Working Through Grief Without Losing Yourself at Work

Trigger warning: This episode includes discussion of pregnancy loss and grief.Grief and productivity are rarely spoken about in the same sentence.Yet so many women quietly carry deep emotional pain while still showing up for work, family, and responsibilities.In this heartfelt conversation, I’m joined by transformation coach Shruti Srividhi, who shares her deeply personal journey through pregnancy loss and the silent pressure to keep functioning, performing, and staying productive—even when life feels unbearable.Shruti opens up about what it was like to return to work just days after loss, the emotional weight of unprocessed grief, and why so many of us push our pain aside in order to keep going.But as she discovered years later, grief that is buried doesn’t disappear. It eventually asks to be seen.Together we explore a more compassionate and human way of working—one where you can protect your energy, process your emotions, and still move forward in your career.In our conversation, we explore how societal expectations often encourage us to distract ourselves with work instead of addressing emotional pain. Shruti shares how therapy helped her process more than a decade of grief and why learning to acknowledge and accept our emotions is essential if we want to protect our energy and create healthier ways of working.We also talk about the powerful framework she now teaches: Acknowledge, Accept, Address. This simple but transformative approach helps people recognize when something is emotionally off, accept their feelings without judgment, and find supportive ways to process what they’re going through.If you’ve ever felt the pressure to keep going when your heart needed time to heal, this conversation will remind you that you don’t have to choose between your humanity and your career.You don’t have to move on from grief.But you can learn to move forward with it.🔗 Connect with Shruti SrividhiReady to Take Action? Here’s Your Next Step📩 Subscribe to the podcast for more practical productivity strategies that protect your energy and support sustainable success.🔗 Discover your unique productivity style. Take the Productivity Style Quiz:https://www.annerajoo.com/quizLet’s make your time work for you—not the other way around. 🚀How to leave an Apple Podcasts review on iPhone or iPadOpen the Apple Podcasts app.Tap Search and type The Productivity Sweet Spot.Tap the show (not an episode) to open the show page.Scroll down past 4 or 5 eipsodes to Ratings and Reviews.Tap Write a Review.Choose a staWhat's really stealing your CEO time? Every entrepreneur has a dominant productivity pattern — a way of working that feels normal, even productive. But when you're the CEO, that pattern has a cost.It shows up as full days with no real progress. As never having time to sell, to build, to think. As always being busy but never feeling ahead.You might recognise yourself in one of four patterns: The Overloaded Operator, The Momentum Chaser, The Preparation Loop, or The Capable Bottleneck. Find out which one is your dominant pattern 👉 Take my quiz: https://annerajoo.com/quizOr book a complimentary productivity assessment with me and start reshaping your approach to productivity and success.Don’t forget to connect with me on Instagram @_annerajoo_ and share your key takeaways from this episode! Your insights mean a lot to me!