Latest / Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #236| One Simple Mantra That Stops Overwhelm In Its Tracks
Transcript
- 0:01Michelle Gauthier: If your brain feels like it's constantly jumping to what you need to do next or replaying what has already happened, this episode is for you.
- 0:14Michelle Gauthier: You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less.
- 0:21Michelle Gauthier: I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former Overwhelmed Working Woman and current life coach.
- 0:26Michelle Gauthier: On this show, we unpack the stress and pressure that today's working woman experiences.
- 0:31Michelle Gauthier: And in each episode, you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease, and relaxation to your life.
- 0:41Michelle Gauthier: Hi, friend.
- 0:42Michelle Gauthier: Thanks for joining today.
- 0:43Michelle Gauthier: Today we're going to talk about a mantra to bring you back to the present, to be in the moment that you're actually in.
- 0:50Michelle Gauthier: Being in the moment that you're actually in is useful because that is where calm lies.
- 0:56Michelle Gauthier: When you're doing one thing and you're in the present, that is the most calm and connected that I believe that we can feel.
- 1:03Michelle Gauthier: When you listen to this episode today, you'll discover why overwhelm pulls you out of the present moment, how your brain keeps you stuck in the past and in the future, and a simple mantra that you can use anytime to come back to the present.
- 1:16Michelle Gauthier: This will not be learning to be a super meditator or anything complex.
- 1:21Michelle Gauthier: This is just a quick, easy tip to bring yourself back to the present so that you can feel calm and enjoy life more.
- 1:27Michelle Gauthier: Today's episode is sponsored by Inspire Wellness, a St.
- 1:31Michelle Gauthier: Louis-based woman-owned company where I get all of my supplements via subscription that just shows up on my doorstep.
- 1:38Michelle Gauthier: You know, one of the things we talk about on this podcast is how to create new habits.
- 1:42Michelle Gauthier: And this is a perfect example of habit stacking.
- 1:45Michelle Gauthier: I already have the habit of getting up in the morning and drinking a glass of water.
- 1:49Michelle Gauthier: And while I'm doing that, I make my coffee and then I drink my first cup of coffee.
- 1:53Michelle Gauthier: What I have done is I have stacked in the habit of taking a scoop of collagen and a scoop of creatine and putting that into my coffee, and it's just done.
- 2:02Michelle Gauthier: And the other way that I make this super easy for myself is to do the subscription.
- 2:06Michelle Gauthier: So I never have to think about when I'm running out, if I need to order, etc.
- 2:11Michelle Gauthier: It just shows up on my doorstep.
- 2:13Michelle Gauthier: So it is available to me.
- 2:14Michelle Gauthier: I make this a very low effort habit that has high results.
- 2:18Michelle Gauthier: So I get the result of better skin, better hair, less brain fog, more energy, ability to build more muscle.
- 2:25Michelle Gauthier: And it's super easy for me to do.
- 2:26Michelle Gauthier: So start a habit stack for yourself.
- 2:29Michelle Gauthier: Maybe you don't drink coffee in the morning, maybe you drink tea, put it in tea.
- 2:32Michelle Gauthier: Maybe you just drink water first thing in the morning.
- 2:34Michelle Gauthier: You can put it in your water.
- 2:35Michelle Gauthier: It has no taste.
- 2:36Michelle Gauthier: So create a new habit for yourself and get some benefits that are really easy.
- 2:41Michelle Gauthier: Go to inspirewellness.com slash OW for overwhelmed working woman.
- 2:49Michelle Gauthier: And when you subscribe, you will get 15% off the bestseller bundle, which is creatine and collagen.
- 2:55Michelle Gauthier: Not just the first order, but 15% off every monthly order.
- 2:59Michelle Gauthier: Okay, let's jump into this mantra that you can use to bring yourself back to the present moment.
- 3:04Michelle Gauthier: When you feel overwhelmed, what's happening is your brain's trying to manage everything at once, which as we know is impossible.
- 3:11Michelle Gauthier: But it will often think about what you have to do later, everything you have coming up this week, and everything that might go wrong.
- 3:18Michelle Gauthier: Or it will take the other path and go backwards and think of all the things that you didn't get done today, or that conversation that you had with your coworker that seemed to go sideways.
- 3:27Michelle Gauthier: And should you have said this or should you have said that?
- 3:30Michelle Gauthier: And it's like your brain's trying to solve problems that either don't exist yet or things that have already happened and you can't go back and redo.
- 3:39Michelle Gauthier: So in those moments, you're not actually being present and living your life.
- 3:43Michelle Gauthier: You're living in a mental version of the past or the present or a combination of the past and the present.
- 3:49Michelle Gauthier: And what happens when we do that?
- 3:50Michelle Gauthier: So for example, I'm picturing as I'm describing this, I'm picturing myself being in my kitchen and cooking dinner for my kids, and they're in and out, and we're talking about different things.
- 3:59Michelle Gauthier: And if what I'm thinking about is a client session that I had at 10 o'clock that morning, or all the things that I need to do that night before I go to bed, what happens is I feel low-key overwhelmed just thinking about that.
- 4:11Michelle Gauthier: And then also I'm not fully present with what I'm doing.
- 4:15Michelle Gauthier: I'm not fully present with listening to my kids or even enjoying what I'm cooking or anything.
- 4:22Michelle Gauthier: I'm physically in my kitchen, but mentally I'm somewhere else.
- 4:25Michelle Gauthier: And that prevents us from A, feeling calm and B feeling connected to other people.
- 4:31Michelle Gauthier: There's also really no upside to doing that.
- 4:34Michelle Gauthier: When you come back to the present moment, everything starts to shift.
- 4:38Michelle Gauthier: Not because anything's really changed in your environment, but because you do.
- 4:42Michelle Gauthier: And when you come back to that present moment, you stop stacking all those overwhelming things.
- 4:47Michelle Gauthier: And instead of thinking about everything, you're just here.
- 4:50Michelle Gauthier: Maybe you're just sending one email or just having one conversation without looking at your phone while you're talking to someone or just taking one breath.
- 4:59Michelle Gauthier: Just getting to that space feels like life is so much more calm and manageable.
- 5:05Michelle Gauthier: So here's the practice that I suggest that you try.
- 5:08Michelle Gauthier: So the next time you feel overwhelmed thinking about the future, or you're replaying conversations from the past, or you're stuck in your head, just pause and say to yourself, I'm right here right now, and bring yourself back to the present moment.
- 5:20Michelle Gauthier: Another good trick that you can use to bring yourself to the present, use your senses and ask yourself, what can I see right now?
- 5:28Michelle Gauthier: What can I hear right now?
- 5:29Michelle Gauthier: What can I feel right now?
- 5:31Michelle Gauthier: What can I smell right now?
- 5:33Michelle Gauthier: And I think that you could do all of the senses, but you could even just do one.
- 5:38Michelle Gauthier: What's something that I can hear right now?
- 5:40Michelle Gauthier: What's something that I can smell right now?
- 5:42Michelle Gauthier: Nothing fancy, just noticing.
- 5:45Michelle Gauthier: Like I'm sitting in my office right now, and I would say, oh, it's just quiet in here.
- 5:49Michelle Gauthier: But if I think, what can I hear?
- 5:51Michelle Gauthier: I can hear that the air conditioning is blowing a little bit.
- 5:54Michelle Gauthier: I can hear that that little neighbor girl across the street is outside playing.
- 5:58Michelle Gauthier: I can hear little sounds, and that helps bring me back to the present moment.
- 6:03Michelle Gauthier: And you can try it right now.
- 6:05Michelle Gauthier: Even if you're driving, you can say, I'm right here right now.
- 6:08Michelle Gauthier: I'm just driving and start paying attention to your driving and ask yourself, what's something I can smell right now?
- 6:14Michelle Gauthier: What's something I can hear right now?
- 6:15Michelle Gauthier: I'm right here right now, and just see how it makes you feel.
- 6:20Michelle Gauthier: When I do that shift, I immediately my shoulders immediately release.
- 6:24Michelle Gauthier: It just takes the stress out of the moment.
- 6:26Michelle Gauthier: This is just one little tip, but I want to remind you why it's important to be present.
- 6:32Michelle Gauthier: It can reduce your overwhelm and your anxiety.
- 6:35Michelle Gauthier: When you come back to now, your brain literally calms down.
- 6:39Michelle Gauthier: Something else we talk about a lot on this podcast is how to be more productive and to be more focused.
- 6:45Michelle Gauthier: And in other episodes, I've talked about how research shows that if you do one thing at a time, you actually get more done.
- 6:52Michelle Gauthier: So you feel like, oh, I need to do everything at once.
- 6:55Michelle Gauthier: But when you do one thing at a time and you rest in between those things, you get much more done.
- 7:01Michelle Gauthier: I also think it makes you a great example to other people.
- 7:04Michelle Gauthier: If you're a parent, that could be to your kids.
- 7:07Michelle Gauthier: It could even be to your friends, but I'm sure you can think about someone in your circle who you spend time with who is rarely or never present.
- 7:15Michelle Gauthier: And I what I mean by that is you're talking to them and they might be answering, but they're not really there.
- 7:20Michelle Gauthier: They're like looking at their phone the whole time, or you can tell that they're thinking about something else.
- 7:24Michelle Gauthier: Think if you're the opposite of that.
- 7:26Michelle Gauthier: If you sit down to lunch with someone and you put your phone in your purse and you're just one-on-one talking to them, focusing on the lunch you're eating, focusing on that person.
- 7:35Michelle Gauthier: Think about the experience that you would have, how much better that experience would be, and what a good example you are to the people around you.
- 7:43Michelle Gauthier: Okay, so remember, our brain, when it feels overwhelmed, will want to pull us into the future.
- 7:48Michelle Gauthier: What do I have to do next?
- 7:49Michelle Gauthier: Or into the past.
- 7:50Michelle Gauthier: What have I already done wrong or what did I miss?
- 7:52Michelle Gauthier: And you can bring yourself into the present by saying, I'm right here, right now, and using a couple of your senses to check in and say, what can I see?
- 8:01Michelle Gauthier: What can I hear?
- 8:01Michelle Gauthier: What can I smell?
- 8:02Michelle Gauthier: What can I touch?
- 8:03Michelle Gauthier: etc.
- 8:04Michelle Gauthier: It will bring you back to the present moment.
- 8:06Michelle Gauthier: And when you're in the present moment, that is where you can find calm and connection.
- 8:10Michelle Gauthier: This is such a simple one to try.
- 8:13Michelle Gauthier: So I challenge you to right now.
- 8:15Michelle Gauthier: Have you ever tried to just listen to a podcast, for example?
- 8:19Michelle Gauthier: I challenged myself to this one time just to lie down on my bed and listen to a podcast without doing anything else.
- 8:24Michelle Gauthier: And it felt very uncomfortable at first.
- 8:26Michelle Gauthier: But guess what?
- 8:27Michelle Gauthier: I got a lot more out of the podcast when all I did was listen to it.
- 8:30Michelle Gauthier: So challenge yourself today, whether it just be eating your lunch, and the only thing you're doing while you're eating your lunch is eating your lunch, not looking at your phone or thinking of a million different things, or talking on the phone to someone, and that's all you're doing is talking to them on the phone or sending an email and that's all you're doing.
- 8:46Michelle Gauthier: Give this one a try today and see the difference that you feel when you're truly being present.
- 8:51Michelle Gauthier: Have a great week.
- 8:53Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
- 9:00Michelle Gauthier: If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at MichelleGauthier.com.
- 9:06Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.