Latest / Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #156| Why Vacation Prep Feels Like an Overwhelm Pressure Cooker & How to Ease It Before You Go
Transcript
- 0:00Michelle Gauthier: What if the most stressful part of vacation is all the stuff you have to do in order to get there?
- 0:04Michelle Gauthier: You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less.
- 0:17Michelle Gauthier: I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former Overwhelmed Working Woman and current life coach.
- 0:21Michelle 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.
- 0:37Michelle Gauthier: Hi, friend, this podcast is very timely because I am going to be on vacation when this comes out, and so are many people.
- 0:46Michelle Gauthier: I have been canceling with my clients for next week and it seems like almost everybody else is on vacation too.
- 0:52Michelle Gauthier: I thought this would be the perfect time to talk about how to prep for your vacation so that you can enjoy the vacation and feel less stressed the week before.
- 1:02Michelle Gauthier: When you listen today, you're going to learn why vacation prep feels like a pressure cooker and how to ease it.
- 1:09Michelle Gauthier: How to simplify your pre-trip to-do list without sacrificing the things that really matter, and a little extra bonus why your out-of-office message is actually a powerful boundary, or has the potential to be one, depending on how you word it.
- 1:24Michelle Gauthier: Actually a powerful boundary, or has the potential to be one, depending on how you word it?
- 1:27Michelle Gauthier: These ideas will change how you approach rest, prep and managing your time.
- 1:34Michelle Gauthier: Maybe you've got a trip on the calendar and this is perfect timing for you.
- 1:36Michelle Gauthier: Maybe you don't right now, but either way, these ideas will teach you how to approach rest and prep time for time off moving forward.
- 1:45Michelle Gauthier: Before I jump into all that, if you are loving the podcast, the best way to say thanks is to take 30 seconds and leave a review.
- 1:52Michelle Gauthier: It helps other overwhelmed working women find these conversations too.
- 1:56Michelle Gauthier: I wanted to remind you too.
- 1:59Michelle Gauthier: There's a quiz on the homepage of my website.
- 2:02Michelle Gauthier: The link directly to the quiz is in the show notes and the name of the quiz is why am I overwhelmed?
- 2:08Michelle Gauthier: As you know from listening to this podcast, there are several reasons that people are overwhelmed.
- 2:13Michelle Gauthier: It's usually one of four things that's causing most of their pain.
- 2:18Michelle Gauthier: Take this quiz and find out what is the source of your overwhelm and what to do about it.
- 2:22Michelle Gauthier: No matter what your result is, I offer you a tip specific to that result even printable worksheets and videos for you to be able to make progress on your own.
- 2:34Michelle Gauthier: If you know you're overwhelmed and you've tried to solve it and it's just not working out, maybe you are ready to work with me.
- 2:41Michelle Gauthier: The link to set up a consultation for a one-on-one conversation about that is also in the show notes.
- 2:48Michelle Gauthier: Okay, let's get started.
- 2:49Michelle Gauthier: So if you feel frazzled prepping for vacation, it's not a sign you're disorganized or ungrateful or that you shouldn't be going.
- 2:57Michelle Gauthier: It's just a lot to coordinate.
- 3:01Michelle Gauthier: Okay, the first thing I want to say about vacation prep is you're not doing it wrong, it's just a lot.
- 3:09Michelle Gauthier: So you know a lot on this podcast I'm talking about that.
- 3:13Michelle Gauthier: We can think about things in different ways.
- 3:16Michelle Gauthier: So, yes, you could work on thinking this isn't a big deal.
- 3:18Michelle Gauthier: Going on vacation is easy, but in my experience it really isn't.
- 3:22Michelle Gauthier: There, legitimately, are a ton of things that have to be done, and especially at my corporate job less so now because of the type of job that I have, but at my corporate job you can guarantee that something would blow up and there would be a big work emergency between if I was leaving for vacation and Friday was my last day.
- 3:40Michelle Gauthier: For sure something would happen on Friday and on Thursday as well.
- 3:43Michelle Gauthier: For sure something would happen on Friday and on Thursday as well.
- 3:47Michelle Gauthier: I can specifically remember working until midnight or later on several Fridays before we were heading out on vacation.
- 3:52Michelle Gauthier: When you have a lot going on at work as well, it just feels like so much to try to pack everything, get on the plane on time, etc.
- 4:01Michelle Gauthier: So I think the key to this is knowing and acknowledging that when you are especially if you have kids when you are the mom, the person in charge of the family and usually in charge of the kids if you've got a 50-50 relationship and you guys are each two and a half amazing, that is fantastic for you.
- 4:19Michelle Gauthier: That is not what I normally find and, as a single mom, that is not what I ever find at my house.
- 4:25Michelle Gauthier: So if you're the one who's really doing everything prepping for the vacation and making sure the kids are packing their things and calling to make sure that the dog has a place to stay and all of that the first thing to do is acknowledge that it is a lot and you will need time to work on that.
- 4:43Michelle Gauthier: So just plan maybe a couple blocks during the week in the evening times to prep for that vacation.
- 4:49Michelle Gauthier: So you're not doing it at midnight on Friday after you finish up your last work call.
- 4:54Michelle Gauthier: Which leads me into my second point, which is to think about the prep that you really need to do, and if you're like me, you probably tell yourself that you have to get everything on earth done before you can go on vacation.
- 5:09Michelle Gauthier: So there are a couple essentials to prepping for vacation.
- 5:12Michelle Gauthier: Number one is, of course, the packing.
- 5:14Michelle Gauthier: I have an episode, which is number 67, that talks all about prepping for vacation and all of the things that you should consider, like setting your expectations and what to use for packing.
- 5:28Michelle Gauthier: I don't suggest starting with a blank piece of paper.
- 5:31Michelle Gauthier: Either use ChatGPT and say I'm going to Minnesota for five days, I'm bringing my kids, we're staying on a lake, etc.
- 5:38Michelle Gauthier: Etc.
- 5:38Michelle Gauthier: What do I need to bring?
- 5:39Michelle Gauthier: And have it give you suggestions.
- 5:41Michelle Gauthier: Or I use an app called PackPoint and it has just a list of things to bring and you add or remove the things that you want.
- 5:48Michelle Gauthier: So it pretty much suggests like 150 things and you need 30, and then you can save it.
- 5:54Michelle Gauthier: So every summer when I go to Minnesota, I already have my packing list all ready to go there.
- 5:59Michelle Gauthier: So go, listen to that episode if you need more details on exactly how to do that.
- 6:05Michelle Gauthier: The other part of it there's the packing list in the packing and then there is everything else that has to be done before you leave.
- 6:12Michelle Gauthier: For example, maybe you tell yourself I have to respond to every email and get my inbox to zero.
- 6:18Michelle Gauthier: I need to fold all the loads of laundry.
- 6:20Michelle Gauthier: I need to schedule 15 posts to post while I'm gone.
- 6:23Michelle Gauthier: One of my other ones is I always decide you know, that bag of returns that's been sitting in my bedroom for two months must go back before we go on vacation.
- 6:32Michelle Gauthier: My car right now I need to take it in.
- 6:34Michelle Gauthier: The check engine light is on Must get that done before we go on vacation.
- 6:40Michelle Gauthier: So ask yourself what can actually wait until I get back.
- 6:43Michelle Gauthier: So if you'd prefer to get all that stuff done and you have the time, go for it.
- 6:47Michelle Gauthier: But if you don't have the time or it's going to make you feel super stressed this week, ask yourself what can wait till I get back?
- 6:54Michelle Gauthier: What am I doing out of guilt?
- 6:56Michelle Gauthier: So maybe you feel bad.
- 6:57Michelle Gauthier: You're going to be gone from work, so you feel like you have to do all this extra If you're doing something from guilt, always question that you have a right to take vacation just like everybody else does.
- 7:07Michelle Gauthier: And what are my actual must do's?
- 7:09Michelle Gauthier: So what must get done?
- 7:11Michelle Gauthier: For example, before we go out of town, for sure I have to take the dog to the place where she stays.
- 7:19Michelle Gauthier: I need to stop the mail.
- 7:22Michelle Gauthier: Okay, if I don't stop the mail, there will just be a big pile.
- 7:24Michelle Gauthier: I really want to water my plants because I love my plants.
- 7:28Michelle Gauthier: Other than that, like my house could be a mess, my returns could still be in my bedroom.
- 7:35Michelle Gauthier: There could be emails that are left.
- 7:38Michelle Gauthier: So think about what must get done, what you can pause and get back to when you get home, and what actually just really doesn't matter.
- 7:45Michelle Gauthier: So one of the things that I really like to do is wash my sheets and make my bed with clean sheets.
- 7:47Michelle Gauthier: So when I get home, that I really like to do is wash my sheets and make my bed with clean sheets.
- 7:50Michelle Gauthier: So when I get home, that I come home to clean sheets, it is the best.
- 7:54Michelle Gauthier: That is not a must do.
- 7:56Michelle Gauthier: I can absolutely do it after I get home and it doesn't really matter.
- 8:00Michelle Gauthier: I just really like it.
- 8:01Michelle Gauthier: So it's kind of on the nice to have list.
- 8:04Michelle Gauthier: So once you do that, if you take the advice of creating a packing list with chat, gpt or using Packpoint and then making your list of everything you have to do and really highlighting the absolute essentials and seeing if you've got time for the rest, hopefully you're feeling pretty chill.
- 8:20Michelle Gauthier: And then my third point is to make sure that your out of office setup is a boundary, not a trap for yourself.
- 8:29Michelle Gauthier: So let's talk about that message.
- 8:32Michelle Gauthier: We slap on our email at the last minute, that out of office reply.
- 8:36Michelle Gauthier: I feel like when I worked for a corporation that setting the out of office reply was the official okay, I'm gone.
- 8:42Michelle Gauthier: And if yours sounds like I'm out of the office, but feel free to reach me if it's urgent or I'll be checking email periodically.
- 8:52Michelle Gauthier: That's not an out of office message.
- 8:55Michelle Gauthier: It's like I'm halfway on vacation.
- 8:57Michelle Gauthier: Please reach out to me if you need me.
- 8:59Michelle Gauthier: Please feel free.
- 9:00Michelle Gauthier: One of my clients was just telling me a story about how they had this set up and someone called when they were at the pool with their kids and of course they thought this is just going to take 15 minutes.
- 9:09Michelle Gauthier: It took way longer than 15 minutes, of course, and then she couldn't get it out of her head for the rest of the afternoon.
- 9:14Michelle Gauthier: So she took one call and then it ruined the time that she was with her family.
- 9:19Michelle Gauthier: She wasn't able to be present with them because she was worried about this problem.
- 9:23Michelle Gauthier: So, instead of that, set expectations in your out of office and just what.
- 9:28Michelle Gauthier: You tell people from the office and say I'm currently out of the office, I'll respond after X date.
- 9:35Michelle Gauthier: If it's urgent, please contact this other person.
- 9:38Michelle Gauthier: That kind of message sets the tone to say I'm not available.
- 9:43Michelle Gauthier: I value rest, I value boundaries.
- 9:45Michelle Gauthier: I trust that things can wait or that other people can handle it and, honestly, the most urgent things usually aren't.
- 9:54Michelle Gauthier: And right now, if you're someone who's like, yeah, but you don't understand my job, I have to be on call all the time.
- 10:02Michelle Gauthier: For example, I work with a lot of realtors and they do get calls all the time and of course, they get deals during the time that they're on vacation as well.
- 10:11Michelle Gauthier: If you can't just say I'm currently out of the office and fully unplugged to rest and reset, I'll respond after X date, and that won't work for your line of work.
- 10:20Michelle Gauthier: What will?
- 10:22Michelle Gauthier: Can you have your messages default?
- 10:24Michelle Gauthier: Go to somebody else on your team and they'll reach out to you if there's a problem.
- 10:28Michelle Gauthier: Can you tell someone from your office that something urgent comes up?
- 10:32Michelle Gauthier: Call my phone, otherwise I'm just put it, turning on out of office.
- 10:36Michelle Gauthier: What could you set up?
- 10:38Michelle Gauthier: If not a full cut, what could you set up?
- 10:43Michelle Gauthier: Another thing to think about, too, is what if you really were going on vacation to some far away place that did not have Wi-Fi?
- 10:50Michelle Gauthier: Would everyone survive?
- 10:52Michelle Gauthier: Think about that, even if you are, just like me, live in St Louis and going to Minnesota.
- 10:58Michelle Gauthier: If you think about it that way, like I, am unreachable for the next week.
- 11:02Michelle Gauthier: What really is going to happen and why do we feel like it's okay to do it?
- 11:06Michelle Gauthier: If we are going to another country, or we'll be in a really strange different time zone than we're used to, or we don't have Wi-Fi or cell service, that it's okay, but it's not okay to just decide that you're on vacation.
- 11:18Michelle Gauthier: So here's what we talked about.
- 11:20Michelle Gauthier: First of all, we talked about how vacation prep feels like a lot, because it is a lot.
- 11:25Michelle Gauthier: We talked about how to do your prep in the most efficient way and making sure you're clear on what must get done and what are nice to haves, and then how to set up your out-of-office actual message and how you communicate to the people who you work with.
- 11:40Michelle Gauthier: One bonus that I've seen work really well with lots of my one-on-one clients is that they, upon return, take one more vacation day.
- 11:49Michelle Gauthier: So if you come back from vacation on Saturday or Sunday and you take Monday off and you have that whole day to do whatever you want to do if you want to catch up on your laundry, unpack, wash your sheets and put clean sheets on your bed, take a nap, whatever it is I have just found over time that people feel so much more rested and sometimes they'll even go through their work emails on that day that they're off, so they don't walk into the office feeling blindsided.
- 12:15Michelle Gauthier: Hopefully a couple of these tips will help you have a great vacation with your family this summer.
- 12:21Michelle Gauthier: If you like this episode or any of the episodes on this podcast, I would be so grateful if you would take the time to do a rating or review.
- 12:30Michelle Gauthier: Those are super helpful because they help other people see the podcast.
- 12:34Michelle Gauthier: When it has a lot of great ratings and people come and search for overwhelmed, for example, this podcast pops up first.
- 12:41Michelle Gauthier: So I really appreciate you listening and I appreciate you sharing the message with your friends.
- 12:47Michelle Gauthier: Have a great week and have a great vacation.
- 12:49Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
- 12:57Michelle Gauthier: If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at michellegauthiercom.
- 13:03Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.