If life keeps speeding up and the demands keep stacking up (kids, parents, work, your own busy brain) then this one's for you.

In this episode I interview speaker, writer and self-development expert Lily Silverton about her book Prioritize This: A Practical Guide for Thriving in a World That Won't Slow Down.

We dig into three chapters that land hardest for the midlife squeezed middle: stress, overwhelm, and procrastination and some practical, brain-based tools for each. Lily is candid about her own experiences navigating the combination of a seriously ill father and young children, and why she has no time for self-help advice written for people with no heed for the demands of real life.

We discuss:

• The two most robust, evidence-backed interventions — movement and social connection.
• Building your own bespoke stress toolkit (the "pick and mix", not the prescriptive programme)
• SITs and SATs: stress-inducing vs stress-alleviating thoughts, and turning the dial down on catastrophising
• The multitasking myth — why it's really task switching, and what each switch costs you
• Three questions to cut through overwhelm
• Procrastination as emotional management, not time management - aka "what feeling am I avoiding?"
• AI, the hamster wheel, and whether technology will actually save us time...

Resources and Links:

• Lily's books: Prioritize This and The Priorities Method journal
• Exercises and downloads at the Prioritize This website: https://www.prioritisethis.com/
• Instagram: @lily_silverton
• Website: lilysilverton.com
• Substack: https://prioritisethis.substack.com/

Don't forget you can find out how to work with me and the back archive of this podcast at www.thetripleshift.org/starthere - and if you enjoyed this episode please do write us a short review to help others discover Middling Along!

We say "I've got nothing to wear" standing in front of a full wardrobe. Samantha Harman's argument is that the sentence has nothing to do with clothes — it's about not knowing who we're supposed to be.

In this episode I talk to best-selling author, stylist and former journalist Samantha Harman about her book Just Get Dressed: Why You Have Nothing to Wear and What to Do About It — a styling book with no pictures and no body-shape rules, built instead around the inner work most of us avoid. It's a conversation about generational trauma, the prehistoric brain, the martyrdom of the women in the squeezed middle, and why getting dressed in the morning is so flipping hard.

What we cover:

• Why "nothing to wear" is never about a lack of clothes... and what your wardrobe is actually a manifestation of (beliefs, identity, class, politics, generational trauma)
• The problem with the personal styling industry: more rules, more prescription, more exhaustion
• Epigenetics and the prehistoric brain — why being a visible woman registers as dangerous, and why the fabulous outfit stays on the hanger
• Clothing as a business tool — and why men have always been allowed to use it while women get judged for it
• The "bag of potatoes" meeting: how an ill-fitting supermarket shirt quietly costs you authority, presence and opportunity
• The compare-and-despair cycle and the social-media misery machine: and the reminder that all of it, even "authentic" personal brands, is marketing
• Enclothed cognition: why what you wear changes the actions you take (and how you handle Barry from accounts)
• Midlife as an opportunity, not a decline — finances, time, intelligence, and finding the rooms with brilliant women in them
• Two exercises from the book: meeting the 5-year-old who's really running your wardrobe, and the letter from your 90-year-old self
• Emotional spending, scarcity tactics and how retailers weaponise your feelings — plus the fast-fashion harm hiding behind "retail therapy"
• The wardrobe edit as a non-negotiable business activity — and the one thing to do first: get rid of what you hate

Find Samantha here:

• Just Get Dressed: Why You Have Nothing to Wear and What to Do About It - available on Amaz*n, or justgetdressed.com
• https://www.instagram.com/styleeditoruk/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-harman-style-editor/

Enjoyed this episode?

Follow Middling Along wherever you listen, and consider leaving a review — it genuinely helps other midlife women find the show. For weekly research and commentary on midlife wellbeing, subscribe to Emma's Substack, The Messy Middle: https://middlingalong.substack.com/

Alex Perry is doing something unusual: he's a young man building a women's health-led underwear brand, and talking openly about menopause, mastectomy recovery and vulval health while he does it.

In this conversation, Emma and Alex explore:

• How his company, Alexander Clementine pivoted from a sustainable fashion focus into women's health after customer reviews and his own mum's breast cancer journey revealed an unmet need
• Why use seaweed (and specifically Icelandic seaweed harvested every four years) to make a fabric naturally antibacterial, anti-odour, temperature-regulating, moisture-wicking, hypoallergenic and rich in antioxidants
• The environmental case against synthetic underwear, and why fibres made from petrochemicals are particularly concerning in a menopause context (carcinogens, hormone disruptors, trapped heat and moisture)
• "Menopause-washing" — how to read the label and spot brands cashing in without using fabrics that actually help
• How the underwear helps with external-facing symptoms of menopause — hot flushes, heightened sensitivity, dry and itchy skin, vulval discomfort — and where it fits in breast cancer recovery (two-to-four weeks post-surgery, not as an immediate post-surgical compression bra)
• Why Alex believes men need to be part of the menopause conversation — and the response he's had from men his own age (spoiler: most know nothing about it)

• Alexander Clementine website: alexanderclementine.com
• Instagram: @alexanderclementine (search Alexander Clementine)
• Check out my earlier conversation with Jo and Rob, authors of Burning Up, Frozen Out — a book aimed at men with frameworks for having menopause conversations: https://www.thetripleshift.org/podcast/burning-up-frozen-out

Note: Alex kindly gifted me a sample crop bra to try ahead of recording — there's no paid sponsorship, and as regular listeners know, I rarely talk about products on the podcast unless I've used them myself.

To find out more about ways to work with me please check out www.thetripleshift.org/starthere

You'll find me on Substack too https://middlingalong.substack.com/