Latest / Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #53| How To Clear Your Mind With This 5-Minute Mindfulness & Time Management Strategy
Transcript
- 0:00Michelle Gauthier: Today, you'll learn how your brain is much like an overstuffed fanny pack: not very useful when it's got too much stuff in it.
- 0:07Michelle Gauthier: You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less.
- 0:19Michelle Gauthier: I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former Overwhelmed Working Woman and current life coach.
- 0:22Michelle 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.
- 0:36Michelle Gauthier: Hey friends, as you heard on our last episode, for the whole month of April we are celebrating the birthday of Overwhelmed Working Woman.
- 0:44Michelle Gauthier: So for this happy birthday episode, instead of giving you a slice of cake - which I'd love to do, by the way, but I think that's pretty much impossible, since I don't know your name or where you live - I wish I did, though, because I'd give you some - but instead I'm going to give you a great tool to use for overwhelm instead of a piece of cake.
- 1:04Michelle Gauthier: Previously, I did an episode about the invisible workload that women carry.
- 1:09Michelle Gauthier: You should definitely check that one out if you haven't.
- 1:12Michelle Gauthier: But it's that invisible mental load of all the things that we need to remember and do.
- 1:17Michelle Gauthier: Well, today you'll learn how to do the opposite of that, which is a visible - instead of invisible - mental *unload*.
- 1:25Michelle Gauthier: It's the complete opposite of the invisible mental load, and I'll teach you how to do it and why it's worth the five minutes it will take you to stop feeling overwhelmed.
- 1:35Michelle Gauthier: By the end of the episode, you'll have a new tool in your toolbox to shift you right out of overwhelm and back into calm productivity.
- 1:43Michelle Gauthier: And to wrap up our episode, we'll finish up with the mini segment of Michelle's Do Less for Success tip.
- 1:50Michelle Gauthier: You probably already know this, but when you're feeling that feeling of overwhelm, you can't actually do anything, at least anything productive.
- 1:59Michelle Gauthier: Your brain is so full and overloaded and it can't think much beyond, I'm overwhelmed and I don't know what to do next.
- 2:06Michelle Gauthier: When this happens to me, it almost feels like a spinning feeling and I feel stuck.
- 2:11Michelle Gauthier: I can't do anything useful, even though I'm constantly thinking of all of the things that I should be doing.
- 2:18Michelle Gauthier: I carry around this little Lululemon belt bag, also known as a fanny pack.
- 2:22Michelle Gauthier: I call it a fanny pack, but my daughter corrects me that it's a belt bag.
- 2:25Michelle Gauthier: That does sound kind of cooler.
- 2:27Michelle Gauthier: So you probably know what I mean because you probably have one.
- 2:30Michelle Gauthier: It's small, but it's so perfect usually for what I need, unless I just keep adding to it without ever cleaning it out.
- 2:37Michelle Gauthier: When I can no longer zip it and stuff is sticking out of the top it kind of folds over and I can't fold it over - like I put my Kindle in there before - I have to pull it all out and start over.
- 2:48Michelle Gauthier: So I'll find things in there if I just do a complete unload, like my credit cards, maybe some random cash floating around.
- 2:55Michelle Gauthier: At least two lip balms, three lip glosses - total difference between those two, I'm sure you understand.
- 3:01Michelle Gauthier: Tins of mints in various states of full, a couple bags of nuts, because I feel like I always have to have a snack with me, wrappers from my kids' stuff, because, you know, mom's the trash can, receipts from weeks ago from a place I've forgotten
- 3:14Michelle Gauthier: I've even gone to, some random business cards, a tape measure (I'm continuously updating my house so I always need a tape measure) and the other day I found a spare pair of socks in there, which were clean.
- 3:26Michelle Gauthier: I know it's a lot, especially for a little fanny pack-sized bag.
- 3:31Michelle Gauthier: But this overstuffed belt bag is just like our brain when it's overwhelmed - it's such a useful item and, when used properly and not overly full, can be the most effective thing.
- 3:43Michelle Gauthier: But when it's over full it's impossible to find the thing that you're looking for or to focus on anything.
- 3:50Michelle Gauthier: Let's just say you're driving into work and your brain is overstuffed and carrying way too many things.
- 3:56Michelle Gauthier: You're thinking about the six important things you need to do for work, while also thinking about what to make for dinner tonight, what time you have to take your kids somewhere, the annoyance you have that you always have to come up with the idea for dinner and actually cook it.
- 4:10Michelle Gauthier: Your brain's offering some negative self-talk for not getting up and working out this morning.
- 4:15Michelle Gauthier: It's wondering where your sunglasses went.
- 4:17Michelle Gauthier: Even the extra pair somehow are lost.
- 4:20Michelle Gauthier: You're thinking about that text from your best friend from three days ago that you totally forgot to answer.
- 4:25Michelle Gauthier: That's the worst.
- 4:27Michelle Gauthier: You're thinking, I hope I remember that great marketing idea I had in the shower this morning, which currently is gone from my brain, but maybe it will come back to my brain if I don't focus too hard on it.
- 4:38Michelle Gauthier: You're wondering if your mom liked the guy who cleaned her carpets and if maybe you should hire that person too.
- 4:44Michelle Gauthier: You're wondering if you'll ever get those Amazon returns done or if they're just going to be sitting on your closet floor forever.
- 4:50Michelle Gauthier: You're thinking, I've got to pick up my kid's prescription and call the orthodontist.
- 5:03Michelle Gauthier: And all of this is happening while you're settling down and trying to get to work, and it's almost impossible to make it stop once your brain feels this overwhelmed, overstuffed feeling.
- 5:09Michelle Gauthier: So here's what to do.
- 5:11Michelle Gauthier: This is the solution.
- 5:12Michelle Gauthier: We're going to go from all of those thoughts being invisible, that whole mental load of being invisible, to making them visible.
- 5:20Michelle Gauthier: Just like the purse, we're going to empty it all out.
- 5:23Michelle Gauthier: So grab a pen and paper, not if you're driving while listening to this, but grab a pen and paper.
- 5:29Michelle Gauthier: This will take less than five minutes and I promise over the week it will save you hours of wasted time, because remember, when you're overwhelmed you can't think and therefore it's very hard, if not impossible, to do anything productive.
- 5:43Michelle Gauthier: So, now that you've got your pen and paper, just start writing.
- 5:46Michelle Gauthier: Start writing that work
- 5:48Michelle Gauthier: to-do list, items one to six, in no particular order.
- 5:52Michelle Gauthier: Write down your complaint about always having to do the dinner planning without any plan to resolve it.
- 5:58Michelle Gauthier: In the moment, just complain to your journal or your piece of paper.
- 6:01Michelle Gauthier: Complain about losing your sunglasses, or maybe make a note about where you think they might be.
- 6:06Michelle Gauthier: Write down the to-do to text your best friend.
- 6:10Michelle Gauthier: Don't do it right now because then you'll get distracted and you'll come back and you'll still feel overwhelmed.
- 6:15Michelle Gauthier: Get all the way through this mental unload before you do anything else.
- 6:20Michelle Gauthier: Write down that marketing idea from the shower, if you remember it.
- 6:23Michelle Gauthier: If you don't just jot down shower marketing idea and hope it comes back, go ahead and make a note to ask your mom about the carpet cleaning, and to put the Amazon returns on your to-do list, and to pick up the medicine and call the orthodontist.
- 6:37Michelle Gauthier: Just get it all down.
- 6:38Michelle Gauthier: And if you're having any other thoughts, write those down too.
- 6:41Michelle Gauthier: Often minor thoughts of frustration or annoyance, like I'm so sick of being overwhelmed.
- 6:47Michelle Gauthier: Why do I have to do everything?
- 6:49Michelle Gauthier: Just wish someone could do something for me or someone would do something without me asking them.
- 6:55Michelle Gauthier: So if you have any other just thoughts in my case they're almost always negative when I'm feeling overwhelmed and write all those down too.
- 7:04Michelle Gauthier: And once your brain is empty and you've stopped writing.
- 7:08Michelle Gauthier: Just sit there for a minute and see if anything else comes up.
- 7:11Michelle Gauthier: Sometimes it's like I get it all out and then a few more things want to come in.
- 7:15Michelle Gauthier: So just give it a second, maybe, take a sip of coffee or two and then start writing down if there's anything else, until it's all out.
- 7:22Michelle Gauthier: Now all of those things are safely on a piece of paper.
- 7:27Michelle Gauthier: You don't have to remember them anymore.
- 7:29Michelle Gauthier: It's all there.
- 7:30Michelle Gauthier: It's all written down for you.
- 7:32Michelle Gauthier: Now look back at the list and ask yourself, what is the number one thing that I need to address on that list?
- 7:40Michelle Gauthier: Let's say, dinner tonight is your number one concern and that's the thing that you just want to get off your mind: do that thing.
- 7:46Michelle Gauthier: Or if the first thing you want to do is make a to-do list for the week.
- 7:54Michelle Gauthier: Or if the first thing that you want to do is text your best friend back, whatever it is, just choose the number one thing and do that.
- 8:00Michelle Gauthier: It can be very useful when you have just come out of overwhelm, to use a thought like I know exactly what I'm going to do next, because part of overwhelm is having too many thoughts and not being able to choose which one to focus on.
- 8:14Michelle Gauthier: By doing this exercise where you get it all out of your brain, capture it all, choose your number one and get started on that, is to let your brain - and remind yourself - know, okay, I got this.
- 8:27Michelle Gauthier: I know the very next thing to do.
- 8:28Michelle Gauthier: I don't know the next 78 steps, which is what your brain will try to get you to go to.
- 8:33Michelle Gauthier: Just do number one.
- 8:34Michelle Gauthier: That's it.
- 8:36Michelle Gauthier: Now that you know how to clean out your brain and feel less overwhelmed, I'm going to move on to Michelle's do less for success tip.
- 8:43Michelle Gauthier: My tip this week is about getting your mail, your physical mail, out of your mailbox, and my tip is to just touch your mail one time.
- 9:02Michelle Gauthier: If you're going out to get the mail and you come back in and you set it down on a kitchen counter or on your dining room table or wherever your mail lives, and you open some of it and you leave some of it there, and then when you go to pay bills you have to go find it, etc.
- 9:15Michelle Gauthier: Here's my tip for you: get your mail, and when you're coming back into your house, before you even come back into the house, really quickly look through and see what's recycling, which, if it's like my mail, is about 90% and recycle it.
- 9:30Michelle Gauthier: Don't even bring it into your house.
- 9:32Michelle Gauthier: And then, when you bring it into the house, what should be left is just maybe a personal note (isn't that the best,
- 9:38Michelle Gauthier: when you get an actual note in the mail?
- 9:39Michelle Gauthier: ), bills, maybe invitations, something from your kid's school, whatever it is - everything that needs for you to take action.
- 9:48Michelle Gauthier: Just put those into a 'take action on later' pile.
- 9:52Michelle Gauthier: I do mine on Sundays, so it comes straight in my house, sometimes I'll open them, sometimes I don't, but if I can tell it's a bill, I put them right in that pile.
- 10:01Michelle Gauthier: If it's an invitation or something I need to put on the calendar, it goes right in that same pile and everything else goes in the recycling.
- 10:08Michelle Gauthier: That way I never have to think about that mail again until Sunday when I go and process everything.
- 10:14Michelle Gauthier: It makes it super quick to pay your bills and you save so much time not having to move that and re-go through the pile again and again.
- 10:22Michelle Gauthier: Okay, friends, that's it for this week.
- 10:24Michelle Gauthier: I hope you implement the new mail tip as well as the new unloading the mental load that you've just learned.
- 10:32Michelle Gauthier: Don't forget that this month we are celebrating Overwhelmed Working Woman and that if you write a review and fill out the form which is in the show notes, you can qualify to get an Overwhelmed Working T-shirt.
- 10:45Michelle Gauthier: They're so cute.
- 10:46Michelle Gauthier: If you haven't seen a picture of them on social media, follow me @Michelle Gauthier Coaching and you can see one.
- 10:52Michelle Gauthier: They are so cute.
- 10:53Michelle Gauthier: That's a wrap for today.
- 10:55Michelle Gauthier: Have a great week.
- 10:56Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
- 11:03Michelle Gauthier: If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at michellegauthier.
- 11:07Michelle Gauthier: com.
- 11:09Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.