#209| The Invisible Holiday Workload Is Exhausting—Here's What To Do About It: Overwhelm, Productivity, Time Management & People Pleasing

Have you ever collapsed into bed at the end of the day wondering why you’re so exhausted—before the holidays even arrive?

If the holidays feel overwhelming, it’s not because you’re doing something wrong—it’s because you’re carrying an enormous amount of invisible work. From tracking gifts and budgets to coordinating schedules and making everything feel “magical,” this episode speaks directly to the mental load working women quietly manage every holiday season.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why holiday stress feels so heavy even when “nothing big” is happening
• How to reduce mental overload without needing everything to be perfect
• Simple, realistic ways to make gift-giving and holidays easier on yourself

Press play to feel seen, validated, and supported—and walk away with practical ways to lighten your holiday mental load starting today.

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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):
95% of holiday magic is simply the
invisible workload of women.
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
Working Woman and current lifecoach.

(00:22):
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.
Everybody knows the end of theyear is usually a crazy time.
Whether you celebrateChristmas, Hanukkah, neither one

(00:45):
of those, at some pointthroughout the year, if it's not
right now, you probably stillhave birthdays or sometimes when
you are in charge of giftgiving.
And if I were to list out allthe things that the average
woman who does celebrateChristmas or Hanukkah does,
there's, you know, 78 differentthings that we do.
But if we just zoom in on giftgiving alone, just the

(01:07):
purchasing and the presenting ofgifts, it's wild how much
invisible workload we arecarrying, whether you're a mom
or not.
And the point of today'sepisode is just to talk about
this invisible workload that weare taking on at this time of
the year and to give you sometips on what to do about it and

(01:27):
how to possibly make it easierfor yourself.
Again, I'm just zooming in ongift giving, just one aspect of
this time of year that isusually crazy for women.
Here's what most women arejuggling just in the gift

department (01:40):
keeping the running list of who needs gifts.
Friends, family, coworkers,teachers, service workers,
neighbors, whoever that you aregetting a gift for, tracking the
important dates.
When are the gift exchanges?
When are the shippingdeadlines?
Are there secret Santas?
Are there school parties?
Are there travel?
Do we need to take gifts onthat travel?

(02:03):
Mentally juggling the budgetwhile trying not to spend like
your entire 401k savings on allof the gifts that you have to
purchase, finding time to shop.
I'm great at shopping online,but even that, I'll think at the
end of the day, sometimes, ohshoot, I didn't get to that.
I gotta lie in bed tonight anddo that.
Watching sales, rememberingcoupon codes or store policies,

(02:24):
buying something at Lululemon.
Love you, Lululemon, but yourreturn policy sucks.
So I know I have to buy it, andthen it has to be either
returned or exchanged within 14days if the person doesn't like
it.
Trying to keep it fair, likedid I spend equally on all the
kids or all my siblings?
Will my sister feel left out?
Whatever.
Keeping track of sizes and wishlists, coordinating gifts with

(02:48):
a partner or ex or extendedfamily.
In my case, I've got gifts forthe handsome man's friends,
kids.
I help my kids get somethingfor my ex-husband's fiance.
There's all kinds of crazycoordination in a divorced
family.
If you want to get everybodygifts, planning ahead so
nobody's forgotten orduplicated.
I'm always afraid that I'mgonna forget.
I'm sure I probably have.

(03:09):
And then there's thepresentation of the gifts, the
wrapping, the labeling, thehiding the gifts.
My kids are older now, so Ijust have them sitting in boxes
in my bedroom.
Like, don't look at them oryou're gonna wreck your own
Christmas, okay?
We're also carrying thepressure to get it right and
make it feel thoughtful andmagical and meaningful and
basically doing all this on ourown, because you know, if you

(03:29):
don't do it, it's probably notgonna get done.
And that's just the gift giving.
We haven't talked about likemeal planning or cards or
outfits or travel or hosting orschool concerts or work
deadlines or whatever.
So let's just pat ourselves onthe back for all of the things
that we are carrying and doing.
If you're like me and it getsto be about 7:30 at night and
you're really barely able tokeep your eyes open, this is

(03:52):
why.
It's wild the amount of thingsthat we have just running around
in our head that we'recarrying.
So I just want you to hear mesay, this is a lot.
You're doing a lot.
It's not your imagination.
You're basically like a projectmanager, event planner, gift
concierge, budget analyst,emotional support coach,
logistics coordinator, all whiletrying to smile and stay

(04:13):
present.
And nobody else sees that laboror acknowledges that labor, it
starts to feel like it doesn'tcount, but it does.
Even if you didn't finish thelist or you forgot something or
it wasn't perfect, you are doingan amazing job.
Here are a couple tips that Ihave to potentially help you and
make this easier.
This one might be painful foryou, but delegate imperfectly.

(04:35):
Ask your partner or your kidsto help, even if they don't do
it right.
Okay, this for me would be thegift wrapping.
I am very particular about giftwrapping.
I actually loved gift wrapping,but when I run out of time, it
really stresses me out.
And my handsome man friend isvery cute, but he is not a good
rapper.
So I have to be reallydesperate to ask him for help.

(04:56):
So be better than me.
Ask someone else to help youwrap the gifts or even just put
them in the boxes that you'regoing to wrap, or stop by and
pick something up, or get a giftcard somewhere, or whatever.
Another good tip is to buyduplicates on purpose.
So maybe there's a fun game.
I got a bunch of people thesame hoodie this year.

(05:17):
Just think about how you cansave time in your mind by
thinking of a cool idea andgiving that same good idea to
multiple people.
Okay, I was just about to wrapup this suggestion, but I just
remembered one random thing thatI used to do when my kids were
little that they absolutelyloved, and it was so easy for me
is Santa's gifts would be in aSanta sack, in this big, huge

(05:40):
sack, and it would be all theirgifts and none of them were
wrapped.
So we would just put everythingfrom Santa in this big Santa
sack.
And then they would reach inthere with their eyes closed one
at a time and get their giftsout.
So if you want to not wrap asmany presents and you have
little kids who believe inSanta, there you go.
Try that one.
That one was amazing for yearsand years.
And the last thing to do is patyourself on the back.

(06:01):
If nobody else tells you, I'mtelling you today, you're doing
a great job, pat yourself on theback.
You got this, not too muchlonger, and we will be all the
way to the new year.
Yay!Which reminds me, on January
6th, I am teaching my annualclass that is called Your Best
Year, and it is a planningworkshop.

(06:22):
I give the best tips on how tocreate goals for the year that
are actually doable, fit intoyour lifestyle, the type of life
that you're trying to createfor yourself.
It's a one-hour workshop, andyou will leave the workshop
understanding exactly what youneed to do to create your goals
to get what you want this year.
The class is $26.

(06:42):
It's a bargain, it's ano-brainer.
You get some pre-work videosfrom me and you get a workbook
so that you can do all of yourplanning for 2026.
I would love to see you there.
Thank you for listening to theOverwhelmed Working Woman

(07:03):
podcast.
If you want to learn more aboutmy work, head over to my
website at michellegauthier.com.
See you next week.