#171| Eliminate Daily Overwhelm by Embracing “Good Enough” - Here’s How: Overwhelm, Productivity, Time Management & People Pleasing

Do you feel like no matter how much you cross off your to-do list, you’re still exhausted and behind?

This episode dives into why perfectionism and “always doing your best” may actually be fueling your overwhelm. If you’ve ever felt like giving 100% to everything is the only way to succeed, this conversation will help you rethink what productivity really looks like.

In this episode, you will:

• Discover why aiming for “good enough” frees up time and energy without sacrificing results.
• Learn how to identify when a task deserves your A+ effort—and when B- is more than enough.
• Get practical examples of how to prioritize your work so you feel calmer, lighter, and more in control.

Press play now to learn how to finally escape daily overwhelm by embracing the surprising power of “good enough” work.

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.

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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 (00:00):
You know that feeling, when your to-do list
is overflowing and everythingfeels important, like if you
don't give 100% to all of it,something's going to fall apart.
You're listening to OverwhelmedWorking Woman, the podcast that
helps you be more calm and moreproductive by doing less.

(00:21):
I'm your host, MichelleGauthier, a former overwhelmed
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, thanks for joiningtoday.

(00:42):
Today, we're going to betalking about a great way to
eliminate daily overwhelm byembracing good enough or B minus
work, as I like to call it.
This is an approach that I takein my own life and something
that I teach all of my clientsand has helped all of us so much
, so I want to share it with youtoday.
If you're listening to thisshow, I imagine that you're

(01:04):
probably an overachiever wholikes to do your very best on
everything all the time Me toobut that's not realistic.
If you want to actually get alot of things done sometimes,
you have to choose good enoughover a plus.
When you listen to this episodetoday, you'll learn why
identifying what good enough orB-minus work is is powerful,

(01:26):
even if you still choose to goabove and beyond.
How doing A-plus workeverywhere drains your time and
your energy, and howprioritizing like ruthlessly
prioritizing where you want toput forth your best effort, is
the key to escaping this dailyoverwhelm that you're probably
used to but don't love.

(01:47):
Okay, so the first thing I wantto talk about is defining the
difference for things on yourtask list the difference between
if I do this to an A plus leveland a B minus level and
thinking about what good enoughwould be for a task.
And I'm not suggesting that youstart doing B work everywhere,
although you're welcome to givethat a whirl and see how that

(02:08):
works out for you.
It could be great.
But what I am saying is definewhat good enough even looks like
, even if you still go above andbeyond.
At least now it's a consciouschoice and not just
perfectionism running the showwithout you even thinking about
it.
Because when everything getsyour A plus effort, by default,
you end up burned out orfrustrated and resentful.

(02:29):
But when you define good enoughfor some things and then do
that and do A plus work for somethings, you can feel good, like
you're in control and you'rechoosing where to put your
energy because, as you know, ifyou're exhausted by the end of
the day, you know there's onlyso much energy that you have.
So let's just think throughsome examples.
What's the trade-off of doingA-plus work compared to B-minus

(02:53):
work?
I would say that doing A-pluswork often takes like twice the
time, maybe even more thanB-minus work does, but it only
delivers marginally betterresults, maybe 10% better at
that.
I'm making up these statisticsbut I think to illustrate the
point that I'm talking about,all of us have at one point or
another written an email anddone this A plus version, where

(03:17):
we do four different drafts andit's multiple paragraphs and we
make sure our phrasing isperfect and maybe even we ask
our best co-worker, bff, to takea look at it before we sent it.
And then the B minus version isjust clear, concise, done in
one try.
Let Outlook or whatever tellyou when you spelled something
wrong or grammatically donesomething incorrectly.

(03:38):
And if you think about how muchlonger that first one took you
let's say that took an hour or45 minutes versus the second one
, what two, three minutes atmost and how the receiver
received that email.
Personally, I always like ashort email better than a long
one, but does it make a hugedifference to the receiver when

(04:01):
you do A plus versus B minuswork?
So take a look at your to-dolist and things that you have on
your list and just ask yourselfwhat would it look like if I
did B work on this particularthing?
And am I open to that?
Do I want to?
Now?
Lots of times when I work withclients, the idea of B just

(04:22):
gives them a small heart attack.
So you could even start with Aif you want to, or B plus work,
if you want to.
Something I do every week ismeal planning.
A-plus version would be a fullmenu with new recipes and
spending an hour every nightcooking the meals and everybody
absolutely loves them, and Ipull my whole family about

(04:43):
what's everybody's favorite,whatever.
And then the B minus versionwould be like okay, we have
three go-to meals that we do.
We'll rotate those through,we'll have leftovers or ordered
pizza the rest of the nights.
Either way, everybody gets fed.
And I don't know about yourfamily.
Now, I don't have a husband, soit's just myself and the kids,
but they do not care.
They do not care when I spend aton of time and effort to make

(05:04):
food.
They do not care.
So why?
Why would I go to that A-plusversion?
I will say, though, this is agood example.
I think if I have mygirlfriends over for dinner
which I do maybe like once aquarter or something I will have
a few friends over for dinner.
I absolutely love to go a pluson that.
I love to find a new cocktailrecipe.

(05:26):
I love to make things that Iknow are different people's
favorites.
One of the things that I didlast time I had my friends over
is I made everybody a littleindividual flower arrangement in
a small vase that was by theirplace setting.
I make place cards.
I love this.
I go to full A plus because Iget so much joy out of it.
So when I know that I'm goingto do that on a Friday night or

(05:49):
a Saturday night, I think aboutit all week, I plan ahead for it
and I love giving A-plus effortto that.
I do not love giving A-pluseffort to meal planning for my
family.
I just want something likequick and healthy, like, hey,
here's a protein and a carb,maybe some veggies, here we go.
Think about like a work reportthat you have to do every week.
A-plus version would be like apolished deck with charts and

(06:11):
animations and so beautiful, andthe B minus version might be a
bulleted list with key pointsand maybe you put it in a slide
or maybe it's just in an email.
So the difference is one getsthe job done and the other goes
above and beyond getting the jobdone, but at what cost?
And the last point I want tomake, which ties into that, is
you can't choose to give that Aplus work to absolutely

(06:35):
everything or you will just loseyour mind.
So, just in the examples thatwe just talked about, imagine if
every email that you write, youdo four drafts and have perfect
phasing.
Every time that you plan a mealfor your family, it's got three
new recipes and it takes youlike an hour, and Every time you
do a simple report out at work,you're doing this full deck,

(06:55):
etc.
And you're taking so much time.
If you do everything to thatlevel and you may be a person
who's trying to do this now it'sjust impossible.
You're overwhelmed, you'reexhausted, you can't get things
done and then it really startsto take a toll on you.
So, in order to, in order to beable to do A plus work on the

(07:16):
things that really matter to youlike for me and my business, a
plus work goes into seeing myclients, goes into seeing my
clients spending time with thempreparing for their sessions,
being a great listener, learningnew coaching things, following
up with them, etc.
B minus work, my social media Idefinitely post stuff on social

(07:36):
media, but it is not a hugepriority.
So you have to prioritize inyour business, in your life with
your kids, in everything.
Where do I want to give the Aplus work and where can I do B
plus?
So my challenge for you is justto take a look at your to do
list for today and see what's onthere.
Take two minutes to glance atthat list and say what would the

(07:58):
difference be between doing Aplus and B minus work on this,
and which one do I want to do?
Maybe even write an A plus or aB minus, or an A or a B plus,
or whatever you want to writenext to the item, so that you
can gauge how much of yourenergy goes to that thing,
because good enough is powerful,good enough gets it done, and
when you stop trying to doeverything perfectly, you'll

(08:19):
have space to focus on stuffthat matters most, like making
special flower arrangements foryour friends when they come over
for dinner, or whatever it isthat floats your boat.
Okay, friends, if this episodefelt like I was talking directly
to you, I probably was.
This is the exact kind of workI do with my one-on-one coaching
clients just figuring out whatreally matters, setting

(08:40):
boundaries that actually stickand learning to live without
consistently feeling behind,which is the most amazing
feeling If you're ready to feelless overwhelmed and in charge
of your life again.
I've got the cure for you.
Just send me a message or clickin the link in the show notes
to learn more.
You'll be able to set up aconsultation call where you can

(09:00):
tell me all about what's goingon with you.
I can explain what it's like todo one-on-one coaching with me,
and then we'll see if it's agood fit.
That's it for this week.
I'll see you next week.
Thank you for listening to the.
Over working woman podcast.
If you want to learn more aboutmy work, head over to my

(09:21):
website at michellegauthier.
com.
See you next week.