#143| Why You NEED to Practice Self-Care and Self-Compassion to Beat Overwhelm and Increase Productivity: Overwhelm, Productivity, Time Management & People Pleasing

Do you feel like you're constantly taking care of everything except yourself?

In this episode, Michelle walks you through a powerful 21-point self-care inventory used in her group coaching program. You’ll discover how most overwhelmed women unintentionally skip their own needs and how simple awareness (not guilt!) can create a meaningful shift toward peace and presence.

In this episode, you will:

• Learn the exact areas where your self-care may be slipping—and celebrate the areas you’re already succeeding.
• Discover why massive overhauls rarely work and how to take just one supportive, doable step forward.
• Walk away with a small, actionable change that can immediately increase your calm, connection, and confidence.

Press play now to uncover your self-care gaps and take the next step toward a more intentional, grounded life.

Featured on the podcast:
The Good Life Group Coaching registration
Schedule a Group Coaching Discovery Call with Michelle

Send Me a Message - Have a question, comment, or just want to say hi? Message me here, I'd love to chat!

Work With Me - Interested in working with me 1-on-1, taking a class, or joining one of my coaching groups? Message me here to get the scoop.

Want More? - If you love the content of this podcast, you'll love our Simple Sunday newsletter too. When you sign up, you’ll receive a simple dose of inspiration, practical tips, and a little fun—designed to help you start your week with simplicity and intention. Sign up here

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

• 2:30 Self-Care Assessment
• 2:56 Physical Self-Care
• 3:19 Emotional Self-Care
• 3:56 Spiritual Self-Care
• 4:41 Relational Self-Care

Transcript

Michelle Gauthier: 0:00

Take a second to celebrate if it's three things, or if it's 18 things. Celebrate the things that you are doing. Well, 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. Hi, friend, thanks for joining today.

Michelle Gauthier: 0:40

A lot of the women who I work with as clients say that they want to improve the way that they're talking to themselves, the way that they self-care, and then you're going to choose one small supportive step to take in the direction of better self-care or self-compassion, depending on which one you personally need more. A couple reminders before we jump in to start talking about self-care. One is that, in order to not feel overwhelmed, you have to take time to take care of yourself. So, as I go through this inventory with you, remember that this is for awareness, not judgment. So if I'm asking you, across 21 different areas of your life, where are you taking good care of yourself? And you're doing that on three of them. Three is better than zero, so try not to use this as further judgment of yourself, but just to assess where you are today. One note about this lesson, too, is that this exercise is taken directly from the Good Life Group coaching program. The registration for that is open until tomorrow. So if you're listening to this on Thursday, it's open until Friday at 1159 pm. If you've been thinking about joining and you listen to this podcast and you're really interested in this topic, this is part of one of the 12 lessons that we learn in group coaching. It will just give you a feel for the types of things that we talk about in there. If you feel inspired, you can sign up, or you can DM me to ask questions or schedule a 15-minute chat. Okay.

Michelle Gauthier: 2:30

So let's jump into the self-care assessment. We're going to look at self-care and self-compassion across different areas of your life and, as I'm saying the thing, if you're consistently or even sometimes doing it, I want you to just count it Okay. So if I say, do you eat healthy foods regularly? And you do give yourself a one. If you don't, okay, nothing for that one. So just keep track, as I'm talking, of what number you get up to and notice which one really sticks out to you, as I'm not doing that, but I really wish I was. Okay, here we go.

Michelle Gauthier: 2:56

First is physical self-care. So do you eat healthy foods regularly? Do you exercise regularly? Do you wear clothes that make you feel good about yourself? Do you go to preventative appointments like the doctor, the dentist, the dermatologist and I don't mean for your kids, right, we're always doing the ones for our kids, but do you do those for yourself? And do you get enough sleep most nights?

Michelle Gauthier: 3:19

Next is emotional self-care. Do you regularly take time off from work? So do you take vacation days or do you take breaks throughout your work day? Do you have hobbies you participate in, even occasionally? It doesn't have to be something that you do all the time. A hobby can be a small thing. I like to keep a little set of colored pencils and paper in my coffee table, and when I'm sitting there watching TV, sometimes I'll draw, and I consider that to be a hobby. So this doesn't have to be like a bowling league that you go to twice a week or something.

Michelle Gauthier: 3:50

Are you able to express your emotions in a healthy way. Do you make time for things that bring you comfort? And then spiritual self-care Do you spend time in nature? Do you meditate or pray or practice calming rituals, whatever it is that helps you calm down and feel connected to something bigger than yourself? Do you set aside time for thought and reflection, like journaling or even driving, without anything playing and just being with the silence and noticing your own thoughts? Do you participate in causes that are important to you? Do you feel gratitude for the good things in your life? This doesn't mean that you have to have like a gratitude practice and you're writing it down every day but in general, do you think about how lucky you are and what things are going well for you?

Michelle Gauthier: 4:41

And then the final area is relationship-based self-care. So do you spend time with the people you love? Are you able to say no and hold your boundaries in places where you want to say no and where you have a boundary? Are you able to ask for help when you need it? Do you make time for social activities that you enjoy? Do you honor your preferences for alone time? So some people like and want a lot of alone time and some people don't need that much, but do you honor whatever your preferences are, and then do you honor your preferences for together time? So that is all of the areas that I'm going to ask you about.

Michelle Gauthier: 5:20

So if you were keeping track along the way, just note what your score is. Those are the areas where you are doing well right now in self-care, self-compassion, and remember, it's just data. So, whether it's a 3 or a 21, I would love to know if anyone has a 21. If so, you are definitely killing it. My score is pretty high because I've worked really hard on it, but I am definitely not a straight 21 on that for sure. So take a second to celebrate If it's three things, or if it's 18 things. Celebrate the things that you are doing well, because every single one of those counts and contributes to how good you feel about yourself and how much good care you take of yourself.

Michelle Gauthier: 6:00

Then the next thing I want you to do is think of one area that stood out to you as something that you want more of. So, for example, in my last group coaching, I had someone who realized she wanted to eat healthier. I had somebody else who wanted to spend more time in nature. I had someone else who really wanted to do more creative activities, and then I had someone else who was really working on a relationship. So just choose whatever area stood out to you as I don't do that, but I actually wish I did you can only pick one of them and then focus on within that one really small step.

Michelle Gauthier: 6:34

So, for example, if you have a desire to start exercising, a small step is not research gyms, find one and start working out five days a week. It's text a friend who I know works out and ask her about her gym. If you feel like you're, if you're really behind on all of your appointments and checkups and dentists and doctors, instead of saying I'm going to call and make all of them and get them all done within the next month, just jot down a list of what needs to be scheduled and then maybe put it on your schedule to make those calls. If you're desiring more connection, if you're lacking in that relationship area and you want more connection, text someone you miss and just tell them you miss them and suggest that you grab coffee together or whatever works for your schedule. So remember this isn't a leap from getting a three on this assessment to a 21. This is just one little step forward on just one of those things.

Michelle Gauthier: 7:30

The reason why I'm always encouraging you to take a small step is because if a step feels too big, we as humans are just not going to do it. It puts us into overwhelm, we tell ourselves all the reasons why it can't work or it won't work, and then we just don't do it at all. So one tiny step in the right direction is the way to go when you're trying to create a new habit or change something about yourself. Today, you took that self-care assessment. You identified the area that you'd like to improve and you chose your one small step. My challenge to you is between now and Monday, which is when the next podcast comes out, take that next step and pat yourself on the back for the progress.

Michelle Gauthier: 8:11

This lesson is from the actual Good Life Workbook that we use in group coaching. It is part of one of 12 lessons that you will learn in the group, and each week we learn a new tool that will help you create a calm and intentional life where you feel much more present. So if this lesson resonated and group coaching sounds interesting to you, come and join us. I'd absolutely love to have you. There's a link in the show notes for you to sign up for group coaching and there's also a link for you to set up a 15 minute session with me If you think it sounds interesting. But I have some questions. I'd love to answer your questions for you. 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.