Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing
Are you sick of juggling a million things, and pleasing everyone BUT you?
What if I told you that you could achieve more and find your calm by doing LESS?
In this podcast for accomplished working women, discover where you're going wrong with managing your overwhelm and the exact steps to feel more composed and productive.
Tune in to learn unlikely time management hacks, tips to feel less overwhelmed, and surprising ways to do less with your host Michelle Gauthier, who has over 6 years of experience coaching hundreds of overwhelmed working women.
If you want to to start reclaiming your time, setting better boundaries, and nurturing your mental well-being, you're in the right place.
Get started by listening to fan-favorite episode "The Power of a To-Don't List."
Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing
#124| 5 Small Steps You Can Take Today To Make Big Progress On Your Goals With Ease: Overwhelm, Productivity, Time Management & People Pleasing
Feeling stuck and overwhelmed? I've got five simple actions that can help you regain momentum today!
Many people are struggling to stay on track with their goals, especially after a tough start to the year. Between sickness, snow days, and unexpected setbacks, it’s easy to feel like you’ve lost control. But small, intentional steps can help you break through the mental clutter and get back on track—without the stress.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
- A five-minute trick to jumpstart your productivity.
- How to shift your mindset from “not enough” to celebrating wins.
- A simple automation hack that removes decision fatigue from your day.
Take control of your to-do list today—press play now and start making progress with minimal effort!
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Life can be overwhelming, but on this podcast, you'll discover practical strategies to overcome overwhelm, imposter syndrome, and negative self-talk, manage time effectively, set boundaries, and stay productive in high-stress jobs—all while learning how to say no and prioritize self-care on the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
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In doing that and spending five minutes on it, you have taken away the fear of starting.
Michelle Gauthier:You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less. I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former Overwhelmed Working Woman and current life coach. On this show, we unpack the stress and pressure that today's working woman experiences, and in each episode you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease and relaxation to your life.
Michelle Gauthier:Hi, friend, and welcome to Quick Hit Thursday. You know the goal of these Thursday podcasts is to give you a quick tip. Well, today I'm actually giving you five. I'm going to share five specific, tangible actions you can take right now to move from overwhelm into action. I'm going to help you break through mental clutter, celebrate your wins and make progress with minimal effort. I don't know why, but and this is true for me too I have been having clients, friends. People just tell me that the beginning of the year was just tough, especially February, that people weren't getting the things done they wanted to, and that things were derailed with sickness and snow days and just things being hard right now. So if you have felt stuck and you just need to break free and get back to what you wanted to accomplish this year, these are five great tips to help you get started.
Michelle Gauthier:Tip one is set a five minute timer. Yes, it's only five minutes. No, you probably can't finish most tasks in five minutes, but I promise you you'll be amazed at how, when you set a five minute timer for yourself, the small nudge to even just get started can create the momentum to help you keep going. So here's what you can do in five minutes you can tackle a small chore. You can fold laundry for five minutes. You can wipe down your counter. You can sort one stack of papers or part of a stack of papers For a work project. You can spend five minutes drafting an email or starting a presentation slide For yourself. If you feel like I haven't done anything to take care of myself, you can do five minutes of self-care. You can take five minutes to stretch or meditate or just take deep breaths. In doing that and spending five minutes on it, you have taken away the fear of starting. I know that a lot of times the hardest thing to do on anything especially if it's something you don't want to do is just getting started. I recently did this when I was going through every single paper in my house. It felt like it was going to be overwhelming and I thought I'm just going to sit down here on the floor of my TV room while I'm watching TV and I'm just going to do this first little pile of paper. And sure enough, three episodes later, I was still sorting papers and it felt great to get that task done.
Michelle Gauthier:Tip number two is to create in your mind. You don't even have to write this down on a piece of paper, but create a done list instead of a to do list. Instead of focusing on what's left to do and what you haven't done, just take a second to shift your mindset into what you have done today. This shift helps you celebrate and realize what you have already done and builds confidence, especially on days when you feel like you're just getting absolutely nothing done. This concept comes from the book of the Gap in the Gain. By the way, I have mentioned that on this podcast before. It is an amazing way to change your mindset.
Michelle Gauthier:So let's think about on just a regular day at home, if you're focusing on, what did you do? So let's say you feel like your house is a mess, but you can say, oh yeah, I emptied the dishwasher, I made my bed this morning, I made my kids breakfast, whatever it was. Work-wise. I know that I used to often feel like I hadn't gotten anything accomplished because I had been in meetings all day. So what did you get done in those meetings? Did you send an email that you have been waiting to send? From a personal perspective, let's say you are thinking, oh, I didn't do, didn't take care of myself today. Think about did you drink water? Did you take a walk? Did you connect with a friend? That's amazing for self care. Just focus on what you did get done.
Michelle Gauthier:And then tip number three is taking the smallest possible action. So this is even smaller than the first tip of doing it for five minutes. Just take the smallest possible action. Again, this will help you fight against that. I can't get started energy. That sometimes happens when you need to do something and it feels too big. Break it down into a smaller action and see if that smaller action feels too big and then break it down even smaller. Just keep going smaller and smaller and smaller.
Michelle Gauthier:So let's talk about if you're trying to go to the gym or you're trying to get outside and take a walk. Think about the steps that that would take. Okay, I have to get my workout clothes on. I have to put on my shoes. I have to tell my family I'm leaving. I have to get my phone and my headphones. I have to think about where I'm going. Blah, blah, blah. There's many, many steps to taking a walk. If you were to do just the one first step, it could be like, okay, I'm going to put on my sports bra or I'm going to put on my whole workout clothes. If the whole workout clothes feels too big, just put on your sports bra. It's funny that is a little now that I'm saying this to you guys. I'm laughing because sometimes on Saturday mornings, when I get up and I don't really have a plan to work out or take a walk, but I know I would like to I'll put on my sports bra. It's like my indicator of we're not kidding around. We're going to need this at some point today. So take the smallest possible action that you can take. If you're trying to clean up, just put one item where it actually belongs, instead of trying to clean up the whole thing. If, work-wise, you're trying to brainstorm an email, just open up a document and type one sentence. Just take one tiny step in the right direction.
Michelle Gauthier:Tip four is to automate just one decision that you're making every week or every day, so that you don't have to think about it anymore. Just last week on my Instagram, I was asking people what do you do to make weekday meals easier? And someone said we have the same five meals every week. It's something that our whole family likes and we just know exactly what we're going to have, and I love that. I love that, especially if you have kids and you know that they'll eat it. That's amazing. You could switch up the days if you wanted to, but you know what the groceries are. You know exactly what you need. Where can you set up an auto ship for any household essentials? So, for example, at my house. I love the method soaps and dish soap and cleaning supplies and I just have them on an auto ship and I never, ever have to think about it. Sometimes they come right when I'm running out, sometimes they come a little early, but then I can just put them under the kitchen sink and they're always there and it's just one less thing that I have to think about.
Michelle Gauthier:And then the last tip is to do a two minute brain dump. Clear that mental clutter by spending like two minutes writing down everything on your mind. This is actually something that I do every single morning. I usually do it for more than two minutes, but just two minutes will be a great start for you. It helps to get out any thoughts that are holding you back, any negative thoughts that are holding you back. You can write down the to-do list that always seems to be running around in your head. You can write down errands that you need to run, whatever, but if you just pause and get it out on a piece of paper or into your phone notes or wherever you want to put it, your brain can rest easy that it's already written down somewhere. Okay, so today we covered five tips to reduce overwhelm setting a five minute timer, celebrating your progress with a done list, taking the smallest possible action, automating one small decision and doing a quick two minute brain dump.
Michelle Gauthier:I would love to know which one of these that you try.
Michelle Gauthier:Send me a message, tell me which ones you try and how it was. If you've got something good that worked for you, I would love to share it with the rest of the audience as well. Did you know that I sometimes work with businesses, specifically usually women's networks, to do speaking engagements or workshops, or even my group coaching? Right now, I'm doing my group coaching with a women's network at a business. If you work at a business and your women's network is looking for a speaker or a workshop, reach out to me. Just send me a message. I will share with you the kinds of things that I do, and I love doing those things. When I had my corporate job, I led the women's network and was always looking for speakers and good ideas, so if that's you reach out to me, have a great week to me, have a great week. Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast. If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at michellegauthier. com. See you next week.
