Six months ago, there were approximately 143 ways to get ahold of me.

I made sure of it. I had a business to run and services to sell. Conventional wisdom said I needed to be accessible.

Today? Four.

All four come through one device. Notifications stay off unless I’ve already granted you access.

That’s not isolation. That’s systems design.

For years, life felt like a game of Plinko. Hundreds of accounts, endless demands, competing priorities. You could choose where to drop the chip, but you couldn’t control where it landed.

I’m done playing Plinko with my life.

Tomorrow, I turn 49.

And as I enter the final year of my 40s, I’m thinking less about what I want to accomplish and more about what I want to build for the years ahead.

A strong foundation. A little breathing room. A home and a life where the doors don’t have to stay open to everyone, all the time.

A life designed to protect what matters, not just accommodate what demands attention.

And I started by reducing access to me.

I suspect a lot of mothers and caregivers are standing at this same crossroads, thinking, I can’t keep doing this.

Maybe you don’t need to get better at managing everything.

Maybe it’s time to redesign the system.

Here’s somewhere to start this weekend:

Count how many ways people, organizations, and systems can interrupt your day.

Pick just one.

Ask yourself: Does this really need access to me, on demand?

If the answer is no, change the setting.

One small change. One less interruption. One more decision that belongs to you.

Because raising tomorrow’s leaders shouldn’t require surrendering control of our own lives today.