Latest / Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #253| Why Summer Leads To More Guilt, Not More Rest (And What To Do About It)
Transcript
- 0:00Michelle Gauthier: There's always this next season when you're going to be calm.
- 0:03Michelle Gauthier: And yet, here you are at the start of the one you've been waiting for, and the overwhelm followed you there too.
- 0:13Michelle Gauthier: You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less.
- 0:20Michelle Gauthier: I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former Overwhelmed Working Woman and current life coach.
- 0:25Michelle Gauthier: On this show, we unpack the stress and pressure that today's Working Woman experiences.
- 0:30Michelle Gauthier: And in each episode, you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease, and relaxation to your life.
- 0:38Michelle Gauthier: Hello, friend.
- 0:41Michelle Gauthier: Happy Memorial Day.
- 0:42Michelle Gauthier: Happy start of summer.
- 0:44Michelle Gauthier: Is your grill going out back?
- 0:46Michelle Gauthier: If you're from the Midwest like me, your kids are finally out of school.
- 0:52Michelle Gauthier: And for about 48 hours, everything feels a little lighter.
- 0:55Michelle Gauthier: Like maybe the summer really will be different.
- 0:58Michelle Gauthier: And wow, May was difficult, but now it's over.
- 1:00Michelle Gauthier: But when you listen today, you'll learn why summer tends to feel just as overwhelming as the school year, even though you've hoped and planned on it being easier.
- 1:09Michelle Gauthier: The one belief that keeps high-achieving women like us stuck in the same exhausting cycle no matter what the season is, and what you can do right now, today, before summer gets away from you to actually change how this summer goes.
- 1:22Michelle Gauthier: So let's think about the start of summer.
- 1:24Michelle Gauthier: Right now you're probably feeling hopeful.
- 1:26Michelle Gauthier: You probably have plans, like maybe you're gonna work lighter Fridays, maybe you've got a family trip planned, you've got some breathing room that you've been promising yourself that you'd have as soon as everything wrapped up in May.
- 1:37Michelle Gauthier: But here's what's realistically gonna happen by the time you get to like week two of June, the mental load will still be there.
- 1:43Michelle Gauthier: It just looks different.
- 1:44Michelle Gauthier: If you're a parent, you have camp logistics instead of school pickups.
- 1:49Michelle Gauthier: At work, you're probably covering for colleagues who are out.
- 1:52Michelle Gauthier: Kids will need to be entertained or supervised or fed or be on their devices more than you like because you're constantly managing like the no schedule schedule.
- 2:01Michelle Gauthier: And you'll still be the one, as you always are, holding everything together.
- 2:04Michelle Gauthier: You'll just be doing it in shorts and a tank top because it's summer.
- 2:08Michelle Gauthier: And work never seems to slow down in the summer, even though we always hope that it's going to.
- 2:13Michelle Gauthier: Here's what I think makes summer specifically hard.
- 2:16Michelle Gauthier: There's a certain guilt that exists only at this time of the year because there's this pressure.
- 2:20Michelle Gauthier: Like summer is supposed to be the fun one.
- 2:23Michelle Gauthier: You're supposed to be present and relaxed and enjoying the longer days and the warm weather, enjoying your kids while they're still at this age, whatever this age is for you.
- 2:33Michelle Gauthier: And instead, you end up being half present at the pool, either mentally or literally running through your inbox, distracted at family dinners, on your phone during moments that you'll wish later that you'd been paying attention instead.
- 2:46Michelle Gauthier: And underneath all of it, a voice is saying, What is wrong with me?
- 2:50Michelle Gauthier: Other people seem to be able to handle this better.
- 2:52Michelle Gauthier: Why can't I just relax?
- 2:54Michelle Gauthier: Why can't I just be present?
- 2:56Michelle Gauthier: In the summer, the hardest part isn't the busyness, it's the guilt that comes along with it.
- 3:00Michelle Gauthier: Feeling like you're failing at the one season that was supposed to be easy.
- 3:04Michelle Gauthier: And you know you should be enjoying it.
- 3:06Michelle Gauthier: I want you to enjoy it.
- 3:07Michelle Gauthier: You want to enjoy it, but that gap between where you are and where you think you should be can just be exhausting.
- 3:13Michelle Gauthier: Summer is short.
- 3:14Michelle Gauthier: It's like 10 to 12 weeks, and that's it.
- 3:17Michelle Gauthier: And if you move through those weeks with the same pace that you've been moving all year, they will be gone before you know it.
- 3:22Michelle Gauthier: And you will have spent them being busy and feeling overwhelmed.
- 3:25Michelle Gauthier: And you know you're gonna remember the summer and your kids are gonna remember this summer.
- 3:29Michelle Gauthier: But what will you remember?
- 3:31Michelle Gauthier: You may have already booked a vacation and have some time off that you're looking forward to.
- 3:35Michelle Gauthier: But the real question is, will you actually be there for it mentally, not just physically?
- 3:40Michelle Gauthier: Something that I hear a lot at the end of spring and moving into summer is I just need to get through this season and things will calm down.
- 3:48Michelle Gauthier: So maybe you were telling yourself, I just need to get through the end of the school year or get through May and then things will calm down.
- 3:55Michelle Gauthier: Or maybe you've thought before, once school starts, I'll settle in.
- 3:58Michelle Gauthier: After the holidays, things will feel better.
- 4:01Michelle Gauthier: After Q1, after I wrap up this next big project, then things will be calmer.
- 4:06Michelle Gauthier: But notice with that thought, the truth is there is no season that delivers calm on its own, right?
- 4:12Michelle Gauthier: Calm is not a reward for making it through a hard stretch.
- 4:14Michelle Gauthier: Calm isn't something that just happens to you based on a season.
- 4:18Michelle Gauthier: I wish it was.
- 4:19Michelle Gauthier: But if the plan is to wait for things to slow down before you start feeling better, I want you to notice that you've probably had that plan for a while and you're probably still waiting for things to slow down.
- 4:30Michelle Gauthier: But here's the real shift.
- 4:31Michelle Gauthier: I've worked with women exactly like you on paper, same pack schedule, same demanding job, same kids who need everything constantly, same I'm in charge of everything in my household, who now actually enjoy summer.
- 4:43Michelle Gauthier: They exist, I promise.
- 4:44Michelle Gauthier: I'm talking about real people.
- 4:46Michelle Gauthier: They don't have lives that are easier than yours.
- 4:48Michelle Gauthier: What's different is when something goes sideways, like a kid melts down, or a work text comes in, or your husband says something wrong, it doesn't take their whole day with it.
- 4:59Michelle Gauthier: They don't spend the first two or three days of a week-long vacation just trying to calm themselves down so that they can enjoy it.
- 5:06Michelle Gauthier: They're actually there when they get to the destination.
- 5:09Michelle Gauthier: And this is not just something that some people are born with.
- 5:12Michelle Gauthier: It's a skill.
- 5:12Michelle Gauthier: And it does not require an easier job or a more helpful partner or kids who need less.
- 5:19Michelle Gauthier: Nothing on the outside has to change first.
- 5:21Michelle Gauthier: I actually think this is the best news because it means you're not waiting for anybody else.
- 5:26Michelle Gauthier: You're not waiting for your boss to get easier on you, or for your kids to need less or your husband to figure out how to help you more.
- 5:33Michelle Gauthier: The change happens entirely and totally within you.
- 5:36Michelle Gauthier: And that means it's available right now, this summer, without anyone else doing anything.
- 5:41Michelle Gauthier: And that's why right now matters, because you're standing at the beginning of this season.
- 5:45Michelle Gauthier: Today's the first day of summer, you haven't missed it yet.
- 5:48Michelle Gauthier: You have the same kids you've had, you had the same job, you have the same life.
- 5:52Michelle Gauthier: This summer can still feel completely different.
- 5:55Michelle Gauthier: And that's because the one thing that has to change is happening inside you.
- 5:59Michelle Gauthier: And that's actually the thing that nobody can take away from you.
- 6:01Michelle Gauthier: If this episode resonated and you're nodding along and thinking, okay, she's describing me, I want to invite you to do a free 45-minute coaching consultation with me.
- 6:11Michelle Gauthier: You can book in the show notes.
- 6:12Michelle Gauthier: We'll look at exactly what is driving your overwhelm, and I'll show you exactly what it would look like to change in order to have your best summer ever.
- 6:20Michelle Gauthier: Not next summer, this summer.
- 6:22Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
- 6:29Michelle Gauthier: If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at michellegauthier.com.
- 6:35Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.