Latest / Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #286| Why Better Time Management Won't Fix Your To-Do List — But A To-Don't List Will
Transcript
- 0:00Michelle Gauthier: When you listen today, you'll learn why better time management won't fix your to-do list, but a to-don't list will.
- 0:10Michelle Gauthier: You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less.
- 0:18Michelle Gauthier: I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former Overwhelmed Working Woman and current life coach.
- 0:23Michelle Gauthier: On this show, we unpack the stress and pressure that today's working woman experiences.
- 0:28Michelle Gauthier: And in each episode, you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease, and relaxation to your life.
- 0:38Michelle Gauthier: Hi, friend.
- 0:38Michelle Gauthier: Thanks for joining today.
- 0:40Michelle Gauthier: When you listen today, you'll learn the final seven rules on my to-don't list.
- 0:44Michelle Gauthier: Tell you about a recent moment with the handsome man friend where one of these rules caught me right before I almost broke it.
- 0:50Michelle Gauthier: And how to build your own to-don't list, starting with the areas where you're wasting the most time.
- 0:55Michelle Gauthier: Today we're talking about the to-don't list, and that's an amazing way to keep things off your calendar and keep your mind out of decision fatigue, which are super important pieces of living a life that is not overwhelming.
- 1:06Michelle Gauthier: And if you want to learn how to stop feeling overwhelmed, sign up for this new class that I'm offering on Friday, September 11th.
- 1:13Michelle Gauthier: It's called How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed, and you'll learn why your day feels overloaded before it even starts, why you keep saying yes, even if your intention is to say no, and the beliefs and thoughts underneath it all that's really running the overwhelm show.
- 1:28Michelle Gauthier: It's a live class.
- 1:29Michelle Gauthier: I'll be answering questions directly.
- 1:31Michelle Gauthier: It's one hour, it's just $17.
- 1:34Michelle Gauthier: And I guarantee by the end of the class, you will have such a better understanding of what is causing this overwhelm in your life.
- 1:41Michelle Gauthier: The link is in the show notes or also in my Instagram bio at Michelle Gauthier Coaching.
- 1:46Michelle Gauthier: Okay, back to the to-don't list.
- 1:48Michelle Gauthier: If you missed part one, episode 283, having a to-don't list prevents overwhelm and too much stuff getting on your calendar, too many decisions being made from your brain.
- 1:58Michelle Gauthier: It's things that you just absolutely do not do.
- 2:01Michelle Gauthier: I'm gonna tell you the rest of my rules, and then I'm also going to tell you how to create your own list.
- 2:06Michelle Gauthier: Let's go through the last seven rules on my to-don't list in no particular order.
- 2:11Michelle Gauthier: Okay, number one, clothes.
- 2:12Michelle Gauthier: I don't wear anything that's uncomfortable.
- 2:14Michelle Gauthier: This one saves me time every single morning because is this comfortable is never a question because everything that I own is comfortable.
- 2:22Michelle Gauthier: And it's funny.
- 2:22Michelle Gauthier: Every once in a while I will break this rule and buy something that isn't comfortable, but I'm like, oh, maybe I'll get used to it.
- 2:29Michelle Gauthier: It's always jeans.
- 2:30Michelle Gauthier: Jeans are the trouble area.
- 2:32Michelle Gauthier: And then I end up not wearing them.
- 2:34Michelle Gauthier: So when I break my own rule, I'm always sorry that I did.
- 2:37Michelle Gauthier: I have three rules in a row about my home.
- 2:40Michelle Gauthier: I don't own anything that can't go in the dryer or the dishwasher.
- 2:45Michelle Gauthier: If you're taking time to hand wash things and to hang things to dry, why?
- 2:51Michelle Gauthier: Why are you spending that time?
- 2:53Michelle Gauthier: Unless you enjoy that and you really love that.
- 2:55Michelle Gauthier: I don't.
- 2:57Michelle Gauthier: So I don't have to check labels or run separate loads or do dishes by hand.
- 3:02Michelle Gauthier: If it doesn't go in the dishwasher, the dryer can't be in my house.
- 3:05Michelle Gauthier: Also in my home, I don't keep things for just in case.
- 3:08Michelle Gauthier: If I haven't used it, it goes.
- 3:10Michelle Gauthier: I'm brutal about this rule.
- 3:12Michelle Gauthier: It saves me from a whole category of decision fatigue.
- 3:15Michelle Gauthier: Like no more standing there debating whether I might need this someday.
- 3:18Michelle Gauthier: And if I do need it someday, will I know where it is and where will I store it?
- 3:22Michelle Gauthier: And then I'll have to organize it every time that I do organizing.
- 3:25Michelle Gauthier: No, I just give it away.
- 3:26Michelle Gauthier: I always feel like if there's something that I realize I really need, I can just get a new one.
- 3:30Michelle Gauthier: It's not that big of a deal.
- 3:32Michelle Gauthier: Third rule about my house is I don't do my own laundry.
- 3:35Michelle Gauthier: This is another way that having things that only go in the dryer is helpful.
- 3:39Michelle Gauthier: I use a laundry service.
- 3:41Michelle Gauthier: In fact, if you're interested in this, it's an app.
- 3:43Michelle Gauthier: It's kind of like Uber for your clothes.
- 3:46Michelle Gauthier: You put in your request, someone comes and picks up my laundry, do my laundry, return it to me the next day, folded nicely.
- 3:53Michelle Gauthier: Major time saver.
- 3:54Michelle Gauthier: And I just don't ever have to have that feeling of like, do my kids have clean clothes?
- 3:59Michelle Gauthier: Do I have clean clothes?
- 4:00Michelle Gauthier: Because we just do it every week on the same day.
- 4:02Michelle Gauthier: And it's so easy.
- 4:03Michelle Gauthier: From a health perspective, I don't stay up past my bedtime.
- 4:06Michelle Gauthier: If I want to watch one more episode or read one more chapter, it's just never worth it for me because the next day I feel slower and foggier, and I just don't like getting six hours of sleep when I could get seven or eight.
- 4:20Michelle Gauthier: And I just had to just test myself on this one because I was hanging out with the handsome man friend.
- 4:25Michelle Gauthier: We often watch like an episode of TV before we go to bed, and he wanted to stay up and watch one more episode.
- 4:30Michelle Gauthier: He's a total night owl.
- 4:31Michelle Gauthier: And my first instinct was to think, oh well, if he wants to do it, I can probably do it.
- 4:36Michelle Gauthier: And then I remembered, wait, I don't stay up past my bedtime.
- 4:39Michelle Gauthier: I feel so much better when I don't.
- 4:41Michelle Gauthier: I said goodnight.
- 4:42Michelle Gauthier: We went to bed and it was fine.
- 4:44Michelle Gauthier: He wasn't annoyed.
- 4:45Michelle Gauthier: I just made that story up in my head for a second, out of habit.
- 4:49Michelle Gauthier: Which brings me to a relationship to don't, which is I don't take the handsome man friend for granted.
- 4:56Michelle Gauthier: If I think something good about him, I say it out loud right then, not later.
- 5:01Michelle Gauthier: And that's not really about saving time.
- 5:04Michelle Gauthier: It's just about not letting the good stuff go unsaid.
- 5:07Michelle Gauthier: And also when I say it to him, it reiterates to me, wow, you're such a good person.
- 5:12Michelle Gauthier: You're so reliable.
- 5:13Michelle Gauthier: You're so sweet to me.
- 5:15Michelle Gauthier: Thanks for noticing that.
- 5:16Michelle Gauthier: It's just a really good habit to get into.
- 5:19Michelle Gauthier: I try not to take anyone in my life for granted, but it honestly takes work to do that.
- 5:24Michelle Gauthier: So if you are inspired by, or maybe you hate one of my to-don't lists and you'd never add it to your list, that's cool.
- 5:31Michelle Gauthier: Just make your own.
- 5:32Michelle Gauthier: Start by thinking about the big areas of your life where you're either wasting time or you want to just stop doing something entirely.
- 5:39Michelle Gauthier: Think category by category, like think of your home, your clothes your career, your kids, your relationships, your health.
- 5:47Michelle Gauthier: For each one, ask yourself, what's the thing I keep doing or keep deciding that I don't actually want to keep doing?
- 5:53Michelle Gauthier: You don't need to fill out every category today, but just pick one or two areas that are costing you the most time or energy right now and write one I don't rule for it.
- 6:02Michelle Gauthier: And you can always add another rule next week or next month.
- 6:05Michelle Gauthier: So between part one and part two, part two, that's 14 rules for me.
- 6:08Michelle Gauthier: 14 decisions I don't have to keep making over and over.
- 6:12Michelle Gauthier: The point was never the number, it's not like magic 14.
- 6:15Michelle Gauthier: It's just that every single one of those used to be a little renegotiation with myself every single time.
- 6:20Michelle Gauthier: And now it's just this is the rule done.
- 6:23Michelle Gauthier: I hope you have a great week and that you get busy on making your to-don't list.
- 6:27Michelle Gauthier: And don't forget to sign up for my live class.
- 6:30Michelle Gauthier: The link is in the show notes.
- 6:32Michelle Gauthier: It's how to stop feeling overwhelmed.
- 6:34Michelle Gauthier: I will answer all of your questions and share with you many of the things that I have learned over my eight years of coaching hundreds of women on how to stop feeling overwhelmed.
- 6:44Michelle Gauthier: And it's only 17 bucks.
- 6:46Michelle Gauthier: I'll see you there.
- 6:47Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
- 6:54Michelle Gauthier: If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at MichelleGauthier.com.
- 7:00Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.