#136| What I’d Erase from Every Woman’s Brain (And Other Big Truths) - Your Questions Answered: Overwhelm, Productivity, Time Management & People Pleasing

Ever wondered what truly goes on behind the mic of your favorite podcast week after week? 

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the pressure to do it all or questioned if you're doing enough, this candid two-year anniversary Q&A episode is your permission slip to breathe, laugh, and let go of perfection. Michelle answers real listener questions that dive deep into mindset, habits, and what it actually takes to create a life and business with more ease.

In this episode:

• Hear the biggest mindset shift that helped Michelle get stronger by doing less.
• Discover the exact routines, tools, and planning habits she uses to stay sane (and sleep like a rock in a freezing cold room).
• Learn the one belief Michelle wishes she could erase from every client’s brain—and probably yours too.

 Press play to laugh, reflect, and feel totally seen in this heartfelt, no-filter episode made just for you.

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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.

Thank you for listening! If you love the podcast, please subscribe and leave a review. 💗

Chapters

• 0:41 Special Birthday Episode Introduction
• 2:01 Listener Q&A
• 18:33 Michelle's Dad's Question

Transcript

Michelle Gauthier: 0:01

Do you ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes of this podcast or what other listeners love most about listening to this podcast? 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: 0:41

Hi, friend, this is not your usual episode. To celebrate two years of the podcast, I turned the mic around and answered your questions, the ones that made me laugh and reflect, and I even started crying at one of them. So in this special Q&A style episode, you'll hear from real listeners and they're going to tell me their favorite takeaways and then questions that dig into my mindset, routine and behind the scenes of how I run this podcast and my life, so it feels really personal and powerful and packed with encouragement. You're going to hear about my biggest mindset shift that made me stronger by doing less, the biggest behind the scenes challenge and what I would erase from every one of my clients' brains if I could, and how planning and presence, and sleeping in a freezing cold bedroom helped me keep my overwhelm in check.

Michelle Gauthier: 1:29

And more.

Michelle Gauthier: 1:29

So press play for a heartfelt look back, some honest truths and a few laughs. This one's for you, my amazing listeners. Thank you so so much. If you're a listener and you haven't yet written a review, I would absolutely love if you would do that for this two-year celebration. I'm really making the reviews a priority so that the podcast can continue to grow and continue to be shown to other women who are feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Okay, enjoy the episode and thanks for listening.

Leslie: 2:01

Hi, this is Leslie from St Charles. Michelle, congratulations on two years of your amazing podcast. One of the many things that I have benefited from is learning the love and fit test, which goes along with no, is a one word sentence. That has really, really helped me establish healthy boundaries for myself with other people, and now I find myself doing things that I want to do and I'm avoiding things that I don't, so I really really appreciate that. My question for you is who is your favorite author when it comes to you reading self-help books?

Michelle Gauthier: 2:36

Hi Leslie, thanks so much for your question. I'm so glad that the Love and Fit test was a good help for you. That's awesome my favorite self-help author. That's a tough one. It's like choosing a favorite child, but if I had to choose just one, I would say Jen Sincero. Her you Are a Badass book was the first self help book that I ever read, and I read it after I googled what to do to completely change your life or something dramatic like that when I was feeling really miserable one time. And that book delivered. If anyone listening has ever done a coaching session with me and seen my video background, her book is always sitting there as a reminder to me. So Jen Sincero is the answer.

Katie: 3:21

Hi, michelle, congratulations on two years. That's so wonderful. Your podcast is amazing. This is Katie Kalagi. I am from Wisconsin and I would say my favorite part of the podcast is that you really provide quick, impactful ways for us as women to be more empowered with our overwhelm. I think we often feel very disempowered given just the length of our to-do list at work, the pressures of our demanding jobs, the pressures of everything we have at home. It just feels like we're kind of victims to the overwhelm and amount of things that we have to do, and I love that you give us ways to take control of that ourselves without having to have the outside world change around us. So thank you for that. And then a question I have is I would love to hear something you made easier, whether in your business or your life, that ended up having bigger results. I'm always thinking about how to make things easy, so I would love to hear there's something that you took a step back from, made it easier and then found that the results were actually better. Thanks so much, michelle.

Michelle Gauthier: 4:35

Hi, katie, thanks so much for your message. I'm so glad that the podcast makes you feel empowered, because I think when we're empowered we can do just about anything. I love the question that you had for me about where I made something easier in my business or personal life that ended up having better results. I can actually think of a bunch of things, but I'll give you one personal and one professional. So on the personal front, last year I decided that I was going to work out only three days a week. I had previously worked out five, sometimes six days a week and I decided that I wanted to focus and zoom in on lifting weights, which is known to be good for women. So I decided I was going to focus in on lifting weights and I go to my gym three strength days a week and that has enabled me to sleep in and get more sleep on the days that I don't work out. And when I am there working out, I'm super focused and I'm giving that workout my 100%. So I have found that giving 100% three days a week feels better. I've had less injury, I feel stronger, I've gained more muscle than when I would go five or six days a week.

Michelle Gauthier: 5:43

On the professional front, I hired Carrie, who I always call the amazing Carrie when I talk about her on the podcast. She does a lot of the things that I don't have to be the one to do. So, for example, of course, in this kind of business, I coach my clients, I write the podcast, I record the podcast, I come up with ideas for the newsletters and the emails that we send, but I don't have to do the editing of the podcast and the publishing of it and create the social media posts that go with it, and so Carrie does all of those things for me, and that was great because it saved time on my side. But I think that the product that goes out is actually better than if I had done it myself. So not only am I saving hours, but I think that a better end product gets delivered, because Carrie has the skill of being super detailed and I'm much more of a high level person. So it's been really an amazing, awesome change for our business.

Pamela: 6:38

Hi, Michelle. This is Pamela from Ballwin, Missouri. I am a huge fan of your podcast and I especially love listening to it on the drive to work, because it is the perfect length to cover any number of great topics in your authentic style and with a piece of really tangible advice that I can go use. And probably my most favorite was your Love and Fit episode. In fact, many months after I had first heard that episode, I went and looked it up so that I could make a decision about a volunteer opportunity, and it was the perfect tool that I had in my back pocket that I could pull out and figure out if that was the right fit for me. I have a question for you. I would love to know in turn what your favorite episode has been and if there's some guests that you interviewed that after that interview had a big impact in your life, I'm curious who that would be. Thanks, Michelle.

Michelle Gauthier: 7:31

Hey, Pamela, thanks for the question and I'm so glad that you were able to use the love and fit test to figure out for yourself what would be the best opportunity for your volunteer situation. That is awesome. To your questions, so which episode is my favorite or had the most impact on me? I could not even pick a favorite. They all kind of run together in my mind in a good way, but I will say one that really sticks with me was when I interviewed Lisa Woodruff.

Michelle Gauthier: 7:59

Lisa Woodruff is the founder of a company called the Sunday Basket, which is an organizing method that you use and when I was really super overwhelmed, like in 2013, I mean a long time ago and I was working this stressful corporate job and I had two little kids and I was really struggling. I don't even know what I googled, but I came across her concept and her idea and I have literally used it ever since. And I was talking about it on a podcast a couple of months back and I thought I can't remember who invented that. I need to look that up. And I looked it up and I sent her an Instagram message and she replied back to me and then I invited her to be on the podcast just on a whim and she said yes.

Michelle Gauthier: 8:39

So having her on the podcast and really getting her to explain her methods and you know the thoughts behind her organization strategy to my audience felt like a surreal moment. Like if you would have told I can remember standing in my kitchen because I had my Sunday basket in my kitchen with all these different file folders in it and trying to keep our family organized and if you would have told me hey, one day you're gonna have a podcast I don't even know if I knew what a podcast was then and on that podcast is going to be the person who invented this and who has a podcast too, with like 50 million downloads on it. I would have been like no way I can't believe I'm gonna get to to be that person. So that was a really special episode for me personally, just because it felt like you've come a long way, baby, if you know what I mean.

Amanda: 9:30

Hey, this is Amanda out in Nashville, and I love Michelle's podcast for so many reasons, but I think the biggest takeaway that I have gotten, not only from her podcast but from her coaching, is to rewrite the story that you are telling yourself in your head. You know all of the what-ifs, all of the spiraling of the things that happened or what someone's going to think about you, and it's. It's like it hasn't even happened yet and I have all these worries. So she has taught me to rewrite that story and make it a little bit easier to manage, easier to digest, and so I think that's my biggest takeaway. And my question for Michelle is what does a typical day in the life look like?

Michelle Gauthier: 10:21

Hi Amanda, thanks for your question. I'm so glad you're now able to rewrite your own story and stop yourself before you spiral too much. That's a great skill for anybody to have. So your question to me was what does a typical day look like? I will tell you first that every Sunday I spend probably one to two hours planning my week. I do that from a personal and professional perspective. So I've got absolutely everything on my calendar. I even plan the meals, order the groceries, decide which days I'm working out, put that on my calendar. So once I have all the appointments on my calendar, I schedule in my work blocks, for example when I'm going to record the podcast or make an Instagram post or those kinds of things. So in doing that, by the time I get to the actual day, there's really not a lot of, if any, figuring out what has to happen. It's more just executing on what I've planned. For me that feels so much better because I already have a plan and I just simply need to follow it. If I just were to pick an average day, let's pick a day where I work out, because those are my busier days.

Michelle Gauthier: 11:25

I get up at five. I go to work out at 530. When I get back home, I make breakfast for my kids. That's something that I do every day. I make breakfast for my kids. Sometimes I make them a bowl of cereal. It's not always something amazing, but I make breakfast and hang out with each of them individually. They eat breakfast at different times and I spend the whole morning in the kitchen just making breakfast, talking to them, cleaning up, unloading the dishwasher, all of that stuff, cause I really like to make sure my house is picked up and tidy before I go to work. Even though I can't see the kitchen from my office, my brain can feel it. And after that, on a day where I see clients, I would see between four and six one-on-one clients, and then I have two group coaching things going right now, so sometimes I'll do group coaching as well. And then, on a day when I don't see clients, I would have blocks of time where I would write and record a podcast or be a guest on someone else's podcast or maybe talk to a potential new client. When I'm wrapping up work for the day, I leave my office, I go into my bedroom and I do a guided meditation. I use the Breathe app. I've used that for like seven years or something like that. So I love doing that.

Michelle Gauthier: 12:31

And then sometimes I make dinner and sometimes I don't. So if I'm going to make dinner, then I will make dinner and hang out with my kids. If they're hanging around, they're teenagers, so a lot of times they're just in their bedrooms. If we have a busy activity night, we'll just pick up food, or sometimes we have dinner together but everybody just makes whatever they want, so that might look like somebody's eating, you know, a bagel and slices of apple for dinner or something really simple like that. But I try to just sit down so we can have a family conversation. Sometimes it works and sometimes it's just me trying to get my kids to not fight with each other After dinner cleanup TV or hang out, or maybe I'll do something with one of my kids, but usually we're all just kind of relaxing and doing our own thing. And then I read and I go to bed early and I keep my bedroom freezing cold and I love to sleep with a weighted blanket. That might be more than you wanted to know, but that's a day in the life for me.

Bridget: 13:40

Hi Michelle. This is Bridget from Franklin, Tennessee. I wanted to say congrats on two years for your podcast. I love the format of your podcast the most. For me it is this perfect length that is just easy to take in, and it has become a really important part of my sort of Monday morning ritual. I drive my daughter to school, I come back home listening to your podcast and it's just long enough for me to come home, have my breakfast and just sort of be inspired for the week ahead. Likewise, the little Thursday snippets are just perfect, little bite-sized tips to sort of close out my week, and so I really appreciate just how succinct and clear and actionable the things are in that podcast. So thank you so much for that.

Bridget: 14:25

The question I wanted to ask you was, as a coach. I wondered if there was a behavior or habit or something that you see in your clients that really just drives you crazy, that you wish you could eradicate. Not that your clients are driving you crazy, but with that behavior that you see a lot that you wish you could eradicate. Not that your clients are driving you crazy, but with that behavior that you see a lot that you're just like ugh, this thing again. I wish I could just wave a magic wand and just eliminate that from people's lives, because it just drives me crazy and I wish it didn't exist.

Bridget: 14:53

You're always so calm and happy and friendly, and so I'm just really curious what is something like that that gets under your skin?

Michelle Gauthier: 15:01

Thanks so much. Hi Bridget, thanks for the compliment and thank you for your question. I've given this some serious thought to say what is the number one thing that I would just like to erase from my clients' brains, and I've decided that the answer is imposter syndrome and or negative self-talk. The women who I work with are action takers. They're accomplished, they're really smart, they're really hardworking, and so when I hear that their brain is offering them thoughts like you're not doing enough, you're not qualified for this, you're lazy, everybody else can do this, why can't you? It makes me want to just like take that thought out of their brain. Of course it's not that quick or that easy, but if I had a magic wand, that's what I would get rid of.

Michelle Gauthier: 15:47

And then your other part of the question, when you said I sound like I'm always so calm and happy and do I ever get super worked up? I do, but not at work. My children can really get under my skin. I think my biggest pet peeve and the thing that is most likely to make me legit angry is when they directly disobey me, like when they know the rule for something and they break the rule anyway. That drives me insane. So if you ever want to see me pissed off. That's what it's going to be. Thanks for your question question.

Lauren: 16:24

Hi, M ichelle. My name is Lauren Rappaport. I live in Washington DC. My favorite thing about your podcast is your cover. I love your cover and my question for you is I want to know what is the number one thing you have learned doing this podcast?

Michelle Gauthier: 16:35

Hi, Lauren, and thanks for your question. I'm laughing at your favorite thing being the podcast cover. This is kind of an inside joke, but now I'm about to share it with all of you.

Michelle Gauthier: 16:44

Lauren, who's been a guest on the podcast before, was helping me decide about a year ago when we decided to update the cover art, which is the thing that you see when you go to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you listen. She was helping me decide which new cover I should choose, and when I was doing that, I used this website called 99designs. Actually, it was a great experience and I totally recommend it. But you say what you want and then designers compete to create the final design and you choose the one and you pay that designer. But at the beginning I was not very specific in what I was looking for and some of the designs were so, so bad, and so I was texting them to Lauren and she was laughing with me. So she loves this cover because she knows how bad some of the other options were.

Michelle Gauthier: 17:34

Oh my gosh.

Michelle Gauthier: 17:35

Okay, I wish there was a way for me to post some of them for you guys to see, but anyway, lauren's question was what's the number one thing that I have learned throughout this podcast, or doing this podcast that I learned and I've learned a million things from doing this podcast, because I knew nothing about podcasting I've never really interviewed people, all that stuff so I've learned a ton. But the number one biggest thing is trust your gut, and this is something that I work with all my clients on. I would say that I'm usually pretty good about trusting my gut, but there have just been a couple times when someone advised me to do something. I had hired someone to help me with the podcast and my gut was like this is not right, this is not what you want. So just a few weeks before we debuted the podcast, I ended up letting go of that person, starting from scratch again and recreating the whole thing, and I am so glad that I did so. Trusting my gut is the biggest and best thing that I have gotten out of the podcast.

Jack: 18:33

Hello, this is Jack Gauthier. You know your dad, you know where I live. You go out your front door and turn right twice and go up the street 11 houses and everything that you do I think is great. But the question I have is how do you make all of the things that you do seem so effortless?

Michelle Gauthier: 18:52

Okay, how cute is that? My own dad, I will tell you guys. When I got this voice memo and I pressed the button to play it, I just put my head down on my desk and started crying. I was just like, oh my gosh, I am so lucky. I am such a lucky person to be so loved by both of my parents and so encouraged by them.

Michelle Gauthier: 19:13

And the question that my dad had really got me because nothing that I'm doing is effortless. But the reason why it might appear to someone else to be effortless is because I put so much effort into checking my mindset, journaling every morning, meditating, planning ahead, not overscheduling myself, so that when I do see my family like, let's say, I have them over for dinner and they walk in the door and I'm happy they're there And'm fully present with them and the dinner is ready, because there have been about 50 things that have happened behind the scenes in order for that to happen. So I think that my answer is just that I am very specific about my schedule, I do not over plan and when I say I'm going to do something, I plan ahead for it and that way I can be fully present, which is my number one goal when I'm with my family. Okay, friend, that's a wrap. Thanks so much to those of you who sent in questions. It was so much fun to get them and to hear your feedback about the podcast.

Michelle Gauthier: 20:13

We're actually going to do a part two of this, so there will be another episode like this next week because I got so many questions and I want to try to answer them all if I can. So I will see you next week with more listener questions and podcast favorites. Hope you have a great week and please don't forget to leave a rating or review if you love the podcast. Thanks so much. 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 michellegothiercom. See you next week.