Latest / Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #264| Only 1 in 10 Women Actually Relax On Vacation Without Overwhelm—Here's How You Can Be One Of Them And Actually Enjoy Your Time Away
Transcript
- 0:00Michelle Gauthier: When you listen today, you'll learn the shocking reason why only 9% of women relax on vacation and how to ensure that you can release your own to-do list and actually enjoy your time away.
- 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.
- 0:34Michelle Gauthier: And in each episode, you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease, and relaxation to your life.
- 0:41Michelle Gauthier: Hello, friend.
- 0:45Michelle Gauthier: It's vacation season.
- 0:46Michelle Gauthier: And guess what?
- 0:47Michelle Gauthier: I want everyone to A, take a vacation, even if it's a staycation, and B, enjoy it and actually relax.
- 0:55Michelle Gauthier: When I was researching for this episode, I found that 9% of women report that they go on vacation, don't work, and relax.
- 1:02Michelle Gauthier: So to me, that's like the ultimate if you can do that whole thing.
- 1:05Michelle Gauthier: So only 9% of women are doing that, of the people who are taking vacation at all.
- 1:10Michelle Gauthier: When you listen today, you'll learn how to be one of those 9%, and hopefully we'll move the percentage up.
- 1:16Michelle Gauthier: We'll learn how to set up your vacation so you can actually disconnect.
- 1:19Michelle Gauthier: What kind of discomfort will show up when you try to do that?
- 1:22Michelle Gauthier: How to protect your mental space in your vacation without guilt, and how to give yourself permission to actually be there wherever there is on your vacation episode and reading about how women take vacation, how they feel on vacation, if they're working on vacation.
- 1:37Michelle Gauthier: This is essentially what I found that 56% of women don't take vacation at all, not just in the summer, just at all.
- 1:43Michelle Gauthier: So they have probably have vacation days, but they are not taking them, or for some reason they just don't take vacation.
- 1:48Michelle Gauthier: Okay, so that's more than half of us just not taking vacation at all.
- 1:51Michelle Gauthier: If that is you, then you definitely have the problem of not enjoying vacation because you're not taking it, even if it's a staycation.
- 1:58Michelle Gauthier: Of the remaining women who do take vacation, 30% report working the whole time.
- 2:04Michelle Gauthier: So that doesn't mean working full time during the day when you're on vacation, but just checking emails every day, maybe waking up before your family to check in or do a conference call.
- 2:14Michelle Gauthier: And then of the women who are left from the group there who are on vacation and not working, 35% of them feel guilty for trying to relax.
- 2:24Michelle Gauthier: So that leaves this small, about 9% of women who go on vacation, don't work, and don't feel guilty.
- 2:33Michelle Gauthier: 9%.
- 2:34Michelle Gauthier: I want you to be one of those 9%.
- 2:36Michelle Gauthier: I actually want us to move that 9% up, take it on ourselves, overwhelmed working women to move that up.
- 2:42Michelle Gauthier: We all deserve a vacation.
- 2:44Michelle Gauthier: Doesn't have to be a fancy tropical vacation, just a break from our day-to-day.
- 2:50Michelle Gauthier: So let's talk about the three things that you can do to actually reach that, be one of that 9%, that one in 10 women who are enjoying their vacation.
- 3:00Michelle Gauthier: The setup for your vacation is step one.
- 3:02Michelle Gauthier: One of the things that I swear I work with every client on is leaving their laptop at home when they go on vacation and even removing their work email from their phone.
- 3:10Michelle Gauthier: And then when you do that, feel what comes up.
- 3:13Michelle Gauthier: I can remember that my client Jen, who owns a social media management business and is also just a fun person who loves to do cool and interesting things.
- 3:22Michelle Gauthier: She was traveling a bunch just for fun, but having a hard time actually fully enjoying herself because she was constantly worrying about work and her clients and were they getting what they need.
- 3:32Michelle Gauthier: So one of the big things we worked on in her coaching was for her to be able to do this, to work really hard when she was at home in New York and then when she would go on these vacations, set it up so that her team was fully covering and she could just enjoy her vacation.
- 3:47Michelle Gauthier: I interviewed her in episode 15.
- 3:49Michelle Gauthier: So you can hear her full story if you are interested.
- 3:51Michelle Gauthier: But one of the coolest things was that by the end of her coaching, she texted me from a plane like, I'm leaving for, I can't remember where it might have been Japan, but she's like, I'm leaving and I'm leaving my laptop at home.
- 4:02Michelle Gauthier: And when I talked to her when she got back, she had the best time and she was so proud of herself for being able to just do that, to go on vacation and really enjoy herself and be there.
- 4:13Michelle Gauthier: And think about how much that gives you when you get back home, when you've actually taken a real vacation.
- 4:19Michelle Gauthier: So when you think about going on a vacation and not taking your laptop or not looking at your work email on your phone or just removing it from your phone, it's going to make you feel uncomfortable.
- 4:32Michelle Gauthier: I don't want to be like, okay, if you always take your laptop on vacation, just don't take it.
- 4:36Michelle Gauthier: It takes some work to get there.
- 4:37Michelle Gauthier: The work that it takes is setting it up in the first place to let your team know that you're not going to be available and sitting with a discomfort that comes up.
- 4:46Michelle Gauthier: Here's a tool that can really work for that.
- 4:48Michelle Gauthier: It's called worry it all the way through.
- 4:50Michelle Gauthier: So see what you think when you think about not taking your laptop.
- 4:53Michelle Gauthier: Maybe you think like, what if something happens and someone needs to get a hold of me?
- 4:57Michelle Gauthier: Okay, what if they do?
- 4:59Michelle Gauthier: What will happen?
- 4:59Michelle Gauthier: I guess they will call me.
- 5:02Michelle Gauthier: I guess they will try to reach out to someone on my team.
- 5:04Michelle Gauthier: Okay, and what if that happens?
- 5:06Michelle Gauthier: The person on my team might not know what to do.
- 5:08Michelle Gauthier: Okay, and then what will happen?
- 5:10Michelle Gauthier: They'll either find someone else who does or they'll give them the wrong answer.
- 5:13Michelle Gauthier: Probably they'll give them the wrong answer because I'm not there.
- 5:16Michelle Gauthier: Okay, then what will happen?
- 5:17Michelle Gauthier: I don't know, some extra problem might be created at work.
- 5:20Michelle Gauthier: Okay, and then what will happen?
- 5:21Michelle Gauthier: Someone else will help them figure it out and the problem will probably be fixed.
- 5:25Michelle Gauthier: When you take the time to worry stuff all the way through as you get to the next step of, and then what usually happens is okay, a problem does happen, but it gets resolved, or it's not nearly as dramatic as you're making it in your mind.
- 5:38Michelle Gauthier: So I think the two things, the main takeaway from this step of actually checking out from work and leaving your stuff at home and not checking your work email is to anticipate and be ready for the discomfort that comes with the idea of doing that and sitting with it and investigating it and doing it anyway.
- 5:58Michelle Gauthier: I feel uncomfortable about leaving my laptop at home, but I'm going to try it.
- 6:02Michelle Gauthier: This is an experiment.
- 6:03Michelle Gauthier: I'm going to see what happens.
- 6:05Michelle Gauthier: So let's imagine that you've done step one where you've decided you're going to truly check out.
- 6:10Michelle Gauthier: You've let everybody know you've declined the meetings, set up your out of office for who they should reach, et cetera.
- 6:15Michelle Gauthier: The next thing you have to do is stick with it.
- 6:17Michelle Gauthier: Once you've made the setup, you have to protect what you've created.
- 6:20Michelle Gauthier: So you can't say, I'm leaving my laptop at home and I'm taking my email off my phone or I'm not going to check my work email.
- 6:26Michelle Gauthier: And then just real quick check your work email and answer just a couple things.
- 6:28Michelle Gauthier: If you do that, you are not protecting the mental space that you created.
- 6:32Michelle Gauthier: So again, sit through the discomfort.
- 6:34Michelle Gauthier: Rest assured that you have set up your out-of-office voicemail and email and text messages.
- 6:41Michelle Gauthier: And when that guilt shows up or that worry shows up, and it will, don't run from it.
- 6:46Michelle Gauthier: Just sit with it.
- 6:47Michelle Gauthier: Just name it.
- 6:47Michelle Gauthier: Oh my gosh, I feel so uncomfortable that I don't know what's sitting in my work email inbox.
- 6:53Michelle Gauthier: But what are you gaining from doing that?
- 6:56Michelle Gauthier: You're gaining actually being present on vacation and actually being able to relax.
- 7:01Michelle Gauthier: Okay, so let's imagine now that you've left your laptop at home, you're not checking your email, you're truly not working, then you have to give yourself permission to rest.
- 7:10Michelle Gauthier: Remember, this was the last stop in that data of, okay, there are people who are on vacation and not working, but they're still feeling guilty.
- 7:17Michelle Gauthier: I want you to be one of these people who can give yourself permission to rest.
- 7:21Michelle Gauthier: I give you permission to rest would be a great thing to say to yourself, or it's okay for me to rest.
- 7:27Michelle Gauthier: Or vacation is for recharging, or vacation is for being with my family, or vacation is for reading a book by myself.
- 7:35Michelle Gauthier: Just continue to remind yourself that it's okay.
- 7:38Michelle Gauthier: The other 50 whatever, there's 52 weeks in a year.
- 7:42Michelle Gauthier: So let's imagine I hope you take four weeks of vacation.
- 7:45Michelle Gauthier: The other 48 weeks of the year, I'm fully present with work and all the other things in my life.
- 7:50Michelle Gauthier: This is special time when I don't have to do that.
- 7:54Michelle Gauthier: So, in summary, be the 9% of women who goes on vacation and relaxes and enjoys it.
- 7:59Michelle Gauthier: Disconnect, leave your laptop at home, don't check your work emails, protect your space and give yourself permission to be relaxed.
- 8:07Michelle Gauthier: I hope you have a fantastic time.
- 8:09Michelle Gauthier: If this episode landed with you and you needed this reminder slash encouragement to check out and actually enjoy your vacation, please share this with a friend who might feel the same way.
- 8:21Michelle Gauthier: I want more of us to be enjoying our vacations.
- 8:24Michelle Gauthier: I'm recording this two weeks ahead of when I'm actually going on vacation.
- 8:27Michelle Gauthier: So by the time you hear this, I and also my podcast producer Kari are both going to be on vacation and we are working on this early so that we can truly check out.
- 8:38Michelle Gauthier: So we are practicing what we preach over here at Michelle Gauthier Coaching.
- 8:42Michelle Gauthier: All right, have a great week.
- 8:43Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.
- 8:44Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
- 8:51Michelle Gauthier: If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at MichelleGauthier.com.
- 8:57Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.