#138| 3 Ways To Stay Productive AND Take Care of You: Overwhelm, Productivity, Time Management & People Pleasing

Have you ever felt guilty for taking a break — even when you know you're running on empty?

In today’s fast-paced world, many of us try to power through work without stopping, but this episode shows how taking intentional "me time" throughout your day isn't just refreshing — it's a proven strategy to boost productivity, focus, and energy. If you’ve ever struggled with burnout or felt stuck in an afternoon slump, this episode is your guide to working smarter, not harder.

In this episode, you will:

• Discover why tiny breaks can actually supercharge your focus and energy.
• Learn simple, guilt-free strategies to schedule "me time" into even the busiest workday.
• Understand how aligning with your body’s natural energy cycles can make your workday more productive and less exhausting.

 Hit play now to learn how a few minutes of mindful breaks can transform your productivity and your day — your future energized self will thank you!

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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 (00:01):
If you want to be more productive, science
says that taking more breaks isyour secret weapon.
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

(00:22):
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'm kind oflaughing as I say that, because
I literally just recorded thisentire podcast.

(00:44):
I didn't actually hit record,so this will be my second run
through.
Maybe it'll sound verypracticed when you hear it today
.
Today, we're going to betalking about why stepping away
from your work and taking alittle time for yourself, even
just for a few minutes, cansupercharge your productivity,
and I will give you threesuggestions to schedule me time

(01:05):
throughout the day so that youcan do it easily and without
guilt, and just treat it likeanother appointment on your
calendar.
Before I jump into that, though, I want to remind you that
group coaching for the summersession is opening soon, so on
May 12th is going to be thefirst day that registration is
open, unless you get on thewaitlist.
You get a couple benefits ifyou're on the waitlist.

(01:28):
First of all, you'll benotified first when it is
available for registration.
I only take 10 people for theprogram and you can secure one
of those first spots as soon asthey open up for people who are
on the waitlist.
And in addition to that, youget a discount, a big discount,
like a 25% off discount.
So get on the wait list, evenif you're just thinking about

(01:51):
joining group coaching.
If you aren't familiar with whatthe group coaching is, it's
called the Good Life and it's a12 week program where you, along
with the rest of yourclassmates, will every week get
new videos from me while you'relearning a certain topic.
So some of the topics, forexample, are like how to say no,
how to set boundaries, how toreset your expectations.

(02:13):
So you do that during the weekand then on Fridays we have live
group coaching.
So I will do a little bit moreteaching on the topic and then I
will take questions, helpanybody who's stuck, etc.
One of my favorite things aboutgroup coaching are the
friendships that form and theencouragement that the group
gives to one another.
For some reason, as humans, wealways think that we're alone,

(02:34):
like I'm the only one who feelsreally guilty for working too
much or whatever it is, andthere's something about group
coaching that just makes yourealize, okay, I'm just like a
bunch of other women who arealso trying to improve their
life.
So if that sounds like anexperience that you'd love to
have this summer, I would loveto have you sign up to get on
the waitlist and get moreinformation.

(02:54):
Now, all right back to how to bemore productive and also take
me time for yourself throughoutthe day.
So let's just geek out for aminute.
Have you heard of the Pomodorotechnique or the Pomodoro timer?
It's a time management methodwhere you work in focus sprints,
usually like 25 minutes of workfollowed by a five minute break
, and then, when you do likethree sets of that, then you

(03:17):
take a 15 minute break.
Why does this work?
Research shows that our brainscan only focus really deeply for
a limited time beforeproductivity starts to drop.
So taking these tiny littlebreaks, even five minute breaks,
really help refresh your focusand prevent just mental fatigue
and helps you create a betterwork product.

(03:38):
Scheduling me time isn'tselfish, it's really brain fuel.
Even that five minutes canreset your energy and boost your
focus for the next round.
I don't know about you, but myapproach to work even when I
didn't have a job that Iabsolutely loved, like I do now
is I want to get the most amountof work done possible in the

(03:59):
hours that I'm doing work.
So if I'm there, I really wantto make it count, and this is a
great way to do that.
The other thing to consider isthat your body, your particular
body, each one of our bodies hassort of natural rhythms,
natural cycles where our energyrises and falls, and science
shows that that happens aboutevery 90 minutes.

(04:19):
So even if you're a morningperson and you can really do
focused work in the morning, bymid morning or late morning you
might start to feel a little bitof a slump, and that's totally
normal.
It's not just in your head.
Your brain is getting tired,your body is getting tired.
Same thing happens for me.
The mid afternoon one feels alot bigger because I'm a morning
person.
So the mid afternoon kind ofslump hits me harder.

(04:42):
So leaning into those rhythmsinstead of fighting against them
, and really building yourschedule where possible to help
you ride the wave ofproductivity, instead of pushing
through when your energy dips,really a great way to go.
This makes me think of when Iused to run marathons.
There were kind of twodifferent methods for running
marathons, and one was that youjust continue to run the whole

(05:04):
entire time, and then anotherone was you run for 10 minutes
and then you walk for one minute, and I chose the first one of.
Of course, that's exactly who Iwas at the time that I believed
I couldn't stop.
I was trying to get to the endof the marathon.
Why would I ever walk unless Iabsolutely needed to walk
because I couldn't go on anyfurther.
But guess what?

(05:25):
The people who did the 10minute run with the one minute
walk got faster times than mewho ran the entire time.
I think it's even though we'renot talking about marathon
running here.
The concept is the same If youfocus and you really go hard on
something, you can take a fiveminute break and then you have
more energy instead of lessenergy than you would have had

(05:46):
before.
So here are a couple schedulingtips that I have for you to
take this little me time break.
I'm going to share with you acouple things that I do every
day and see if you can get anyideas from these and apply them
for your day.
So the first thing that I do isI schedule my time in just hour
blocks, but I try to use 50minutes of that for work and 10

(06:10):
minutes of that for just alittle brief break.
So, for example, if you've everbeen my client, you know that
your appointment with me for anine o'clock coaching session
goes from nine to 950, not fromnine to 10.
And at 9.50, the session isover and I have 10 minutes
between that and my next session.
And if you're my client andyou're at work too, you have 10

(06:31):
minutes before you have to jumpback into your next call.
During that time it's reallyuseful to me to take a few
minutes, refill my water, get upand just walk around a little
bit.
If it's morning time, or evenafternoon, sometimes I'll grab a
coffee, I might do a littlestretching, I might listen to an
audiobook for a few minutes,but just something to reset my

(06:52):
brain.
Where in your work life can youdo that?
If you're in the type of jobwhich I used to be in, where my
day was just wall-to-wallmeetings one ended at four and
one started at four can you droptwo minutes early.
When you're in charge of themeeting, can you make the
meeting end at 55 instead ofright on the hour?
And if you have to really justhang up and dial back in, take

(07:16):
even 30 seconds.
Take a drink of water, take acouple deep breaths, roll your
head around a couple times andstretch your neck, stand up from
your desk for a second and thencall in instead of racing to
the next meeting.
So if you don't have the luxuryof taking a 10 minute break
every 50 minutes, like I do, seewhat you can do and build from
there In the afternoon.

(07:39):
This is my second tip.
So for me in the afternoon,that's when I feel the biggest
slump, when I finish seeing mylast client in the afternoon.
I actually still do work afterthat, but I definitely need a
break.
So I build that break in and Idon't schedule anything else for
myself and after I've seen allof my clients, I'll take a 15 to
20 minute break.
Sometimes that might look likejust having a snack and not

(08:02):
having it at my desk, orsometimes even lunch, depending
on what time it is.
I always like to try to have mylunch in the kitchen and I sit
in the kitchen and I don't doanything work related.
I always make sure I drink afull glass of water.
I try to have a healthy meal.
Normally, I prep all my luncheson Sunday, so I'll eat whatever
I'm having for my lunch andmaybe I'm just looking out into

(08:23):
my backyard, maybe I'm listeningto an audio book or a podcast,
anything like that.
But I definitely plan a breakevery afternoon Then, when I'm
finished with my day and this issomething that I really
recommend that you do I end myday with a me time anchor, so I
pick one thing that I'm going todo to end the day.

(08:43):
That is something just for me.
I have a couple clients who gofor a walk.
This is especially powerful ifyou work from home.
I can't remember which one ofmy clients told me this, but
when they finish for the day,they just go walk around the
block one time and that meansI'm finished with my work and
I'm getting ready to get startedon the rest of my night.
Whatever that might look likefor you, you could journal.

(09:05):
Another one of my clients doesjournaling.
She does it at her desk at workbefore she leaves for the day.
You could read for 10 minutes,listen to an audio book for 10
minutes.
What I do almost every day is Imeditate.
So when I finish, I'mofficially finished with work
for the day and I'm not comingback I will go to my room and I
will meditate and then afterthat I have so much more energy

(09:26):
to make dinner, take my kidswherever they need to go.
You know, be a nice person forthe rest of the night.
So, in summary, we talked aboutwhy breaks are good, honoring
your body's energy cycles andthen scheduling in that me time.
So the three times that Isuggested to think about doing
them are in between meetings canyou get a little break in there

(09:48):
.
And then is there a time in theafternoon or whatever time
feels like you have the biggestdip in energy, where you can
take a 15-20 minute break andeat your lunch You're probably
gonna have to put that on yourcalendar and block it on your
calendar or go outside or take aquick walk.
And then how can you end yourworkday?
With an anchor a me time anchorto say, okay, I'm finished with

(10:11):
work, I'm going to do somethingI enjoy and then I'm going to
move on to the rest of my night.
That is it for today.
My challenge for you is to justtry one of these strategies this
week.
Let me know how it goes.
You deserve the break and alsoit's better for your
productivity.
You can't lose.
Don't forget to get on the listfor group coaching.

(10:32):
If you're interested, get onthe wait list right now and you
will be hearing from me verysoon.
Have a great week.
Thank you for listening to theOverwhelmed Working Woman
podcast.
If you want to learn more aboutmy work, head over to my
website at michellegauthier.
com.
See you next week.