Do you have an interest that doesn’t seem to fit with your profession?
What if you were to pursue it just for the joy of the thing?
Not everything we spend time doing in our lives needs to contribute to work status or income. There’s such a push nowadays to “share your gifts” and yet monetize, but sometimes, success comes in just enjoying your interest.
My first guest on the Lean Out Podcast in 2026 is Dr. Sarah Hart-Unger. Sarah is a practicing physician, podcaster, and mother of three with a passion for helping listeners make the most of their limited time through effective planning and goal-setting, both at work and in their personal lives. Her time-tested planning methods help shift the balance from reactive and stressful to proactive and fun. Not only has she co-hosted the popular Best of Both Worlds podcast for several years with Laura Vanderkam, she also hosts a solo show called Best Laid Plans.
Sarah continues to host both podcasts, speak nationally, lead courses, write articles, and work part-time as a physician. Best Laid Plans is in the top 0.5% of podcasts and has been featured in the New York Times. Sarah has appeared as a guest on numerous popular podcasts, including Cal Newport’s Deep Questions and The Mom Hour. She is an invited speaker at various corporate venues in the law, tech, education, and healthcare spaces. On top of all this, Sarah recently published her book, titled Best Laid Plans: A Simple Planning System for Living A Life That You Love.
So her interest in planners and organization… it’s really taken off!
In our conversation, Sarah shares her journey from full-time endocrinologist and leader to part-time work so that she can have time to focus on her other endeavors. They started small, but at some point as a business grows, you realize there is only so much time in the day. Yet Sarah demonstrates in our interview that her current balance really suits her. She also gives tips for busy professionals who want to adopt better systems for their own organization but maybe don’t know where to start.
Have a listen to this perfectly-timed episode for New Year organizing, and let me know about your experience:
Do you use a planning system? How do you keep track of tasks and goals? Share your best practices by leaving a comment below!
Do You Have Margin In Your Life?
