quiet Your Nervous System, and Market Your Business Without the Chaos, is officially out — everywhere books are sold. Grab your copy and reader bonuses at socialmediaburnoutbook.com.  Support the show ❓Want your question answered on the show? Join the Productivity Rebellion for free monthly guidance + the chance to ask me anything! Connect: Instagram | YouTube | Website ✨Start your Chaos Detox 📩Join The Productivity Rebellion ⭐Loved the episode? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

  2. Sep 24

    The Social Media Burnout Cure Introduction

    Send in your question or leave me some love! Two Meta verdicts landed in March 2026 — one over failing to protect kids from predators on Instagram and Facebook, one over designing products that damaged a teenager's mental health. Both came down to the same finding: the design itself caused the harm, and a jury called it intentional. If you've been showing up online every day trying to use it responsibly, wondering why it never quite feels like enough, this is the introduction to why. It's not a discipline problem. It's not even a marketing problem. It's a nervous system problem dressed up as one. In this episode, you'll learn: Why two 2026 jury verdicts against Meta changed the entire conversation about social media and mental healthWhy "nothing is wrong with you" if posting hasn't grown your business the way you hopedCara's own story — from managing 13 million fans across Megadeth's social accounts to building, and eventually stepping back from, a digital marketing agencyWhat Part One and Part Two of the book each cover, and why none of it is all-or-nothingKey Topics Covered: Welcome + About This Book (00:00:00)Dedication (00:01:00)Part One: The Hoops — Introduction Begins (00:02:00)The 2026 Meta Verdicts (00:03:00)"Nothing Is Wrong With You" — Why This Book Exists (00:05:00)From Megadeth to Marketing Agency: Cara's Story (00:06:00)What Part Two Offers (00:08:00)Your Choice, Not a Prescription (00:10:00)Closing + Where to Get the Book (00:12:00)Resources Mentioned: The Social Media Burnout Cure (out now, everywhere books are sold): socialmediaburnoutbook.comConnect with Cara: Website: carachace.comInstagram: @carachaceEmail: hello@carachace.com My book, The Social Media Burnout Cure: How To Ditch the Scroll, Quiet Your Nervous System, and Market Your Business Without the Chaos, is officially out — everywhere books are sold. Grab your copy and reader bonuses at socialmediaburnoutbook.com.  Support the show ❓Want your question answered on the show? Join the Productivity Rebellion for free monthly guidance + the chance to ask me anything! Connect: Instagram | YouTube | Website ✨Start your Chaos Detox 📩Join The Productivity Rebellion ⭐Loved the episode? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

  3. Jun 18

    The Social Media Burnout Cure Is Coming — See You in October

    Send in your question or leave me some love! I'm pausing the podcast. After 10 years running a digital marketing agency, managing social media for Megadeth, and a decade as a Special Agent before that, I've written the book I've been circling around for years — and to launch it well, I'm clearing space. In this short update episode, I'm sharing what's happening with Ditch the Chaos for the next few months, why I'm choosing to walk the walk on the boundary advice I give every week, and exactly how you can stay close while I'm heads-down on this launch. In this episode, you'll hear: Why I'm pausing the podcast and when I'll be backWhat my book The Social Media Burnout Cure is actually about (and who it's for)How to model healthy boundaries when you're an ambitious woman with a full plateThree essential episodes to listen to during the pauseHow to get on the book launch list for first look at the introduction, pre-order info, and launch bonusesKey Topics Covered: The Book and Why It Exists (00:00:56)Who This Book Is For (00:01:58)Why I'm Pausing the Podcast (00:02:32)Walking the Walk: Modeling the Boundary (00:03:11)How to Stay Close During the Pause (00:04:05)Resources Mentioned: Join the book launch list: socialmediaburnoutbook.comEpisode 2 — Why Your Time Feels Out of Control (and What to Do About It)Episode 6 — What 2 Months Off Instagram Taught MeEpisode 21 — Stuck in Survival Mode? Try a Nervous System ResetThe Productivity Rebellion (free monthly guide): carachace.com/productivity-rebellionConnect with Cara: Website: carachace.comInstagram: @carachaceEmail: hello@carachace.comThe show is not ending — I'll see you in October with fresh episodes. In the meantime, get on the book launch list so you're the first to know when The Social Media Burnout Cure drops.  My book, The Social Media Burnout Cure: How To Ditch the Scroll, Quiet Your Nervous System, and Market Your Business Without the Chaos, is officially out — everywhere books are sold. Grab your copy and reader bonuses at socialmediaburnoutbook.com.  Support the show ❓Want your question answered on the show? Join the Productivity Rebellion for free monthly guidance + the chance to ask me anything! Connect: Instagram | YouTube | Website ✨Start your Chaos Detox 📩Join The Productivity Rebellion ⭐Loved the episode? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

  4. Jun 11

    The Work-Life Balance Myth for Women Entrepreneurs

    Send in your question or leave me some love! Work-life balance sounds good in theory — until you're answering emails in the school pickup line while someone asks if you can chair the spring fundraiser. If the framework keeps failing you, it's not a discipline problem. It's the wrong goal. In this episode, you'll learn: Why "work vs. everything else" sets women entrepreneurs up to feel like they're constantly failingWhat whole life balance actually means and how it changes your relationship with time and energyHow to see everything that's on your plate before you can balance any of itPractical strategies for protecting your time, managing your week, and finally disconnecting from workKey Topics Covered: Why work-life balance is a myth (00:00:22)Tip 1: The brain dump (00:02:00)Tip 2: Setting boundaries that protect your whole life (00:03:21)Tip 3: Theme day planning and time management (00:04:46)Tip 4: Weekly reflection and energy mapping (00:06:07)Tip 5: Self-care as infrastructure (00:07:20)Tip 6: Tech boundaries and disconnecting (00:08:56)Tip 7: Delegating and letting go (00:09:43)Tip 8: Saying no to prevent burnout (00:10:37)Tip 9: Mindfulness without the buzzword baggage (00:11:51)Reset & Reclaim Action Step (00:13:28)Reset & Reclaim Action Step: Do a brain dump — get every obligation, open to-do, appointment, and background worry out of your head and onto paper. Then find one thing to delete and one thing to hand off. Everything else becomes your actual starting point. Resources Mentioned: The Productivity Rebellion (free monthly guide): carachace.com/productivity-rebellionChaos Detox (weekly planning system): carachace.com/chaos-detoxConnect with Cara: Website: carachace.comInstagram: @carachaceEmail: hello@carachace.com My book, The Social Media Burnout Cure: How To Ditch the Scroll, Quiet Your Nervous System, and Market Your Business Without the Chaos, is officially out — everywhere books are sold. Grab your copy and reader bonuses at socialmediaburnoutbook.com.  Support the show ❓Want your question answered on the show? Join the Productivity Rebellion for free monthly guidance + the chance to ask me anything! Connect: Instagram | YouTube | Website ✨Start your Chaos Detox 📩Join The Productivity Rebellion ⭐Loved the episode? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

  5. Jun 4

    When Productivity Becomes the Problem: Burnout, Info Overload, & Breaking The Addiction To Busy

    Send in your question or leave me some love! If you're doing all the right things — posting consistently, tracking your metrics, staying current — and still lying awake at 2am wondering why it feels like you're failing, this episode is for you. The productivity rules most women entrepreneurs follow aren't just failing to help. They may be the reason you're burning out. In this episode, you'll learn: Why productivity itself can become a coping mechanism (and what that actually means for your business)How information overconsumption is wrecking your ability to think, plan, and follow throughWhat "the great unlearning" looks like for women entrepreneurs in 2026The physical toll of always-on business culture — and one real-life example that changed everything3 small actions to start breaking the addiction to busy this weekKey Topics Covered: Why work becomes an addiction even when you love what you do (00:02:09)Mental clutter disguised as ambition: the information overload problem (00:04:16)The holiday break that changed how Cara runs her business (00:06:34)Which "productive" habits are actually keeping you overstimulated (00:09:18)Reset & Reclaim: 3 action steps for this week (00:10:13)Reset & Reclaim Action Step: This week, try all three: (1) Stop consuming for a real chunk of time each day — walk without earbuds, sit without your phone. (2) Pick one metric you're tracking that doesn't change your behavior and stop tracking it. (3) Ask yourself each morning: Am I prioritizing productivity over my health right now? Resources Mentioned: The Productivity Rebellion (free monthly guide): carachace.com/productivity-rebellionChaos Detox: carachace.com/chaos-detoxDr. Mindy Pelz video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Lk2bIkXwYConnect with Cara: Website: carachace.comInstagram: @carachaceEmail: hello@carachace.comLove this episode? Leave a review and help other exhausted entrepreneurs find the show.  My book, The Social Media Burnout Cure: How To Ditch the Scroll, Quiet Your Nervous System, and Market Your Business Without the Chaos, is officially out — everywhere books are sold. Grab your copy and reader bonuses at socialmediaburnoutbook.com.  Support the show ❓Want your question answered on the show? Join the Productivity Rebellion for free monthly guidance + the chance to ask me anything! Connect: Instagram | YouTube | Website ✨Start your Chaos Detox 📩Join The Productivity Rebellion ⭐Loved the episode? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

  6. May 28

    Business Admin Tasks You're Forgetting (And How to Automate Them)

    Send in your question or leave me some love! Business Admin Tasks You're Forgetting (And How to Automate Them) If you've ever had that low-grade "I know I'm forgetting something" feeling running in the background of your workday, this episode is for you. The recurring business admin tasks that keep your online business running are invisible until they become a problem — and by then, they're a much bigger problem than they needed to be. In this episode, you'll learn: Why business admin tasks feel optional until they absolutely aren'tThe four-category system (weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly) that gets recurring tasks out of your headExactly what belongs in each category so you can build your own versionHow to schedule and automate recurring tasks using tools you already haveWhy "I'll get to it when things slow down" is keeping you stuckKey Topics Covered: Why admin overwhelm sneaks up on entrepreneurs (00:02:00)The four-bucket recurring task system (00:03:31)Weekly and monthly tasks breakdown (00:04:00)Quarterly and yearly tasks breakdown (00:05:22)Three steps to automate without a new app (00:06:51)Reset & Reclaim action step (00:09:03)Reset & Reclaim Action Step: Pick one category — weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly — and spend 15 minutes listing every admin task you can think of that belongs there. Start with monthly if you're not sure where to begin. Don't worry about scheduling yet. Just get it out of your head and onto a list. Resources Mentioned: The Productivity Rebellion (free monthly guide): carachace.com/productivity-rebellionChaos Detox: carachace.com/chaos-detoxEpisode 53 — 5 Tough Lessons I Learned the Hard Way as an EntrepreneurConnect with Cara: Website: carachace.comInstagram: @carachaceEmail: hello@carachace.comLove this episode? Leave a review and help other exhausted entrepreneurs find the show.  My book, The Social Media Burnout Cure: How To Ditch the Scroll, Quiet Your Nervous System, and Market Your Business Without the Chaos, is officially out — everywhere books are sold. Grab your copy and reader bonuses at socialmediaburnoutbook.com.  Support the show ❓Want your question answered on the show? Join the Productivity Rebellion for free monthly guidance + the chance to ask me anything! Connect: Instagram | YouTube | Website ✨Start your Chaos Detox 📩Join The Productivity Rebellion ⭐Loved the episode? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

  7. May 21

    Is Your Business Too Complicated? Here's the 5-Step Fix.

    Send in your question or leave me some love! Is Your Business Too Complicated? Here's the 5-Step Fix. If your business has quietly turned into a stack of subscriptions, tangled funnels, and offers connected to platforms you barely use — you're not alone, and you don't have to keep running it that way. Simplifying your business isn't a step backward. Sometimes it's the smartest move you can make. In this episode, you'll learn: How to evaluate your offers and cut what's no longer serving youA straightforward method for auditing every tool and subscription you're paying forWhy constantly tweaking your branding is secretly a form of avoidanceWhat to do before you switch email service providers (so you don't drag problems with you)How to use 12-week planning to turn a massive simplification project into something you can actually finishThe mindset shift that makes all of this stick long-termKey Topics Covered: Step 1: Evaluate what's working (and what's not) (00:03:25)Step 2: Sourcing evergreen tools (00:05:10)Step 3: Simple branding (00:07:04)Step 4: Email marketing and the big switch (00:09:00)Step 5: 12-Week Year planning (00:11:35)Simplicity as a mindset (00:13:03)Reset & Reclaim Action Step: Open your bank or credit card statement and pull up every recurring business expense you're paying for right now. Don't cancel anything yet — just look. Write it all down in one place, then ask two questions for each line item: Do I really need this? And is it priced right for where my business actually is? Resources Mentioned: The Productivity Rebellion (free monthly guide): carachace.com/productivity-rebellionChaos Detox: carachace.com/chaos-detoxFocus Sessions (co-working community): https://carachace.com/focus-sessionsMagic Marketing App (AI marketing app): https://carachace.com/marketing-magicThrivecart (lifetime pricing shopping cart + course platform): https://carachace.com/thrivecartNotion (free project management): https://carachace.com/notionFlodesk (email marketing): https://flodesk.com/c/TI8D7ZThe 12-Week Year (book): https://amzn.to/3QccJQmConnect with Cara: Website: carachace.comInstagram: @carachaceEmail: hello@carachace.comLove this episode? Leave a review and help other exhausted women entrepreneurs find the show.  My book, The Social Media Burnout Cure: How To Ditch the Scroll, Quiet Your Nervous System, and Market Your Business Without the Chaos, is officially out — everywhere books are sold. Grab your copy and reader bonuses at socialmediaburnoutbook.com.  Support the show ❓Want your question answered on the show? Join the Productivity Rebellion for free monthly guidance + the chance to ask me anything! Connect: Instagram | YouTube | Website ✨Start your Chaos Detox 📩Join The Productivity Rebellion ⭐Loved the episode? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

  8. May 14

    5 Entrepreneur Mistakes I Made So You Don't Have To

    Send in your question or leave me some love! If you started your business without a roadmap and learned most of what you know the hard way, this episode is for you. Cara shares five hard-won lessons from 10 years of running a business — the ones that cost the most and taught the most — so you can skip a few of the painful parts. In this episode, you'll learn: Why taking any client who'll pay you is a fast track to burnout (and what to do instead)How to build a client filtering system that protects your time and energyWhy there's no one-size-fits-all approach to marketing your businessA 4-question checklist for building a marketing strategy that actually fits your lifeHow to gut-check shiny object syndrome with 5 questions before you click buyWhy finding a peer with no expectations of leverage can be a business game-changerThe real skill you need when the to-do list never endsKey Topics Covered: Lesson 1: Not everyone is your client, and that's okay (00:01:31)Lesson 2: You don't have to market your business the way everyone else says (00:03:50)Lesson 3: Shiny object syndrome is real — have a gut-check system (00:07:00)Lesson 4: Find a peer with no expectations of leverage (00:10:00)Lesson 5: You'll never get through your to-do list — prioritizing is the skill (00:11:31)Reset & Reclaim Action Step (00:14:14)Reset & Reclaim Action Step: Pick one of these five lessons and ask yourself honestly if it's something you need to work on right now. Then ask: what's one small thing I can do this week that moves me in the right direction? Just start there. Resources Mentioned: The Productivity Rebellion (free monthly guide): carachace.com/productivity-rebellionChaos Detox: carachace.com/chaos-detoxMarketing Magic App (affiliate): link in show notes https://carachace.com/marketing-magicConnect with Cara: Website: carachace.comEmail: hello@carachace.comLove this episode? Leave a review and help other exhausted entrepreneurs find the show.  My book, The Social Media Burnout Cure: How To Ditch the Scroll, Quiet Your Nervous System, and Market Your Business Without the Chaos, is officially out — everywhere books are sold. Grab your copy and reader bonuses at socialmediaburnoutbook.com.  Support the show ❓Want your question answered on the show? Join the Productivity Rebellion for free monthly guidance + the chance to ask me anything! Connect: Instagram | YouTube | Website ✨Start your Chaos Detox 📩Join The Productivity Rebellion ⭐Loved the episode? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

    5 Entrepreneur Mistakes I Made So You Don't Have To
See All (60)

Trailer

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

The productivity podcast for burned out women entrepreneurs who are tired of holding their business together with duct tape and coffee. Your week fell apart by Tuesday. Again. You started Monday with a perfectly planned calendar, and by Wednesday you're drowning in "quick requests," rewriting the same to-do list for the third time, and rage-eating lunch at your desk because you're behind on everything. You've tried the productivity systems. The morning routines. The time-blocking. The apps that promise to fix everything. And they all assume your life goes according to plan—which it never does. Here's the truth: You're not bad at time management. You're exhausted from being everyone's backup plan. Your brain is running three parallel to-do lists during client calls. You're carrying the mental load for both your business and your family. And no planner app can fix that. You need weekly planning that bends when life doesn't cooperate. Boundaries that actually protect your capacity. And permission to stop apologizing for needing rest. That's what Ditch the Chaos: The Productivity Rebellion is for. I'm Cara Chace—entrepreneur since 2015, homeschooling mom of two, and recovering people-pleaser who learned the hard way that most productivity advice is built for people whose days are predictable. Mine aren't. Yours probably aren't either. This isn't another podcast telling you to wake up at 5am, batch your content, or hustle harder. This is where you learn to build your own systems instead of following everyone else's rules. Every week, you'll get strategies for entrepreneur burnout recovery, real talk about setting boundaries without guilt, and practical ways to create white space in your calendar and breathing room in your brain—before you hit the wall. You'll learn how to stop white-knuckling your way through every week, get your Fridays back, and run your business without sacrificing your sanity. No templates. No rigid time-blocking. No productivity guilt. Just relief that actually works when your Tuesday falls apart. Ready to stop being the failsafe for everything? Subscribe now and let's ditch the chaos together.

Information