How To Start A Quiet Time Routine When You Feel Overwhelmed

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Feeling overwhelmed and inconsistent with quiet time? Learn how to start a simple, sustainable quiet time routine with God that fits your real life.

If you’re here, I’m guessing you don’t need someone to tell you that you “should” be spending time with the Lord. You probably already want it, you just feel overwhelmed.

You want it because you miss the steadiness that comes from sitting with Him.

You want the closeness, steadiness, clarity, and peace that come from regularly sitting with Him, especially when your mind feels like it has 47 tabs open.

You want that feeling of exhale. That grounded steadiness where your shoulders drop, your thoughts slow down, and you remember who you are and Whose you are.

You want your relationship with God to feel alive and personal, not like you’re rushing through a quiet time the same way you rush through everything else in your life.

Most of the women I talk to don’t struggle with desire. They struggle with follow-through, especially in overwhelmed seasons when consistency feels like it costs more than they have to give.

They long for a steady quiet time routine, but life is busy, their minds are full, and their energy is already spoken for.

The distractions are loud. There are 100 valid reasons to skip it this morning, sick kids, no sleep, a tight deadline, a tantrum, a sink full of dishes, your own emotional exhaustion.

They sit down with their Bible and journal and don’t even know where to start…and that overwhelm makes it easier to close it all back up and tell themselves they’ll try again tomorrow.

Or they start strong for a week, and then life happens, and they drift.

And then the guilt creeps in, which makes it even harder to come back.

If that’s you, you’re in the right place. 💜

And if your quiet time has felt messy, inconsistent, or nonexistent lately…you’re not failing. You’re just overwhelmed.

The good news is that building a quiet time routine isn’t about becoming more disciplined overnight or just “powering through” (ugh, I’ve done that for too many years). It’s about creating a rhythm that fits your actual life, your real capacity, and your real season.

And, sometimes, underneath the overwhelm is shame.

You tell yourself you “should be better at this.” You compare yourself to women who seem to wake up at 5 am without fail with their perfect journals and color-coded pens. You assume your inconsistency says something about your faith…or your worth.

It doesn’t. It just means you’re human. And you need a plan that fits your real life.

Let’s walk through this simply and realistically, in a way that actually works when you’re overwhelmed.

1. Start Smaller Than You Think You Should

One of the biggest mistakes we make, especially when we’re overwhelmed, is aiming for depth before we’ve built consistency.

You tell yourself it either needs to be a picture-perfect one-hour quiet time, or you might as well skip it altogether…and overwhelm loves that logic.

If you haven’t had a regular quiet time in a while, don’t aim for an hour.

If you’ve been wondering how to have a quiet time with God when you’re overwhelmed, this is where you start.

Aim for five minutes, and let five minutes be enough (for now).

Five minutes spent with God consistently is far more impactful than a grand plan that lasts four picture-perfect days and then fizzles out when you burn out.

And just to be clear – five minutes can look like one Psalm, one prayer, one sentence in your journal. That counts. Every minute seeking the Lord matters.

A simple 5-minute quiet time (when you’re overwhelmed):

  • Read: 3–6 verses (one short passage)
  • Pray: a few sentences
  • Write: one fill-in-the-blank line
    • “Lord, help me to feel Your presence. I’m aching for Your _____” (peace, patience, guidance…)
    • “God, I need Your help with ______ today.”
    • “Father, guide my steps as I _____ today.”

With any habit, the goal at the beginning is consistency. You’re practicing with repetition. You’re building a pathway, gently training your body and brain to expect this time with Him.

Depth can grow later with more time, more resources, more quiet time “parts” (prayer, Bible study, journaling, stillness, etc).

But in an overwhelmed season, showing up matters more than doing it perfectly.

Five minutes can become ten. Ten can become twenty. But consistency comes first.

This isn’t about checking it off the list. It’s about building relationship with the Lord. And one really great way relationships are deepened is through steady presence together over time. A daily touch point where you come together, even briefly, to connect.

2. Pre-Decide the Basics (So Overwhelm Doesn’t Win)

One of the biggest enemies of consistency, especially when you’re overwhelmed, is decision fatigue.

If every morning you have to decide when to do your quiet time, where to sit, what to read, and what to use, you’ve already spent a chunk of your mental energy before you even open your Bible.

So let’s simplify it as much as possible.

Pick A Time

Pick a time that works regularly in your schedule right now, not the schedule you wish you had (🙋🏼‍♀️ I’ve been known to do this…).

For some seasons of my life, that meant early mornings. In other seasons (babies, sleepless nights, toddlers climbing on me), that meant adjusting.

Right now, I actually do a short workout before my quiet time, because my brain needs a minute to wake up. Moving my body first helps me focus…and it gives the coffee time to kick in. 😂 That tiny shift made a huge difference for me.

Pick a location.

It does not have to be a Pinterest-worthy spot, but I do encourage you to make it a warm, inviting place for you.

You’re not stuck in one place forever, by any means, but having a specific place set up and ready for you is helpful.

In spring and summer, I love doing quiet time on the back porch where I can put my feet in the grass and watch the sunrise.

In the cooler fall and winter months, I stay inside in a cozy corner on our couch with my favorite throw blanket on my lap and twinkle lights strung across the shelf next to me.

My pile of my journal, pen, Bible, and devotional live on our couch unless we’re having people over (then I move the whole stack to my nightstand until they leave), but I always keep it all together so I don’t lose things.

The more you pre-decide, the less resistance you’ll feel in the moment, especially on tired mornings.

3. Give Yourself Structure So You’re Not Staring at a Blank Page

One thing I hear often is, “I sit down with my Bible and just stare into space because I don’t know where to start.” And I get it.

When you open Scripture without a plan, especially with an already-full mind, it can feel like standing in a library with no idea which shelf to start on – feeling mentally foggy, emotionally flat, or just too tired to form a coherent thought.

For me, structure can be incredibly freeing, because it removes the “What do I do?” question.

I’ve switched between all kinds of different structures over the years.

There’s no wrong option here, but do keep your capacity in mind. Overplanning can turn a quiet time into another pressure point.

There have been times I really wanted to do it all – a Bible study, a devotional, a memory verse, a Christian book, and more…and I got so overwhelmed that I burned out in a couple of weeks.

Here are a few simple structure options, especially if you feel overwhelmed when you sit down:

  • following a Bible reading plan
  • working through a devotional
  • going through a book, section by section (I often do this when our small group does a book study together)
  • using a prayer journal with labeled sections you fill in daily (like a Prayerful Planner or my printable prayer journal)
  • using a blank journal and creating your own structure (a Bible verse, 3 things you’re grateful for, etc).
  • using guided journal prompts

That’s one of the reasons I create monthly journal prompt posts, because sometimes you don’t need more options. You need one clear next step. It’s already there, pre-decided for you, so you can spend your energy on connection instead of decision-making.

I’m a big believer in Wholehearted Bible Study, pursuing the Lord with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength…and I’ve found that approach is especially grounding in overwhelmed seasons.

Here are some of the quiet time resources I offer here at So Very Blessed:

I’m a big supporter of tuning in to the things in your life that already feel important and planning quiet time resources that support that area.

Last year, I spent 6 months deep-diving into Psalm 37:3-5 in an impromptu in-depth Bible study in a season where I needed to release control (that’s how the Wholehearted 5-week study was created!).

This year, I felt really strongly about praying for my own kids and the kids and teens in our small group, so I’m going through The One Year Praying through the Bible for Your Kids daily devotional.

There is no wrong way. The goal is simply to remove the ‘What do I even do?’ barrier so your energy can go toward connection instead of confusion.

4. Attach It to What You Already Do (Habit Stacking)

Habits stick more easily when they’re connected to something you already do, because you’re not trying to build a whole new routine from scratch.

I’m a huge supporter of one small change over drastic overhauls, especially when you’re already drowning in overwhelm, so look for the easiest path of least resistance to get started.

  • After I pour my coffee, I sit down with my Bible.
  • After school drop-off, you might sit in the car for five minutes before driving away.
  • Before you open your laptop, you might open Scripture.

When it becomes part of an existing rhythm, it feels less like adding something new and more like extending what’s already there.

5. Stay Flexible in Different Seasons of Life

Your quiet time routine will not look the same in every season.

When I was single, I had big chunks of time, morning and night, to choose from. When I had babies, my quiet time often happened in fragments. When I had toddlers, it required creativity. Now with little boys, it looks different again.

I’ve learned a lot about staying both intentional and interruptible since becoming a mom.

Faithfulness in one season might mean five minutes. In another, it might mean forty-five.

Neither is more spiritual. Both can be deeply intimate.

Plans need flexibility. The goal is not rigidity. It’s responsiveness.

6. When You Miss a Day (Because You Will)

You begin again. Gently, without the side of shame.

There is no scoreboard. God is not measuring your devotion by a streak.

He delights in your return. In your presence. Not because you performed well, but because you came back.

7. The Real Goal: Relationship, Not a Checkmark

The goal of building a quiet time routine is not to check a box and feel accomplished.

It is to build intimacy with your Heavenly Father.

To create a steady, reliable place where you pour out your heart and receive His.

For me, it’s my morning reset, a heart check, a gentle turning of my eyes toward Jesus before the day pulls me in every direction. A place of encouragement and direction and life-giving hope, even in the darkest, most discouraging seasons.

Over time, that daily investment begins to shape everything else. You may still get distracted. You may still drift. But there is a rootedness beneath you. A steadiness. A familiarity with His voice.

And that intimacy changes how you show up in your parenting, your marriage, your work, and your friendships.

Not because you tried harder.

But because you stayed near. Abiding in daily quiet times is a powerful force. 💜

What feels like the biggest obstacle for you right now – time, distractions, not knowing where to start, or just pure exhaustion? I’d love to hear.

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