#123| The Surprising Truth About Productivity and Reaching Big Goals (& Why It Isn't What You Think!): Overwhelm, Productivity, Time Management & People Pleasing

What if the secret to getting more done isn’t pushing harder but actually… slowing down?

 In a world obsessed with hustle and productivity, we often overlook the power of rest. This episode explores why relaxation—through meditation, stillness, and even napping—might be the ultimate productivity hack. If you're feeling drained, unfocused, or overwhelmed, these counterintuitive strategies could be the key to working smarter, not harder.

In this episode, you will:

• Discover how meditation can rewire your brain for less stress and more clarity.
• Learn how stillness activates creativity and problem-solving abilities.
• Find out why power naps (and even coffee naps!) can boost focus and performance.

 Take a break that actually fuels your success—hit play now and start making productivity effortless!

Wondering why you're overwhelmed? Take my "why am I overwhelmed" quiz to find out the source of your overwhelm, and what to do about it.

Send Me a Message - Have a question, comment, or just want to say hi? Message me here, I'd love to chat!

Work With Me - Interested in working with me 1-on-1, taking a class, or joining one of my coaching groups? Message me here to get the scoop.

Want More? - If you love the content of this podcast, you'll love our Simple Sunday newsletter too. When you sign up, you’ll receive a simple dose of inspiration, practical tips, and a little fun—designed to help you start your week with simplicity and intention. Sign up here

Life can be overwhelming, but on this podcast, you'll discover practical strategies to overcome overwhelm, imposter syndrome, and negative self-talk, manage time effectively, set boundaries, and stay productive in high-stress jobs—all while learning how to say no and prioritize self-care on the Overwhelmed Worki...

Episode Transcript

Michelle Gauthier (00:00):
Meditating, over time, can actually change
your brain.
But you don't even have toworry about changing your brain,
just change your day.
You're listening to OverwhelmedWorking Woman, the podcast that
helps you be more calm and moreproductive by doing less.
I'm your host, MichelleGauthier, a former Overwhelmed

(00:21):
Working Woman and current lifecoach.
On this show, we unpack thestress and pressure that today's
working woman experiences, andin each episode you'll get a
strategy to bring more calm,ease and relaxation to your life
.
Hi, friend, I love today'spodcast topic.
It's so much fun for me becauseI do this and I really believe

(00:45):
in this and it has to do withtaking naps, which is one of my
favorite things.
So today I'm gonna talk aboutwhy the most effective
productivity tool around mightjust be chilling out.
We're gonna talk aboutmeditation.
We're gonna talk about how,when your brain's default mode
network activates, and I'll tellyou what that is, how that can

(01:07):
make you feel more creative andallow you to solve problems
better.
And then, finally, we're goingto talk about naps, power naps
and coffee naps, which issomething that I have just
discovered.
But before we jump in, I wantto tell you that I have a
one-on-one coaching spot open.
I know I said this a coupleweeks ago too, and that spot did
fill really quickly with apodcast listener.

(01:29):
So if you have been thinkingabout potentially coaching with
me or learning more about it,take this as your sign.
Send me a message and I willtell you the next steps for us
to get together and just have aconversation about it.
All right, let's dig into allthe ways that chilling out and
relaxing is what we need to doto help us hit our goals.

(01:49):
First, I want to talk aboutmeditation.
I was just talking about thisin my Simple Sunday newsletter,
the last one that went out.
By the way, if you like thispodcast and you don't get that
newsletter, you should get on myemail list.
It comes out every other Sunday.
It's always got tips and tricksand just fun stuff.
Actually, we were talking aboutthe white lotus on there as

(02:11):
well.
So there is a link in the shownotes for you to sign up for
that simple Sunday emailnewsletter if you're interested
in that.
Okay, but I digress.
So I was just talking aboutthis in the newsletter that I
meditate almost every day.
It's a pretty rare day when Idon't do it and I wear an oura

(02:32):
ring, If you don't know whatthat is.
It's a ring that tracks.
It tracks your sleep, it tracksyour activity, it tracks your
daytime stress.
It just gives you all thesemetrics about yourself
throughout the day, which I lovebecause I'm a nerd and I love
that kind of stuff.
And when I meditate it is sofascinating.
The way the aura ringclassifies daytime stress is

(02:53):
you're either you're beingrestored or you're engaged or
you're stressed.
So engaged is like you knowyou're awake and you're working
and you're doing productivethings, or you're talking to a
client or whatever it is, andyou know your heart rate's not
too high.
And then stress, which italways nails it on the stress,
it can always tell when I'mfeeling stressed about something

(03:14):
.
It shows that.
And when I meditate it goesjust it's like it goes off a
cliff, from stressed or engagedright down to restored, and I
can see that on the ring, whichis cool.
But I can also feel it If Imeditate in the afternoon.
My most often meditation time isto meditate between work and

(03:36):
you know, like dinner or being amom, the being the mom phase of
the night, and I can tell youit gives me renewed energy.
It just makes me feel clear.
It is so, so powerful andthere's so much proof scientific
proof that meditation is goodfor you.
But something I found reallyinteresting is a study at

(03:58):
Harvard found that meditationincreases the gray matter in
your hippocampus, which is whereyour learning and memory is,
and decreases the size of theamygdala, which is where we feel
stress.
So I thought that wasinteresting that meditating over
time can actually change yourbrain.
But we don't even have to worryabout changing your brain, just

(04:18):
change your day by trying afive minute meditation.
And if you're thinking, Icannot sit still and empty my
mind for five minutes, meneither.
I always use a guidedmeditation.
There's tons of free ones onYouTube.
I use the Breathe app.
There are like 10 other appsthat you can use.
So if you feel like you couldjust use a stress break during

(04:38):
the day, give it a try, Okay.
My other counterintuitiveproductivity tool is stillness,
just in general stillness.
What I'm talking about here isthink about when you are taking
a shower and it's just quiet andyou get these great creative
ideas that come through.

(04:59):
That's because when you aredoing a low focus, relaxing task
like taking a shower, yourbrain's default mode network,
DMN, activates and it helps youprocess thoughts and make
creative connections.
So when you're in that low,focused, relaxed state, your
brain can help you really thinkof things.

(05:21):
I don't know about you, but Ialways get great ideas in the
shower.
Many a podcasts are written inthe shower.
So how do you do that?
In the middle of the day?
You probably can't run and takea shower unless you work from
home, like me.
I guess you could, but otherways to create that stillness in
your life are to sit and focuson something, something in

(05:41):
nature, for example.
Can you go outside?
This probably sounds reallyweird, but one of the things
that I do.
I have several plants in myoffice and one of the things
that I will do is just stare atone of the plants.
I'll like notice how the leavesare on it, see if it looks a
little dry, observe any newthings that are growing,
appreciate the fact that it'sgrowing so well in my office and

(06:03):
I just, you know, sort of havea soft focus on it and just let
my brain relax and observe.
You can also get stillness justby will move away from my desk.
I have a swing in my office,which is so fun, and I will move
away from my desk and over tothe swing, with no technology,
and I will just sit there andtake deep breaths and just allow

(06:26):
my brain and my body to thinkfor a second.
So try that, Try five minutesof stillness, which is different
from meditation because it'snot a guided, you're
specifically thinking aboutsomething else, it's just
letting your brain chill outlike you would when you're in
the shower.
And then the third point, andthen the third way that you can

(06:48):
allow your brain to relax inorder to be more productive is
to take a nap.
I love naps.
I feel like I've.
I come from generations ofnappers.
My grandfather took a nap everyday.
He was a pilot and he, just inthe afternoon, would always take
a little 20 minute nap and hewould always say naps are so

(07:08):
delicious.
My mom takes a nap every day.
Now we're just meant to benappers, I think.
If you're like I'm not a napper, okay, then you can try the
first or the second idea tomeditate or just to have some
stillness.
But if you're a person who doesnap or could nap, there is real
evidence.
The National Sleep Foundationsays a 10 to 20 minute nap

(07:29):
boosts our alertness andperformance, and I totally
believe that to be true.
Many famous people likeEinstein and Churchill took naps
every day to boost theirproductivity.
If you're feeling like yourbrain is so full and you have so
many things to do, it mightfeel counterintuitive to take a
nap, but taking a short nap cantotally reset your mind and your

(07:51):
body and lead you to havingmore focus and creativity.
I've got to tell you guys thishot tip that I just heard about
and I think it's so interesting.
So it's called a coffee nap,and the idea of a coffee nap is
that you drink a small cup ofcoffee and then you take a nap
for 20 minutes and while you'retaking that nap, the caffeine
kicks in along with the benefitsof the nap.

(08:13):
It's like a double boost.
I think this is hilariousbecause all this time that I
have been dating the handsomeman friend, on the weekends
he'll have a cup of coffee andgo back to sleep, and I'm like
maybe he's been doing the coffeenap all along.
Anyway, I honestly haven'ttried this one.
I just found it when I wasresearching for this podcast, so
I'm going to give it a try.
If you try it, or if youalready do it, send me a message

(08:35):
.
I want to hear about it.
Okay, so let's move on toMichelle's do less for more
success tip.
I feel like this entire episodeis a series of how to do less
for more success, but I want youto choose one of these three
things that I have just talkedabout.
That's my challenge for youthis week.
So either try a five minutemeditation, try stillness, or

(08:57):
try taking a power nap or acoffee nap for bonus points, and
just observe what happens.
Notice how you feel before andnotice how you feel after, and
you might be surprised just howmuch clarity and energy comes
from taking a few minutes ofintentional stillness of any
kind.
That's it for today.

(09:19):
I hope you have a calm andrelaxing day and week where you
are getting everything done thatyou want to get done without
feeling overwhelmed.
See you Thursday.
Thank you for listening to theOverwhelmed Working Woman
podcast.
If you want to learn more aboutmy work, head over to my

(09:40):
website at michellegauthiercom.
See you next week.