#204| Could Your Workspace Be Causing Your Overwhelm? Here’s How to Know (& How to Fix It): Overwhelm, Productivity, Time Management & People Pleasing

Is your workspace quietly adding to your overwhelm without you even realizing it?

In a world where we work from dining tables, couches, bedrooms, or crowded offices, the lack of boundaries around where and how we work has become a major—and often overlooked—source of stress. This episode helps you understand why your environment may be working against you and how a few simple questions can dramatically reduce your overwhelm.

Listeners will discover:
 • The real reasons your physical workspace can trigger mental chaos, even if you feel “used to it.”
 • Three powerful questions that instantly reveal what’s stressing you out about where you work.
 • Small but high-impact shifts you can make today to create a calmer, more supportive workspace.

Press play now to uncover the simple workspace tweaks that can instantly reduce stress and make your workday feel lighter and more manageable.

Featured on the podcast
Michelle's Declutter Challenge

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.

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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):
In this day and age where we're just working
wherever we are, we don't takeour workspace into
consideration, which can causesome additional unnecessary
stress.
You're listening to OverwhelmedWorking Woman, the podcast that
helps you be more calm and moreproductive by doing less.

(00:22):
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.
And in each episode, you'll geta strategy to bring more calm,
ease, and relaxation to yourlife.
Hi, friend.

(00:42):
Thanks for joining today.
Oh my gosh, my office isdriving me crazy right now.
So this is a self-servingepisode.
So hopefully it's helping youand it's helping me at the same
time.
What we're thinking about todayis if your workspace is one of
the causes of your overwhelm andwhat to do about it.
If so, when you listen today,you're going to learn why your

(01:03):
space might be feeling youroverwhelm, even if you hadn't
consciously realized it.
And I'm going to give you threepowerful questions that will
help you define your workspace.
A lot of times, especially inthis day and age where we're
just working wherever we are, wedon't take our workspace into
consideration, which can causesome additional unnecessary
stress.

(01:23):
So by the end of this episode,you will have a list of a couple
small shifts that you can maketo help your workspace work for
you instead of against you.
And hopefully by the end ofthis episode, I will be so
motivated by what I'm sayingthat I am going to go and get my
office back into its best shapeas well.

(01:44):
If you think about the conceptof the office and where you're
working today versus where youwould have been working like 10
or 15 years ago, it's reallyinteresting to think about how
flexible our workspaces havebecome, which is wonderful in so
many ways, but also can be sodraining that the idea that we

(02:06):
can actually work almostanywhere is not necessarily
good.
Sometimes we really need someboundaries around us.
And in this day and age whereyou might have an office with a
door in a building that is notyour home, that is probably less
people than people who have aflexible workspace with a

(02:27):
cubicle, or people who areworking from a coffee shop, or
people who work from home attheir own dining room table.
So the concept of what aworkspace is has really changed
and will continue to change.
But today we're just going tolook at these three questions
that will help you define whereyou work and reduce your stress
and overwhelm because you knowthe answers to these.

(02:50):
So number one is what is thisspace actually used for?
So if I think about my officein my home, I feel like I have a
good setup.
It is dedicated as my office,it has doors, but also I have a
swing that hangs from theceiling in here, and my kids
both love it.
And they come in here and theytalk to me.

(03:12):
So this is a space where I workand where I see clients.
This is a space that my kidscome into.
If one of them has homeworkthat they need help with, we do
it in here at night.
So it's not much of a familyspace, but it's sometimes a
family space.
And it is also the collector ofAmazon boxes sometimes.
I pay all the bills and do allof our house management stuff in

(03:34):
here.
So I have other things likethat in here.
If you think about yoursituation, your workspace might
be the dining room table.
So that is also for meals andhomework and your Zoom calls, or
you might work in an office ina cubicle with no walls, or you
might work in an office wherewhen you get to the office for
the day, you just choose whereyou're going to sit for the day.

(03:56):
So you don't have like acomplete setup.
You might be a person who workson the couch.
Maybe your office is your guestroom, and you also fold laundry
in there.
Maybe you work sitting up inyour bed, but you really kind of
hate that because it makes youfeel a little bit unmotivated
and it's your bedroom and yourplace of rest and then also your

(04:18):
place of work.
Once you define what the spaceis actually for, it's helpful
for you to just be aware of thatand to know, okay, this is my
office, but sometimes it's alsoour dining room table.
So, question number two is whenshould I be here?
Ask yourself, when do I wantthis space to be used for work?

(04:38):
If I think about my office, Ikeep very specific hours.
So I really rarely work beforeeight or nine, and I really
don't work much past fouro'clock in the afternoon.
But I try to do all my work inmy office.
I used to like take my laptopplaces or I'd bring it out in
the kitchen or whatever, and itwas not good for my brain.

(05:00):
So I know that when I'm inhere, I'm working.
I do not come into my officejust to hang around or if I'm
gonna like sit down and read,I'm not gonna come into my
office, even though I reallylike the room, but I definitely
feel like I should be here whenI'm working, and that's it.
And I think if you're thinkingabout this and you have a

(05:21):
multi-use room, for example,maybe you're working from your
bedroom and you have a desk inyour bedroom, and you can just
say to yourself, from you know,eight to five, this is my work
zone.
And after that, this room goesback into being my bedroom.
When I used to have an officein my bedroom, I would shut off
my computer and like turn offall the lights in the work area.

(05:44):
So, how can you use the hoursthat you're working or some kind
of signal to define, okay, thiswas my office, but now it's
going back to the dining room orthe bedroom or whatever it is.
I had a podcast guest a whileback and I thought she had a
great idea, which was she foundherself kind of scrolling and
getting distracted during theday in her office.

(06:05):
So she just made a rule that ifshe was going to scroll or do
anything that wasn't workrelated, that she would exit her
office to do so.
So she would go sit on hercouch, and it was just an
indicator to her body, like,okay, now we're taking a break
from work because we're notsitting at our desk anymore.
Then the third and finalquestion to ask yourself about
your workspace is what's inversus out of my control?

(06:28):
Because sometimes there arethings that are in our control
that we don't take action onwhen we could.
So if your workspace is at yourdining room table, and because
of the way that your house isand the amount of space that you
have, that is your only option.
What's out of your control isthat it's also used for family

(06:49):
dinners.
What can be out of your controlis the noise level.
So if you and a partner areboth working from home, you
might be able to hear thatperson on their Zoom calls.
I've always worked from homesince I've had kids.
And when they were little, Ihad a nanny, but I could still
hear them sometimes yelling inthe other room.
So sometimes you can't controlthe noise level.

(07:10):
If you're working in acorporate office, you can't
control the temperature or theugly overhead lighting or the
fact that you sit next to thebathroom or whatever it is.
So knowing what's out of yourcontrol can be helpful just to
remind yourself, okay, that'sout of my control, but what is
in my control?
So some of the things that arein your control are like

(07:32):
clearing that pile of clutterfrom the surface in front of you
or bringing in something thatmakes you feel good, a little
plant or a candle or a playlist.
If you're working in one ofthose places where you get to
work every day and then you justchoose a cubicle and you sit in
it, you can't really make ittoo personalized.
But in your laptop bag, can youcarry a couple things that feel

(07:53):
like yours?
Can you bring your favoritecoffee mug?
You can always bring a playlistwith you.
You can bring your ownheadphones.
Depending on the ages of theother people in your house, you
can make boundaries or rules.
Like mine is if my office doorsare closed, don't come in.
But if I'm just working and I'mnot seeing a client or
recording a podcast or anythingand my kids are home, I crack

(08:15):
the door so that they know theycan come in and talk to me if
they want to talk to me.
That's totally in my control.
I think with little kids, Ireally couldn't do that.
It was just during the workday,I never left my office.
Luckily, I had a bathroomconnected, but I never left my
office.
I would just run to thebathroom and back, and then I
would text my nanny, hey, I'mcoming out for lunch, and I
would go make my lunch and thengo right back into my office.

(08:38):
So just remember what's in yourcontrol and what's out of your
control.
And as a side note, we'retalking about asking yourself,
what is this space actually usedfor?
When should I be here?
And what's in versus out of mycontrol?
One of the things I mentionedthat is in your control is
clearing the clutter from youroffice, which we know can be

(08:59):
really distracting.
If you'd like to do somedecluttering in your office,
just a quick decluttering.
I've got tons of episodes onhow to declutter.
If you start around episode178, there's a whole declutter
challenge.
This is a great exercise to gothrough now because there's
potential that during theholidays you might have people

(09:20):
in your home if you work fromhome that you don't normally
have at home during the day.
So this will be great practicefor you to ask yourself these
three questions and reduce yourstress and overwhelm when it
comes to your workspace, nomatter where it is.
Okay, I hope your workspace isbecoming more peaceful by the
moment.
Have a great week.

(09:40):
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.