Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing
Imagine feeling calmer, more focused, and in control . . . even with a full plate. That’s what Overwhelmed Working Woman, a top 1.5% podcast, delivers for accomplished women every week.
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Each episode offers simple, practical strategies to help you reduce overwhelm, improve productivity, and stop people pleasing. You’ll learn surprising time management hacks, how to do less without guilt, and why the path to calm begins with changing how you think. All of this comes with guidance from host and Life Coach Michelle Gauthier, who has 8+ years of experience coaching hundreds of women.
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If you're ready to reclaim your energy, focus, and peace of mind, you’re in the right place. Start with listener favorite: “The Power of a To-Don’t List.”
Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing
#177| 3 Signs You’re Stuck in Outdated Habits & How to Release Them for a Calmer Mind and More Productivity: Overwhelm, Productivity, Time Management & People Pleasing
Do you ever feel like you’re running on outdated mental software—stuck in habits that don’t serve you anymore?
In this episode, Michelle unpacks how old routines like over-checking your phone, saying “yes” too quickly, or clinging to outdated productivity hacks silently eat away at your focus and energy. If you’ve been feeling stressed, guilty for resting, or constantly overwhelmed, chances are your mental operating system needs an update.
You’ll discover:
- Three key signs your habits are outdated and quietly sabotaging your calm.
- A powerful mindset shift that helps you let go of guilt and choose rest without shame.
- Practical ways to replace stress-inducing routines with healthier, more supportive ones.
Press play now to learn how to refresh your mental software and create more space for clarity, calm, and productivity.
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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 Worki...
You know how sometimes your phone won't let you use it anymore until you update to the newest software. Wish humans came with that same automatic forced upgrade feature.
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, today we're going to talk about three signs that your mental software is outdated and needs a reboot and an update why letting old habits stick around keeps you stuck and overwhelmed, and how you can hit refresh for a calmer, more productive mind. Before we get into that, don't forget on Monday so this is coming out on a Thursday on Monday, the 15th of September, we are starting the declutter challenge. Sign up for that by the link in the show notes. It's going to be so much fun. Next week we are going to, for all five days of the week, have a short podcast episode and then you'll get a workbook that goes along with it, so that you can learn how to declutter your mind, your email, your calendar and spaces in your house. It's going to be tons of fun. We're giving away prizes, etc. Etc. Check out all the details at the link in the show notes.
Michelle Gauthier:Okay, let's think about some of the habits that you have maybe around how you use your phone, how you feel about saying no to things, productivity hacks or other things that you're using and let's just take an open-minded look at if those habits are old and need to be updated or if those are still serving you.
Michelle Gauthier:So I went on a trip I guess it's been a while now, but I went on a trip with my sister and her husband and the handsome man friend and we went to New Orleans to go to Jazz Fest and we were having this super fun weekend. But we went on like a Thursday and on Friday I noticed that the handsome man friend was like checking his email all day long his work email and he was on vacation. But he has the kind of job where he would answer his clients even if he's on vacation, and so I challenged him. I said, Okay, it's Friday afternoon, so the market's about to close. Work's basically about to be over. I'll give you a hundred bucks if you can go from now until tomorrow morning without checking your email, not saying you don't have to look at your phone, but without checking your work email. And he said, no, I'll do better. If I do check my email, I'll give you a hundred dollars. And I was like, okay, sounds good. So we were kind of laughing about it. Okay, sounds good. So we were kind of laughing about it.
Michelle Gauthier:But what was really funny that he discovered was he was doing it just out of such habit, like it was just such habit that anytime there was downtime in a conversation or if he got out his phone for some other reason, he would just automatically check his work email. He said I can't believe how many times I'm doing this without even having a conscious thought about it. And as we started talking about it and continue to talk about it, he said to me that I sometimes do that too, and I did not realize that I was doing that either. So it was just really interesting because neither one of us realized that we were doing it. We both noticed the other person did it, but we didn't realize that we were doing it and neither one of us wanted to be doing that. So it was like we had this habit that was almost muscle memory, but it really didn't fit anymore.
Michelle Gauthier:So think about if you have some outdated habit that you didn't mean to acquire or that you acquired on purpose that you don't want anymore. So maybe you have the habit of saying yes without even pausing to think if you want to say yes or no. Or maybe the second you open your eyes, you grab your phone and you check Instagram or your text messages or whatever, and that doesn't serve you. Starting today, would I still choose this? So if I were starting today and today was the first day that I had a phone, would I want to say you know what I'm going to get in the habit of? I'm going to get in the habit of checking my phone every five minutes? No, I for sure would not say that. Or if this was my first day at a job, would I want to say yes to everything that everyone tells me, starting from now until the end of time when I work here? No, I definitely would not. So think about that. If you were starting today, would you still choose this habit?
Michelle Gauthier:Sign number two that your habits might be outdated and affecting your productivity or causing you overwhelm is that guilt pops up when you try to change. So let's say you shut your laptop at 6pm because you're finished working for the day, or you've decided you're finished working for the day and you immediately feel guilty, like you should be doing more, and you've got that old software running in the background saying more is always better, rest is lazy. You have to work until it's finished. If that guilty feeling pops up and gives you a negative thought and a negative feeling, just gently investigate that. Just ask yourself do I really still believe that or do I really still want that habit of working until even 6pm every night? I would not work till 6pm anymore. Do you want that habit? Do you want the habit or the old belief that more is always better and that rest is lazy, for example? And if you don't, it's never too late to change it. That's the greatest part about it.
Michelle Gauthier:Sign number three that your habits might be outdated is that your routines cause more stress than relief. So if you have your quote unquote, productivity hacks and they make you more anxious, that means that habit is probably outdated. And things that I'm thinking of are multitasking. So I'm going to listen to a call and answer emails and order my groceries all at the same time. Perfectionist editing, for example. Just you can edit something to the nth degree.
Michelle Gauthier:That's maybe a habit that you had, maybe when you had the luxury of time, or a job that wasn't so stressful, or three less children than you have now, or whatever it is, and that is an old program that is eating up all of your mental storage. It is, and that is an old program that is eating up all of your mental storage. So consider, if your routines are causing you more stress than relief, to consider something like can I do B minus work or even B plus work on this? michellegauthier. com I just start single tasking and see how that helps my focus instead? So, just in general, the tip that I have for you today is, when your phone forces an update, or your laptop, which is usually right before a call, is about to start, remember that you might need one too, and take a look at your average day and see what habits you have, good or bad, and if you like them or if they're just running on autopilot.
Michelle Gauthier:And if they are running on autopilot or causing you guilt or adding stress to your life, consider subtracting it, consider getting some new software, so to speak, if you need help with that, I am just the person to help you do it. Reach out to me if you're interested in learning more about one-on-one coaching. Have a great weekend. Don't forget to sign up for the declutter challenge. 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.
