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
#180| Declutter Challenge Day 3: Digital Declutter: Overwhelm, Productivity, Time Management & People Pleasing
Is your phone, inbox, or computer silently adding stress to your day?
Digital clutter is the invisible mess most working women overlook—but it’s stealing focus, energy, and calm every single time you open your devices. Imagine the relief of cutting through that chaos in just one short session.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
- How to choose the one digital space that’s causing you the most stress.
- A simple method to declutter your inbox, photos, or apps without overwhelm.
- The surprising mental clarity and time savings you’ll gain immediately.
Listen now and clear just one digital spot today—you’ll feel lighter, calmer, and more in control before the day ends.
Featured on the podcast
Sign up for the Declutter Challenge
Send Michelle a voice message
Listen to episode 169 - Sentimental Clutter
Wondering why you're overwhelmed? Take my "why am I overwhelmed" quiz to find out the source of your overwhelm, and what to do about it.
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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'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:Hello, friend, and welcome back to day three of declutter challenge week. Yesterday, we simplified a space in your home. I say we, like I was there with you, maybe the podcast was there with you, whether it was a drawer, a part of a closet part of the bathroom, your car, whatever, it's so great to make that small progress. I've already heard wins from people saying they feel calmer just walking into that space now, or just even knowing it's there from the other room, and that's exactly the ripple effect we're after, because when you get that good feedback, it makes you want to continue. So today we're going to think about digital clutter and I'm going to explain some of the places where digital clutter could be, how to take action for today and some of the things to consider before you get started. So, if you think about all the digital clutter in your life. Think of our phones, our computer or computers, iPad, inboxes. These are the sort of invisible messes that take up space in our brains. So clearing even one area digitally will give you a surprising amount of mental relief.
Michelle Gauthier:I remember a couple years ago - and I still love them, Clea and Joanna from the Home Edit. They sort of organize everything in colors and I cleared off my home screen of my phone to only have the apps that I always use and then I put them in color order and I'm telling you, every time I pick up my phone I'd just be like, oh so beautiful, I love it, it just made me so happy. So it's amazing, even doing a digital declutter can really just make you feel so much better. So today I want you to think about where do you feel the most digital overwhelm or clutter in your day and what effects does it have on your day. So if we think about, as an example, my example of picking up my phone, and if I want to use an app and I don't know I don't have all the ones that I use all the time on the home screen, maybe I've got to scroll like three or four pages or do a search or something to find the app that I'm looking for. So let's think about what the impact would be if my home screen only has like the nine or so apps that I use on a regular basis. First of all, it just makes me feel better, and how much time I'll save every time that I go to open one of those apps.
Michelle Gauthier:I just read that the average person picks up their phone 150 times a day, which is, in my opinion, an underestimate. I feel like my teenagers pick up their phone 150 times before breakfast, but let's just say that that 150 number is true. And every time I pick up my phone I have to look at a home screen that makes me feel low-key, anxious, and then I have to search for whatever it is that I'm looking for. Let's just imagine that I waste like I don't know five seconds and feel kind of anxious every time I pick it up. And then I just eliminate that. I eliminate that five seconds and I eliminate that little bit of discomfort. Times 150, times seven days a week, times 52 weeks a year. Imagine the incremental impact of that just adding up over time.
Michelle Gauthier:Also, when you're following along in the workbook, you'll see some follow-up questions for after you do the decluttering to help you think about how you keep going on this. So you take today your one step and then you can make a plan for how you want to continue in this area. It's not too late. Even though today's day three, you can always go back and listen to days one and two and do the declutter challenge at your very own pace. So if you want to, you can still go. Click on the link. You will get the workbook that goes along with the declutter challenge that you're listening to right now. So grab that if you haven't done that already.
Michelle Gauthier:Okay, so for today, after you think about what area is causing you the most stress, make it something small that you can do in 30 minutes or less, depending on how much time you have today, or if you happen to have, you know, two hours today. You could really get a lot done, but I'm guessing no one listening is like, oh yeah, I have two hours today. I could definitely do that. So here are some examples you could delete your emails, just from this week so far. You could remove just the unused apps from your phone. You could delete duplicate photos you know when you go on vacation and there's like 15 good ones and you have like 150 pictures. You could clear out your old voicemails, turn off unnecessary notifications, so go through and change the notification settings on things. Think about your computer. When you open your laptop, what do you see on the home screen? Does it make you feel calm? Or is that something that you could clear out?
Michelle Gauthier:And when I'm talking about deleting like your emails or your old voicemails, really again be brutal on this. I think I've told this story on the podcast before, but I was cleaning out my email. I've had this same email for like 10 years. That's sort of our family one where I get all the school emails and all my your order from Bowdoin has arrived or whatever emails. And there was some stuff in there that I had saved. And I accidentally it's like the universe made me have this accidental move where I literally deleted everything from like the past 10 years, deleted the delete box. I mean it was gone and I panicked for like 10 seconds and then I was like wait, maybe this is actually a huge gift and I'm here to tell you there is not one thing that I can think of that I have missed from that Nothing, literally nothing.
Michelle Gauthier:So think about and maybe even just ponder this. You don't have to do it, but think about what if you just deleted all of your old emails? What would seriously really happen? Voicemails for sure. What if you just that's what I do on my phone? First of all, half of them are stupid digital calls where it's just spam anyway. But first of all, who leaves voicemails anymore? Send me a text? I just delete them all at the same time. Okay.
Michelle Gauthier:So whatever area you pick, it's a little bit interesting when you're thinking about digital decluttering, because you know the rules are usually take it all out, sort them into piles and then get rid of what needs to be gotten rid of and put everything else back. You can't exactly do that in an inbox. I guess you could maybe drag them all to a folder where you're looking at them, but you can start when you're doing it digitally by doing the delete step. So think about what for sure you don't want and just clear that out, and then look at what's remaining and sort those into piles. I would also here's a free tip on emails.
Michelle Gauthier:I had a phase where I had a folder for everything that is not useful or necessary. So either it's in my inbox, in my deleted box or in my save box. So if something really needs to be saved, I just put it in the same folder, because the search features are so good now that it will find it. You don't have to put it in a specific folder. So get rid of maybe that's something you can do for today. Get rid of all those random save folders and if you really need to save something, just put them all in one box.
Michelle Gauthier:Okay, and don't forget when you finish, pause for a moment and see how it feels to have that space cleaned up. Notice the difference in your energy and your focus, and then, right after that, reply back to the email you got from me this morning. If you're doing the challenge, you will have gotten an email from me or send me a voice note, and the voice note link is in the show notes. Every time you do that, you'll be entered to win one of our prizes and I love hearing from you. It's just fun to hear the progress that you're making and that way I can share it on the podcast tomorrow and you can inspire other people as well. Okay, that's it for day three. Clear one digital spot. Celebrate your mental breathing room and get ready for tomorrow when we'll talk about your calendar. 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.
