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
#198| 3 Common Morning Mistakes Working Women Make & How To Avoid Them for Less Overwhelm: Overwhelm, Productivity, Time Management & People Pleasing
Do your mornings leave you feeling frazzled before the day even begins? You’re not alone—most working women start their days already behind.
In this episode, Michelle breaks down the hidden habits that make mornings chaotic—from reaching for your phone too soon to making dozens of tiny decisions before 8 A.M. She shows you how a few small shifts can completely transform how your day begins, without adding more to your plate.
In this episode, you will learn:
- Learn the three most common mistakes that sabotage your mornings and how to fix them.
- Discover a calm, realistic way to start your day that doesn’t involve a 5 A.M. alarm or a 10-step routine.
- Find out how one 10-minute tweak can reset your nervous system and set the tone for a more peaceful, productive day.
Hit play to learn how to turn your rushed mornings into calm, intentional starts that make the whole day flow easier.
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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...
If your mornings feel chaotic, rushed, or just off, you are not alone.
Speaker 1: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.
Speaker 1:Hi, friend. Thanks for joining today. The goal of today's podcast is for you to have a better morning by highlighting three common morning mistakes that people make. And then of course, what to do instead of those mistakes. Let's imagine that your alarm goes off at 6 30 in the morning and you're tired. So you hit snooze and think, I'm just gonna sleep for 10 more minutes. But five minutes later, it's not your alarm waking you off, it's your dog pawing at your bed or a kid standing two inches from your face, whisper yelling, Mom, where are my shoes? And you wake up, but you're sort of disoriented, irritated, somehow still lying in bed. Maybe you can hear the TV on in the other room. It's just wake up in the midst of chaos, but you're not ready to deal with anybody yet. So you reach for your phone just to real quick check the time, ear quotes, check the time. And next thing you know, you're doom scrolling on Instagram. You've read your Slack messages that spike your anxiety from work. You saw an email from your boss with a subject line, quick question, which is never quick. And then you see a beautiful reel of someone's green smoothie morning meditation. So you feel already behind and you haven't even gotten out of bed yet. Meanwhile, your whole house is awake, the dog's barking, the kids are arguing, one of them can't find their homework, somehow there's milk spilled on the floor, you finally get out of bed in this reactive, frazzled state, and now it's go time. And you have to start thinking about all the things that need to happen. So, what am I wearing today? What am I feeding these kids for breakfast? Do I have time to shower? Do I need to respond to that email? Did I sign that form for the field trip? Can I even eat breakfast? It's not even 7:30 in the morning and your brain is already fried. So by the time you either walk to your desk in your house or drive to work and get to work, you're already kind of worn out before the day has even begun.
Speaker 1:If this sounds like your mornings or even some part of your mornings, then today's episode is going to help you figure out three small things that you can do to make your morning much more smooth. And you know, my approach is always do the very smallest thing that you can do to make a change. So I'm going to give you three examples of three common mistakes that you could stop making. And if you choose just one of those to try even for one morning this week and just see how that goes. So don't feel like you have to completely scrap how your mornings are going, but just one small change can make a big difference.
Speaker 1:Okay, so here's mistake number one: it's having zero buffer zone between the time that you wake up and everybody else's awake. If someone else is waking you up, or if you're again dog or cat or whatever is waking you up, you haven't made the choice about the time that you want to wake up and you just start off your day by responding to someone else or something else's needs instead of really resetting yourself. And that's just a nervous system recipe for tension. So instead of this, wake up, this is not like, okay, if you're getting up at 6.30, you need to wake up at 4 30 and do a ton of morning routine stuff. Just wake up 10 minutes earlier than everyone else. Not to hustle, but just to pause. One thing that makes a huge difference to me, and this is so small, is to just sit up in bed and drink a glass of water. If you want to get up and make your coffee and drink coffee and just sit there in silence and stare out the window and drink your coffee, whatever it is, you just need a buffer where you're choosing to be awake before anyone needs anything from you or even wants to talk to you. Give it a try. I even, because I don't really care about if my water is cold, so I will literally put the glass water next to my bedside and then I just wake up and I drink it.
Speaker 1:Okay, mistake number two is reaching for your phone before your feet hit the floor. I know we all use our phone as our alarm. I could say get a real alarm clock, and you could totally do that, but it's possible for your alarm to go off on your phone and for you to turn off the alarm and then just set the phone back down. Just try it one day, one time, and see how different it can make you feel. Because if you pick up your phone at first, even if you're like, oh, I'm just gonna quick check text or something fun like Instagram, the chances of your brain getting triggered before you've even had a chance to get up out of bed and think clearly are definitely there. Or the other thing is, I just did this the other day. I woke up, I started looking at Instagram, and I ended up being late to the class that I was going to at the gym, even though I got up in plenty of time to get myself there on time because I was just messing around on my phone. It's just a distraction that we do not need. It did not improve my life at all to look at Instagram for 10 minutes and make myself late for my class. So a trick that works really well for me is I turn off my alarm, turn my phone back upside down, drink that glass of water, and then I get up and I go into the kitchen and I just don't bring my phone with me. And there's, I'm sure you're just the same. There are many things that I do in the morning. I wake up both of my kids. I usually empty the dishwasher, I make some coffee, I'm doing all those things. And just doing that without my phone anywhere nearby feels surprisingly relaxing. If that feels like too much to you, then just try 10 minutes before you check your phone or anything digital. Go brush your teeth and make your coffee before you get your phone.
Speaker 1:Okay, and then the third mistake is basically having decision fatigue by the time you get to your desk in the morning, in the first hour that you're awake, are you making a ton of decisions like, what am I gonna wear? What am I gonna eat? Should I respond to that message? Is there time to work out? That is so frustrating to me when I do that. If I haven't decided the night before and I wake up and I lie there and think, should I work out or could I maybe squeeze it in at noon? Or am I maybe gonna go this evening or should I skip today? Maybe I could just go for a walk instead. I'm making all of these decisions that are completely unnecessary. So your brain just has a limited amount of energy for decision making and cut out all the little stuff that just doesn't matter, or where you can just automate it. Decide before the night before. Think about what am I gonna wear? What am I doing for lunch tomorrow? Do I need to pack something? What's the top task? Can I put out the kids' backpacks? Just less decision making equals more mental clarity and more calm. So just think about if this is the one that you're gonna implement, think about one decision that you make every day and see if you can make it the night before. See how that feels to you. I don't know how you feel about eating the same thing all the time, but I can eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch for like months. I mean, one thing for breakfast and one thing for lunch for like months. It doesn't bother me at all. So if you're that kind of person and you can just say, you know what, I am eating oatmeal for breakfast every day. That's a great example of just making a decision so you don't have to think about it.
Speaker 1:Okay, so here are your options. If you want to go crazy and try all three, go ahead. But usually that feels overwhelming if your morning routine is chaotic. So choose from creating a buffer, which you do by getting up 10 minutes before everyone, delaying your phone by just not using your phone when you first wake up in the morning, just try it and see how it feels. Or the third option is to pre-decide something, to cut out the decisions that you have to make in the morning. None of those are a big overhaul, but if you just try one tiny strategic shift that tell your nervous system, I'm in charge here. This day starts on my terms and I'm in charge of what's going on here versus I'm reacting to everyone.
Speaker 1:If you have a desire to do an actual morning routine where you do some mindfulness work, I just want to remind you that I have a free one and we'll put the link in the show notes. So if you are already getting up before your kids, or if you are already getting up and making time for mindfulness in the morning and you're not sure exactly what to do, I designed a 10-minute morning routine. It's been downloaded by like thousands of people at this point that you can do. And it just really helps you get your mindset right for the day so that you're in charge of the day instead of the day being in charge of you. Just want to remind you that I have that as a free resource.
Speaker 1:Okay, have a great week and I will see you next 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.
