Latest / 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Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #177| 3 Signs You’re Stuck in Outdated Habits & How to Release Them for a Calmer Mind and More Productivity
Transcript
- 0:00Michelle Gauthier: You know how sometimes your phone won't let you use it anymore until you update to the newest software.
- 0:05Michelle Gauthier: Wish humans came with that same automatic forced upgrade feature.
- 0:17Michelle Gauthier: You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less.
- 0:24Michelle Gauthier: I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former overwhelmed working woman and current life coach.
- 0:29Michelle Gauthier: 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.
- 0:44Michelle Gauthier: Hi friend, today we're going to talk about three signs that your mental software is outdated and needs a reboot and an update why letting old habits stick around keeps you stuck and overwhelmed, and how you can hit refresh for a calmer, more productive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.
- 1:01Michelle Gauthier: 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.
- 1:13Michelle Gauthier: Sign up for that by the link in the show notes.
- 1:17Michelle Gauthier: It's going to be so much fun.
- 1:18Michelle Gauthier: 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.
- 1:33Michelle Gauthier: It's going to be tons of fun.
- 1:34Michelle Gauthier: We're giving away prizes, etc.
- 1:36Michelle Gauthier: Etc.
- 1:37Michelle Gauthier: Check out all the details at the link in the show notes.
- 1:41Michelle 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.
- 2:05Michelle 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.
- 2:18Michelle Gauthier: 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.
- 2:27Michelle Gauthier: But he has the kind of job where he would answer his clients even if he's on vacation, and so I challenged him.
- 2:36Michelle Gauthier: I said, Okay, it's Friday afternoon, so the market's about to close.
- 2:40Michelle Gauthier: Work's basically about to be over.
- 2:43Michelle Gauthier: 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.
- 2:53Michelle Gauthier: And he said, no, I'll do better.
- 2:56Michelle Gauthier: If I do check my email, I'll give you a hundred dollars.
- 2:59Michelle Gauthier: And I was like, okay, sounds good.
- 3:01Michelle Gauthier: So we were kind of laughing about it.
- 3:02Michelle Gauthier: Okay, sounds good.
- 3:06Michelle Gauthier: So we were kind of laughing about it.
- 3:07Michelle 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.
- 3:18Michelle Gauthier: He said I can't believe how many times I'm doing this without even having a conscious thought about it.
- 3:24Michelle Gauthier: 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.
- 3:34Michelle Gauthier: So it was just really interesting because neither one of us realized that we were doing it.
- 3:38Michelle Gauthier: 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.
- 3:45Michelle Gauthier: So it was like we had this habit that was almost muscle memory, but it really didn't fit anymore.
- 3:51Michelle 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.
- 4:00Michelle Gauthier: So maybe you have the habit of saying yes without even pausing to think if you want to say yes or no.
- 4:06Michelle Gauthier: 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.
- 4:16Michelle Gauthier: Starting today, would I still choose this?
- 4:26Michelle Gauthier: 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?
- 4:29Michelle Gauthier: I'm going to get in the habit of checking my phone every five minutes?
- 4:31Michelle Gauthier: No, I for sure would not say that.
- 4:34Michelle Gauthier: 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?
- 4:44Michelle Gauthier: No, I definitely would not.
- 4:46Michelle Gauthier: So think about that.
- 4:47Michelle Gauthier: If you were starting today, would you still choose this habit?
- 4:51Michelle 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.
- 5:01Michelle Gauthier: 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.
- 5:19Michelle Gauthier: You have to work until it's finished.
- 5:21Michelle Gauthier: If that guilty feeling pops up and gives you a negative thought and a negative feeling, just gently investigate that.
- 5:31Michelle Gauthier: Just ask yourself do I really still believe that or do I really still want that habit of working until even 6pm every night?
- 5:40Michelle Gauthier: I would not work till 6pm anymore.
- 5:42Michelle Gauthier: Do you want that habit?
- 5:44Michelle Gauthier: Do you want the habit or the old belief that more is always better and that rest is lazy, for example?
- 5:50Michelle Gauthier: And if you don't, it's never too late to change it.
- 5:53Michelle Gauthier: That's the greatest part about it.
- 5:55Michelle Gauthier: Sign number three that your habits might be outdated is that your routines cause more stress than relief.
- 6:01Michelle Gauthier: So if you have your quote unquote, productivity hacks and they make you more anxious, that means that habit is probably outdated.
- 6:10Michelle Gauthier: And things that I'm thinking of are multitasking.
- 6:14Michelle Gauthier: So I'm going to listen to a call and answer emails and order my groceries all at the same time.
- 6:22Michelle Gauthier: Perfectionist editing, for example.
- 6:25Michelle Gauthier: Just you can edit something to the nth degree.
- 6:28Michelle 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.
- 6:42Michelle Gauthier: It is, and that is an old program that is eating up all of your mental storage.
- 6:46Michelle Gauthier: 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?
- 6:53Michelle Gauthier: michellegauthier.
- 6:53Michelle Gauthier: com I just start single tasking and see how that helps my focus instead?
- 6:58Michelle Gauthier: 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.
- 7:20Michelle 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.
- 7:32Michelle Gauthier: Reach out to me if you're interested in learning more about one-on-one coaching.
- 7:37Michelle Gauthier: Have a great weekend.
- 7:38Michelle Gauthier: Don't forget to sign up for the declutter challenge.
- 7:40Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for listening to the overwhelmed working woman podcast.
- 7:52Michelle Gauthier: If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at michellegothiercom.
- 7:55Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.