Own Your Time Georgie Smith
I’m joined this week by Georgie Smith on Own Your Time.
Stop Pouring from an Empty Cup - Reclaiming Time, Energy & Identity in Midlife
Ever feel like you’ve been living on autopilot? Like time’s just... slipping through your fingers, and you’re always giving to everyone else but never really to yourself?
In this episode, I’m joined by Georgie Smith - a brilliant midlife coach and menopause practitioner who helps women navigate the big transitions of midlife with more ease, clarity and you at the centre. Georgie shares her own wake-up call moment (spoiler: it was a slooow burn, not a lightning bolt) and the gentle but powerful shifts that helped her move from emotional exhaustion to empowered clarity.
This one’s for anyone who’s felt stuck, burnt out or like you’ve lost touch with who you are. Especially if you’ve been running on fumes and putting everyone else first. We talk self-kindness, inner critics, taking the scary-but-tiny first step and why rest is productive.
We’re not here for hustle. We’re here for peace, presence and a life that feels like yours again.
Key takeaways from this episode:
Georgie’s story of burnout, perimenopause and rediscovering herself
What "midlife" really means (and why it's not about your age)
The time challenges her clients face and how she helps them get unstuck
How guilt, procrastination and emotional exhaustion mess with our time
The magic of mindfulness, body awareness and learning to be instead of do
Why values work is essential to reclaiming time and clarity
Tiny first steps you can take when you're stuck in the thick of it
Why hobbies and joy matter just as much as strategy and structure
Read the transcript:
Please note - this podcast episode was transcribed by an AI tool, there may be some typos or errors.
00:00 Welcome to Own Your Time, a podcast for small business owners. Get ready to harness your most precious asset, your time, with intention, enabling you to create a life that thrives in simplicity, ease and joy.
00:15 I'm your host Sarah Stewart, Glasgow-based time and project management expert. My approach combines the wisdom of traditional time management strategies with the transformative power of mindfulness.
00:28 And it's my commitment to help you get more time for the things that really matter. If you're ready to ditch the hustle culture and overwhelm and instead embrace peaceful productivity, you are in the right place.
00:41 Today I'm chatting with Georgie Smith, a midlife coach and menopause practitioner who helps women go through big life transitions like menopause or the empty nest and she helps them get their time, their energy and their identity back on track.
00:57 Georgie knows what it's like to be pulled in all directions. She spent years juggling four kids, a full-time job, caring responsibilities and has been to worked nights until she hit a point where she realised she had completely lost touch with herself and that wake up call led her to shift everything
01:16 and now she helps other women do the same. We're going to talk about how to stop pouring all your time into everyone else, how to reconnect with what you actually want, and how to build a life that finally fits who you are now, not who you used to be.
01:33 Let's get into it. Okay, amazing. Georgie, thank you so much for joining me today on my podcast. Thank you for having me.
01:46 I'm nice to be here with you. Where is it that you're calling in from? Living Staffordshire, uh, in the UK, um, so yeah, beautiful, beautiful Staffordshire, and it is Blue Sky's today, which is lovely, because it's been with Rainy yesterday, so yeah, just in the Midlands, but I work with women all over
02:03 the country, and I've even had, you know, clients in, in, in other countries as well, because most of the work that I do is, is online, unless what you request to meet in person, so yeah, nice.
02:14 Amazing, okay, and so, Tell me, let's, let's start by going into your story and tell me a little bit about what life looked like before you became a midlife coach.
02:26 And what was sort of the moment that you realised something needed to change? Did Plice look like tonight? Life for me has been, um, there's been ups and downs.
02:36 It's been quite traumatic a different time. There's been lots of experiences, lots of learnings, lots of different things going on, um, but got To a point where I was, it was, it was, it was a gradual thing.
02:50 So I did, it wasn't something that I realised was happening to me. It was like, I got into a gradual overwhelm.
02:57 There was a disquiet in my mind. I, um, I couldn't focus on anything. I couldn't read a book anymore because I couldn't focus.
03:04 I felt like I was on a roller coaster and I said so many times. I just want to get off and breathe for a little bit.
03:11 Everything was going through the motions and I was Emotionally exhausted from all of that. I didn't have one particular moment where I thought this can't carry on because I thought it was a me problem.
03:22 I thought it was me not managing. I thought things couldn't change. I just had to learn. I thought things had to change in that I had to learn how to manage life.
03:31 Except everyone was out and was doing it. You look around, don't you? And you see everyone else coping, um, and I didn't feel like I was.
03:38 And that I put it down to stop with because the worst of the time came through COVID. Obviously, that was weird for everybody, so I thought it was bit of that.
03:47 Looking back, it was a starter perimenopause for me, but I didn't have a clue, I'd got no idea what that was.
03:53 So it was, it was more like a gradual realization, because I've, I fall in, but I fell into some sort of coaching, I fell into some business coaching, and they were asking questions and probing me.
04:05 And I sort of, a little bit of a, a light started to appear. And that was when I thought things could be different.
04:11 I, I could change. By looking at things internally. So there wasn't one grand moment, sadly. It was sort of a slow realization that actually it might not be me.
04:20 It might be external things as well. Interesting. And there, so I guess there was a sense then that like wake up call, and we talk about midlife and you're a midlife coach.
04:35 Like, how do you define midlife? Like, what does that mean to you? I've been asked this and I must write about it because you're absolutely right.
04:44 It's what is midlife. And to me, there's no age because we can't possibly know that until the very end. Who knows what our midlife is.
04:51 But to me, it's that time. We spend our 20s and maybe early 30s just discovering what the world is for us and who we are.
04:59 At those early stages, don't we? We have a little bit of time where we think, oh, yeah, we're rubbing along with this.
05:03 This is okay. I've sorted myself out. And everything starts certainly for me and for a lot of the women that I speak to, things start.
05:10 To change again, where we question what we knew. Are our values still the same? Everything doesn't feel quite right again and I don't know the existential crisis is the right word.
05:21 That must be a bit dramatic, but we're changing and we're evolving and things that we've learned about ourselves previously in our 20s and 30s just don't sit quite the same anymore.
05:31 They don't sit quite right. Our life is moving on. It may be the kids are leaving home. Obviously, but women are hormone to changing and things are going a bit differently.
05:40 And it's that time, and whether that, and that can be from early 30s, I'm not, I don't like to put a number on it because it can be different for everybody.
05:47 A pair of men of course can start all sorts of different ages, but I'm thinking that's sort of, although it is a upwards really, where you're just starting to question things that you thought you'd got sustained out in your life, and they're just not sitting quite right anymore.
06:00 You're not rubbing along anymore. It's, it's feeling a little bit uncomfortable, then you don't know why. Yeah, yeah, so that, that's all to time.
06:08 Yeah, for me, it was just to seeing that I wasn't comfortable in myself anymore. I couldn't work out why. Interesting.
06:17 I mean, I can certainly relate to that. Um, although, they're probably, it was probably a lot more obvious to me why.
06:27 And like my, so my marriage broke down when I was, um, 29. So I started, um, life as a 30 year old.
06:37 With two children under three as a single parent. Um, so that was sort of a, you know, a big, um, transition for me.
06:49 And actually I turned to coach at that point as well. Um, so I've, I've always sort of had coaches throughout my adult years.
06:59 Um, and it's definitely something that I turn to. So I think like, you know, what you're doing is really valuable work.
07:05 Um, and I, although the coach I had, um, I don't know, highly would have what sort of type of coach they would have to find themselves as, but it was probably very similar to the work that you do, Georgie.
07:17 Um, yeah, interesting. Oh, the last coaching guest, and that's what I do, basically, it's life coaching, but I'm sort of directing, clearly, we can go through, like you say, we can go through those transitions at any time, and I'm here to support anyone go through the transition.
07:34 Because feel the process is the same sort of thing just coming to terms with who we are now. Um, I turned to midlife coach because I wanted to become the coach that I needed at that point in my life.
07:46 Um, I've got a lot, I've been, I too had a marriage break down so I get entirely, it's like, well, what, what is all this about now?
07:53 So I get all of that. So I've had those experiences. But this is, this is the culmination of all those experiences.
08:00 My time here and I just feel I've got so much to be able to help women with. That that point in their lives.
08:05 Yeah. Oh, I love that. And I think also, although you and I, you know, we mark ourselves very differently, what what you do is also helping women with their time and their energy as well.
08:21 So there's like, there are definitely similarities there. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And so there. With the people that you work with, sort of that feeling of being on autopilot, like we're, you know, we're busy, we're doing, we're striving, rather than actually being, like how, how's that sort of shaped
08:47 your approach when we then start to think through a lens of like time and energy management? Yeah, that autopilot going through his emotions and saying, oh, this is it.
08:56 I'm just going through the same thing day in day out. And that's absolutely where I was. And I, I got, my world was getting smaller and smaller because I was intellectualizing everything.
09:05 I wasn't ceiling. And I, I was my head. This sounds really, I know, this sounds really bizarre thing to say.
09:12 But me, I was just, I'm just this thing in my head is how I thought. I was just, my knee could have been attached to any body.
09:19 I didn't live in my body. I didn't see all my feelings. And I know that sounds really weird and I don't have last to explain it, but it just made my world smaller and smaller.
09:27 Um, and I wasn't experiencing time, I wasn't feeling, I wasn't being, I was just doing all of the time and going through those motions.
09:36 So I think everybody else thinking this is great and really productive because we all get into that busy comparison game.
09:42 Don't we? Well, I'm busy. I'm really busy. So I must be, I must be, um, successful because I'm really busy.
09:49 And once I'd started looking at gratitude and mindfulness and meditation, things that I would never have thought of thinking about in my earlier years and I thought they were far too way out for me, um, and I opened my eyes and caught two different things and experiencing mindfulness, bringing myself
10:09 back into my body. Enabling me to slow down my mind and slow down my thoughts so that I could then experience the time that I was going through, and it seems really counter-intuitive, doesn't it?
10:21 Because if you slow down, you think you're going to get less thought. But actually when you can slow down your mind, you can slow down those racing thoughts, just being your body and living it a little bit.
10:30 One, you achieve more because, um, less haste, more speed. Um, but you, you experience those things and you feel them, so you enjoy that time for more as well.
10:42 And it's just, yeah, gratitude and mindfulness definitely life changing for me. And that's, that's what I want, and that's what I try to bring for the women I work with as well.
10:52 Amazing. Oh, I love this is all the sort of stuff that I love to explore. Yeah. Yeah. And so in terms of like The time challenges, so we've spoken about, like, being on autopilot and sort of, you know, I guess that sense of time slipping through your fingers.
11:13 What other time challenges do you experience with your clients that are going through these big transitions? Yeah, there's three off the top of my head.
11:26 The first one is They're time challenged because of the guilt they feel. So they feel challenged in their own time because they feel a guilt at doing anything so themselves, they feel a guilt if they're not doing something for somebody else.
11:38 Then there's procrastination that they come across because they don't know where to get started with doing anything. If they do feel they can do something for themselves, they don't know where to get started because it's been years since they've thought about what they've enjoyed, what they enjoy doing
11:53 , what fills their cup. And I know that's used a lot of the minute, but it's used for a reason. There's been years since they've worked out what lights them up, what gives them energy.
12:01 They've got no idea where to start, so they just don't bother. And then the third and the really important one is that emotional capacity.
12:07 They're emotionally exhausted. They've been giving, giving, giving and never done the things to fill themselves up again. And they feel emotionally exhausted and they'll probably tell themselves that they're lazy and they're absolutely not.
12:19 They've just got nothing left in the time to give. Um, so yeah, threefold there and it's just Ben just becomes a, they can't do it, and then they beat themselves up, and there's a whole internal narrative that goes on that.
12:34 Yeah, yeah, and it's a lot, you know, and, um, yeah, really heavy. Like even just talking about that. Like, I can really back to like the me of all.
12:47 Yeah, it does, isn't it? Yeah, it does. And it feels so. It doesn't sit right to start with, to be doing something to yourself.
12:56 I've worked with so many women who says, I haven't got time to do that for me. I need to be there for the kids.
13:01 And so I always start with, well, can you do this for your kids? And they're a bit more willing then if you just go and have half an hour for yourself.
13:10 And no, it seems wrong that for your kids, and they'll always come back and say, the energy I had when I come back, I was, you know, it was so much better with the kids.
13:16 It was so much more fun. And they feel it had more time with the kids and the kids have gotten a better version of them.
13:22 And then they can do a little bit more, a little bit more. And actually, it's not the counter attitude. It's not taking time away from anyone else by doing something for yourself.
13:30 It's actually enabling you to be able to do more for them. I mean, I hope in the end, I do it for themselves as well, but it's always sort of, can you do this for yourself for someone else?
13:39 Yeah. What a powerful reframe just to get that maybe even that first instance of taking time for yourself because you're right.
13:50 Once you've done it once. It does then become easier, because I think you can see the impact of it. Um, I'm just turning my chair around to get my dog onto my knee, because she puts me in me.
14:03 To get my face here, here she is. My dog's put to put to put to put put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to to put to put put to put to put to She happens to not be at school today and she's here and I said to her, could you please
14:23 mind the dog so that I can have some peace to just record this podcast. And the next thing the dog's like scratching at the door and whiling at my feet.
14:32 And so now we've been joined by, joined by Evie. Um, oh, Evie. So Evie. Um, but yeah, it's that is a really powerful reframe and I think the Yeah, once you've done it once and taken that time, like I now don't feel guilty at all when I take time for me.
14:53 And I know just how much it's needed. And I think also, I mean, I think historically, I would have done anything for my kids.
15:04 It is definitely getting easier now they're getting a little bit older. And I can sort of say to them, you know, maybe my daughter's like asking me for something.
15:14 But she's like, had my attention all day and then I just actually need a bit of time for me. I can say to her, well, could you just leave me for half an hour?
15:23 I need to sit here with my cup of tea and read my book and I, I need just some time and she gets that and and and I think historically I probably would have felt really guilty asking for that or even asking for other people's help to like Babies sit to allow me to have time for myself.
15:42 I would have felt so guilty, whereas I really don't anymore. And it's the learning, isn't it? It's, it's the learning that you see what, what comes from doing that, what you can then give to them.
15:55 And did you know that actually they're all right? And it's okay for them to be sat without you for a length of, you know, a length of time.
16:03 And it's all okay, but It's scary to do these things as there's a fear there is and they're in a guilt because we're led to believe that we should be doing everything for everybody and it's it's hard to fall out of what those expectations are put on us and those shorts.
16:17 Yeah, um, hey, we're short. Those things that we take on that we think is expected of us and if we're going to be a good one, we're all things to all people and then we feel like we're failing if we're not, again, another word I don't like, but that's that's all those feelings and just to take that be
16:30 the time to start with and to see that it's okay, pay and a little bit. In fact, it's more than okay.
16:35 It's essential, and it's really good for everyone all round if we do that. But it's taking that first step. Start with the scary.
16:43 Yeah. Yeah. And that's why, I guess having a coach can be really helpful to sort of hold your hand and be there as you take that first step.
16:56 Absolutely. I hope that's what I bring to the women that I'm with is not about the things that I Say to them, because all the answers are there, so then it's for me to help them find the answers in their heads, but the thing that I want to bring them to them the most is that base and that hug and that
17:13 arm around them while I bring, well, I don't bring them while they take those steps forward, you know, just like say holding their hands and making them feel comfortable doing that.
17:21 Also a little bit of accountability because it's really easy to say to ourselves, I'm going to do that and then never actually do it because life lives.
17:30 Um, and then we shoot back down to the bottom of the pile again, but having a check in with me regularly is just, I've got to do it because I promised Georgia that I'd do it.
17:38 So I use that people pleasing thing, which we try and work on later on, but start with, I use that people pleasing thing to say, come on, you promise me you'll do it.
17:45 And, and then they do it, they take that first scary step. And it's like, oh, this is fabulous. It's just like a different person.
17:51 You know, and it's just the lookliest thing to see. So one of the things I do When I'm, when I'm sort of taking time for myself, again, it's a bit like the, there's the people pleasing, so like I would make an appointment to see a friend, and I wouldn't let a friend down, you know, if I was like, making
18:12 someone for coffee or whatever. And then the other element is I book myself in. So I would, like, one of my favorite ways of showing myself some love if, you know, if I can afford to, is to take myself off for a massage or a facial.
18:29 And so by pre-booking in and, like, blocking that time in the calendar, and then I've paid for it, and I think, because I've then paid for it, I'm definitely gonna go.
18:40 Whereas if I had just, like, blocked time in my calendar to go for the walk. On my own, you know, with no accountability from anyone else and no sort of skin in the game.
18:52 That's the type of thing that I could very easily push down and take off the calendar and put in, you know, work for something else instead.
19:02 Yeah, exactly that is really easy to let those sort of things slip, isn't it? Um, but so yes, the accountability was someone else meeting somebody like, say, having paid for it.
19:10 All of those things where you've made that some commitment and it's more painful to not do it than to To, you know, more people, yeah, not to do it, um, than to do it and push yourself through, push yourself through that, but taking those steps in the first place can be quite a, quite a big thing, can't
19:29 it? Yeah, yeah, it can. And, you know, if I reflect back, you know, some of the things that my coach was having me do when I was going through a big transition, like I look back and it was this, The simplest thing, like to say to now, the things that she was like encouraging me to do were like so simple
19:52 and straightforward, and yet at that time they were such big things to me, and it was like really pushing my comfort zone, whereas now I take it in my stride.
20:05 But that's it though, isn't it? It's pushing that comfort zone, taking those steps that, and they have to be steps that are manageable to you the time.
20:14 I mean, if it seems, it's fabulous to have those great, big, audacious goals, but you need to really break them down into steps that are you going to actually achieve?
20:24 And also remembering that courage becomes, becomes, comes before confidence. Yes. So making a step that will fit in with your life, that It feels, it might feel a bit scary, but you know what?
20:40 I'm brave enough I can do this and doing that and then you get a little bit courage. I did that.
20:43 That's fabulous. And celebrating those things that you do is so important as far as really sending the strong message to our brains to celebrate everything.
20:51 And then you brave it to take a little bigger step the next time. And then you look back and suddenly it's like, I'm so so much further forward than I ever thought I'd be.
21:00 I never thought about to do those things, but you get the confidence from doing that. I think it's really important to remember.
21:05 Because we always say, well, we're not confident enough. When the time's right, it's never going to be. It's, that's, it's a decision we have to make.
21:12 It is, is this what we want? You know, and if it is, we're, you know, it's only going to happen by taking those steps.
21:18 Yeah, I love that. Um, they're talking about sort of steps. Like, what are some, maybe other shifts that we've Not talked about that, like, women could take when they are feeling, like, lost in that busyness of life.
21:37 The, the, it's not the easiest one because it's quite hard to do, but the one we can do immediately and it costs us nothing.
21:46 If they're in an narrative, I believe, I think a lot of it got to start from the stories that we tell ourselves.
21:53 So many women, well, in fact all the women that will come to me will have this inner narrative of putting them down, thousands down.
22:00 I'm an idiot. Why am I, why can't I cope with work? Why am I not managing it whenever one houses managing it?
22:05 Why can't I do that? And we will berate ourselves a room and eight in our heads, constantly adding to the noise and the overwhelm that is in our head.
22:13 So if we can first start with just trying to be a little bit kinder to ourselves in our minds. When we hear that voice in our head, it's trying to protect us, so we can say, you know, I understand why I'm thinking that, I'm scared, I'm nervous, but I'm okay, I'm safe.
22:30 I'm learning to do this, and I know it seems really cheesy, it's going from, I can't do that to, I'm learning to do this, but it makes the biggest of differences when we're not putting ourselves down all of the time.
22:41 I'd also encourage everybody to just take some time to sit down and have a, it's, it's mindful of us, basically, but just At some point each day you can just sit down and have a cup of tea with ourselves and have a bit of silence and just feel and be again.
22:58 I think there's a really great first steps to do really easily for ourselves before going on to bigger things. Um, and I say easy just adding because they take not much time commitment and they don't take away from anyone that you feel you should be near.
23:13 Um, not necessarily easy. To learn, to do, like, to say the inner narratives could be quite a hard thing to get over, but just so important, because our voice is the one that we hear the most, and if we're telling our sounds off all of the time, that's what our brain believes.
23:28 I know it, it seems an nonsense, but that's what our brain believes, so it will always put you down as you'll always stop you trying to do the things.
23:34 If you're telling yourself I can do it, then if you start imagining the things that you want to do, and that you can do it, you're going to learn to do it, so much easier to then take those steps.
23:44 So powerful. Yeah. And the, it's the inner, inner critic and the inner voice and things that, that's something that I work on with my clients as well, like through the lens of time, because if we keep telling ourselves we have no time, that's then what we, what we see in that's like the reality that
24:07 we then sort of create for ourselves. Yeah, interesting. I say to, I'm too busy, you know, I'm busy all the time, I'm rushing around, well, because then your mind's going to start rushing around and doing those things, isn't it?
24:22 Language, that's not a priority for me right at the moment and, you know, working like that because yeah, we're telling ourselves these things, it's what we believe and it becomes, it becomes the story then, doesn't it?
24:32 Yeah. Right at the start, you mentioned values and sort of being in alignment with your values. I'd quite like to explore that just a little bit more.
24:43 In that, it's interesting because I, even though I've worked with coaches on and off for a while, it wasn't until a more recent coach that I actually became aware of, like, values being a thing and, and, and then, and then exploring what my values were.
25:06 So, Is that, like, one of the first things that you do with clients that you would sort of start to explore, like, yes, we've got the inner narrative, but is the values piece, like, quite an important aspect of your work?
25:20 Hugely, massively important. Probably the second thing I do, because the first thing is we look through the balance of the life, because they know something's off, but they can't see where.
25:29 So we look at the balance, where you're giving, where you receive, where you're filling your cup up. What's important to your life in your life and and how those things going to the next age is what are your values and it's quite a bit of time on that to work out what their values are, what resonates
25:46 with them when we work through a values list, um, why those values are important because that's really important as well because it's really easy to say, fairness is my value.
25:56 But yes, but why? And we don't often ask the why question in coaching, but there is a time, and that's one of them, because we really want to dig into the deepest possible bit of why, because it's so important to know your values, because that makes up who you are at your core, I believe, and when you
26:14 have decisions to make in life that can be hard once, because your head's saying one thing, your heart's saying another, you've got to save something different, and you've got to make a decision, you can look back at your values and use them at the best as a compass.
26:26 And if you can remember why something is important to you, it helps you keep that decision even if it feels hard in your heart, or it feels hard in your head.
26:36 If you can come back to knowing your values or your why on everything, I think. And if you can come back to that all of the time, if you've got that there, then you've got a way to move forward, because we can't move forward in our coaching sessions together, if we don't know who you are at your core
26:55 . And you know you might want to be achieving something chaos. But if that's something chaos that you think you want to achieve, doesn't actually align with the values that you've got within you already.
27:05 You're never going to be happy when you get there because it might sound all fancy and lossfully. It might sound like the thing that you've been affected to be all your life and you've taken that on board and now you think that's what you want to be.
27:14 Actually, it doesn't resonate with who you are. You're going to get there and it's going to be miserable because it doesn't align with who you are.
27:21 So that, you've got to have that, that's the foundation. I think it's also really important to come back to your values quite regularly, because we evolve all the time, and your values might change, since I started to be a coach, my values have probably changed three times, because I'm learning more
27:36 and more about me, and I'm just learning more about the world, and I'm thinking actually, yeah, I really resonate with that, and I want to bring that in.
27:45 So revisiting those is really important, and why aren't you doing it? Looking at them and taking it seriously, but knowing this doesn't have to be who you are forever.
27:54 It probably won't be who you are forever. So how does this work, how does this feel? And I'm all about the feelings.
28:01 So how, when you're making these decisions, what's the feeling going to be when you get there? Is that how you want to feel?
28:07 Is that, you know, is that the life that you want to feel? Yeah, the straight back to all those feelings again, like I say, coming out of intellect lies, intellect lies in everything and how does this feel to me as a person?
28:18 Yeah. So, so powerful. And it's the, so thinking about the, the feeling part, like, it's making me think about doing vision boards.
28:32 And when I first started sort of doing vision boards, again, that was something that I did with the coach where we were exploring values.
28:41 And, but I think what worked really well with it was that there was a feeling. Behind everything that I was putting on to my vision board.
28:52 And so, yes, everything was in alignment with my values, but I could really easily tap into that feeling behind all of the things.
29:06 And so it wasn't, you know, it wasn't about, you know, I think a lot of people, you know, maybe want the bigger house or they were, you know, and it's the things that they want with us.
29:16 Actually, it's that, that feeling base that you're, you're talking about there that I've, I have also found to be really impactful.
29:24 And I think that keeps you, when you can tap into that feeling, that keeps you motivated because it's always about coming back to, when things get hard, coming back to that Y, but if you can seal that Y, I think it keeps you going easier than, like say, intellectualising, wording things.
29:44 And those people who want the big things of the houses, they may get a feeling from that as well. But it's, it's obviously going to be a different feeling, but it's whatever resonates with you inside.
29:54 And I think that, yeah, like I say, I think that feeling keeps you, keeps you going, keeps you moving forward and brings it back home and, and motivates you.
30:02 Yeah, I love that. Are there, um, you talked earlier about habits and we talked about, um, gratitude and the mindfulness as well, um, and even just, I mean, there's so much alignment here between what you and I do.
30:22 Like, you were talking about sort of, you know, sitting and enjoying the cup of tea and like just having that moment.
30:28 I get my clients to do that as well and it's, and it's, I get them to be mindful when they make the cup of tea, so I find that a lot of people, you know, they'll get them mug out, they'll put the kettle on, and then they'll rush off and, like, go do something else before they then come back to them,
30:48 or the tea, and then they'll rush off and do something else and come back. So I try and just encourage single-tasking.
30:57 Be mindful, make the cup of tea, like, be present with all the senses as you're, as you're doing it. And then, yes, the, the, the, the, the sort of the step after that is to then enjoy the cup of tea whilst it's hot.
31:09 Um, but, but are there other sort of habits that, you know, pit, sort of people that you work with that you sort of encourage them to, to, to build upon?
31:21 I love that because we, so. ingrained in us, especially as women, that we can multitask, isn't it? It's just, there's the jokes everywhere that women can multitask and men can't.
31:32 And just because we can, doesn't mean we should. Um, it's hard to say about specific habits because it depends on where they're wanting to get to.
31:41 We, so I would work with a woman to look at where she wants to be. In her life, obviously, we'd start with where she is now and build on that, but when she's should got that base in there.
31:51 Well, what is the goal? What's the long-term goals, and we'd be looking at those sort of things. So then we'd be building habits that are the actions, actions that she needs to take to become whoever she wants to be.
32:02 I probably try to encourage her that she just wants to be her, but she wants to achieve something different. But those habits will really depend on who, who, Who she wants to become and what those steps are habits that we'll fit into her life now so that she's going to do them because there's no point
32:18 . It's not like resolutions. We're not making these big audacious things say that to me. Not long ago I found myself the right adult to run a marathon.
32:28 Yeah, that's that's not going to work for me. That's got to break that down. But why do I want to be?
32:32 Well, actually, I'd like to be healthier. Let's break that down again. This is where the why question's coming. What do I want from that?
32:37 Why do I want to be healthier? And break that down, so what's going to work for me? And actually, it breaks down.
32:42 For me at the moment, it's probably going to be going for a walk three times a day, which is far more achievable for me than, than say, all right, I'm going to run a marathon, so I'm going to start running 5K each day.
32:50 It's never going to happen. Is it I'm just going to let myself down? I'm going to feel bad about myself and I'm going to beat myself up again.
32:55 Fish a circle. Um, then it'll get into what I can't do. I'm rubbish, so I'll just not try on anything.
33:00 It's a really breaking down habit into what's going to be achievable for her in her life at that point and then build on it.
33:06 But absolutely habit of the mindfulness and slowing down and being within herself listening to her body, listening to what her body is saying, because her mind and body are talented things, even if she doesn't want to hear them.
33:21 The signals coming in there, so what's the body saying? That would probably be the baseline for those things. What, what are you feeling in your body right now?
33:29 And we might do some body scans, wicked some top of the head down to a toes, feeling where, feeling energy is comfortable.
33:36 Bingling or anything like that. Um, and just trying to see where where she's feeling things in her body and then if she's feeling stressed, well, how can we bring in some habits that will help that stress?
33:47 What will relieve that? Are we heard turning off the news at night? Is that too much for us at the minute?
33:52 Are we reading our book? Are we going for a walk? Just things to bring her back to herself, but individual habits quite hard to say without knowing what the goal is in the long term.
34:02 Interesting. Oh, that's really helpful though. Um, okay. Um, and, and I, I think I maybe know the answer to this, but I'm going to ask anyway.
34:15 So like, if, if there's someone that is in like the thick of it right now, they feel stuck, they, they maybe know that, that they can't go on as they are, but they, they're not quite sure where they should be starting.
34:29 Is there like a gentle first step that they can be taking? The gentle first step will be being kind to themselves and the language that they're speaking to themselves in.
34:43 That's probably the easiest thing that they can do, um, and just being get being kind to themselves. Then, and I can send this out to anyone if they want to drop me a DM, the way of life.
34:56 So we'd be looking at that. Where's the balance in your life? What are the important things in your life? These are just examples.
35:04 There'll be different for everybody. That's the mind. It'll be my family, my children, um, reading the work that I do.
35:12 A whole range of different things, sort of things like that. So, how, how do we feel they are, they're going at this moment?
35:19 So basically we're looking at the wheel of life. How is, how is the balance going? Where am I giving too much to, or not too much, where am I giving to?
35:28 Where am I getting back from? Am I, Balanced and giving the people myself that sorry giving them receiving enough I'd be journaling about that as well journaling was a great openness for me.
35:40 Pouring out on my thoughts was really cathartic and To be honest, I never look back at them again, so it doesn't need to make any sense I just pour everything out in my head.
35:48 You can look back at them if you want. Not something I tend to do. It doesn't need to make sense.
35:53 It doesn't need to look pretty. It doesn't need to be in a pretty notebook, although it can if you lose a notebook.
35:59 And poor nose thoughts out just to be kind to yourself. Sorry Sarah, I'm rumbling kid. No, it's perfect. And that does make perfect sense.
36:11 Yeah. That's where I start. I'd start with the being kind to themselves and looking at the way they're looking at where the balance is and looking at where they can find.
36:20 The things that are going to fill their cup up again so that they've got the energy to find them again.
36:25 And then they'll see the things that are out of line. They'll see that they're getting way too much to one area of their life.
36:31 Maybe they're giving way too much to their boss because they think they need to be all things to that, you know, to that boss, to that company.
36:37 And not having enough downtime, so that they've got no time for their family, so then they're feeling guilty for their family.
36:43 So it's just working out where that balance is and that's Reasonably easy to do on your own, we can do that on the wheel of life.
36:49 I'm like, that I'm quite happy to send a wheel. You can, you can honest, you can Google them, you can get them, but I'm quite happy to then one out to anybody, but that's, that's a great way to start to see, to see where, you know, where the balance is.
37:02 The next we'll be looking at your values. Yeah. And see what's important to you. And then looking at your life and thinking, well, actually, no wonder that doesn't feel good because my boss is always asking me to do those things and that just doesn't feel right to me because of, you know, the value that
37:16 I've got. Um, so that was the core areas. Yeah, interesting. The one, there was an article that I read really recently and I can't remember who wrote it.
37:29 I'll, I'll need to dig it out and I can put it in the show notes. But it was around the importance of hobbies.
37:36 And I think what I see a lot now, and it may just be, you know, how when you're online, there's obviously algorithms that are feeding what you see.
37:46 So it may just be my algorithms and what I'm seeing. But I do see, like most people now, it's less hot.
37:57 It's sort of like we're trying to monetize everything. So I think there are. We're doing things less often just for the pure enjoyment of it.
38:07 And more, it's like, well, how can I turn this into a business? And that's at least what I sort of see.
38:14 Um, but at the weekend, they are off the back of this article. And it was like, you know, the importance of hobbies and actually just sort of taking that time.
38:24 I did go, um, I converted my garage during Covid and turned into a space to work from home. Um, and I was also doing a lot of painting.
38:37 And what's interesting is that I had been, I was, I'd become a prolific painter. And I, I loved it. I then started to try and monetize it.
38:49 And so I started to then sell my art. And I was like promoting it here and there and, and, and so on.
38:56 Then quickly realised it was really hard to build a business. And I was trying to build my time management business as well as the art and couldn't do both.
39:06 And so I picked the time management and I was like, I'll put the art lovingly to the side. But I never kept up with it.
39:16 And I think it's because, you know, because I guess there was this part of me that was like, well, the fine, If I'm painting, but I'm not painting to sell it, then it's not productive, and like I'm air-quoting.
39:28 You know, and so I stopped playing, and I stopped painting, and I, you know, whereas the weekend, though, off the back of this article, I went and I just played.
39:39 There was no intention of trying to create a piece of art that I could sell. I was literally there showing up to play, and I really enjoyed it.
39:50 Love, love, love that. We do stop playing, don't we, when you're right, absolutely right, and, um, it could be the algorithm.
39:58 I see similar things. We do what everyone needs to have a side hustle at the moment, don't they? I do see that and it is a shame because it then becomes a pressure.
40:07 And how can we enjoy doing that thing when it becomes the pressure? And I love that you're painting because creativity helps our brain and our flow and our relaxation.
40:15 So, so much. It's so. Beneficial to have that creative outlet, whatever it is, it could be baking, it could be writing, um, and just because you might think, oh, I'm no good, I can't paint.
40:26 Of course, see, that's, that's a limited belief that we can have so often that these limiting beliefs that we stop ourselves doing things all I can't do that, because I would have said that to myself, I can't paint.
40:35 Well, of course, I can paint. It might not be Picasso, it might not be anywhere near, you know, something that you would want in a shop, but of course you can paint and just put in that.
40:44 That picture just creating something is just such a great flow to get into for our minds and to, to release and to feel things again.
40:53 So it is really sad that we're not, we're not playing anymore. We think it's for children, don't we? Don't be so childish.
40:58 We get told that as we grow, we're not. There is a childish, we, you know, don't do that. Don't be rolling down the hills.
41:03 I love rolling down the hills with my kids. Why can't I do that anymore? And of course I can do that now if I want.
41:08 I did it. Only a few months to get rolling down the hills. Just having fun and doing things that make us laugh.
41:14 Really important to have that. Born? Yeah, yeah. Again, silly in that heart, so just joy. Binding joy again in whatever that is and once I think once you monetize it, it starts to lose that because it becomes that pressure.
41:29 So we can do just the things just for the sake of it. Rest is productive and I would say do those things as a rest because even if you're not physically, you don't have to be sitting down, do nothing to be resting.
41:40 It's doing something different from the normal. Rest is productive because it enables us to do the rest of the things, the other things.
41:47 Yeah, we acted in it. There was, um, oh, something else just came to mind for me there was clean going out of my head.
41:57 Oh, that's so annoying. This happened to me the other day as well. I was in a work meeting and then thought of something and then I was, and then it, I totally lost my train of thought.
42:09 That's so bad. It depends to me all the time it's not bad. Human, I can't remember what I was saying.
42:16 Oh, that's what I was going to say. So, um, so I was thinking about values and fun being a value and yes, and I have been noticing like my whole life can be hard and like things do feel heavy and awful lot and I think I was recognising that I wasn't laughing as much and having as much fun.
42:38 And so I decided then actually, you know, fun should be a value and it can also be a business value, um, because our businesses don't have to be serious.
42:49 And I guess that's the joy of working for yourself as that you get to choose these things. Absolutely. And so the the other week I did like a mini rebrand of my email newsletter and it's the tiniest of shift.
43:04 I just changed like the name of it. And I changed some of the brand colors, but I made it more playful, I made it more me, and, um, I'm an X pharmacist, so that's sort of my story, and I've turned my newsletter, I've made it a time management dispensary, and I've started, like, I really love a good pun
43:25 , and so I've like been weaving in more puns into my writing, and, um, you know, and my welcome sequence now lets people pick their prescription.
43:35 And then they, like, go into, like, a tailored welcome sequence depending on what it is that they need at this time.
43:43 And just that little shift, that little change brought more joy for me. It, like, made it feel, like, more lighthearted.
43:53 And, like, I, I, I feel now when I'm sitting to write my newsletter, it's just, Yeah, it brings me more joy writing it when it's more in alignment with with what I'm after in the world.
44:07 You're just gonna say, I was gonna say just that, because I see your face lighting up as you're talking about doing it.
44:11 It's making you smiley and I'm thinking about it, isn't it? It's lovely. And I was gonna say, then you'll want to sit down and write it because it is fun to do, it's not a tool.
44:22 And that's who you are. So if we're doing things that are in alignment with who we are, All becomes so much easier and life is just less heavy, it's lighter, the weight's off our shoulders.
44:34 Obviously this could be a few things that we just have to grit out to you again. So if you can have more of these things that feel really good to do, we're human beings, we're not human doers, we're here to be, to live, to enjoy it.
44:48 And that's what I want for the midlife women that I work with to have this chapter in their life that's full of the things that they want.
44:57 To do full of the things that bring them joy that gives some excitement, because we're told as midlife women that, uh, go through a pair of men and pauses, Zarty almost expects to disappear.
45:08 And why? Why? We've got so much wisdom behind us. There's so much more left for us. Let's have this life been everything that we want it to be.
45:17 But to have that, we've got to know who we are and what we want. Not just what we think society's told us that we should want.
45:23 We should just sit away, you know. We're old now. It's rubbish. But amazing. Georgie, what a fantastic conversation. Thank you for coming to join me.
45:35 Um, are there any other things that you would like to share with us? And I would also love to hear, like, where the listeners can connect with you as well.
45:45 Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. I've had such a fun time. Um, I knew Tristan to you would be lovely because, like you say, there's so much connection there, isn't there with the work that we do?
45:54 Um, so I'm on all of the socials. Um, well, I say all of the socials actually. I'm on LinkedIn, I'm on Facebook and I'm on Instagram.
46:02 I am Georgie Smith. The business is called I am Georgie Smith because it took me a long time but I'm finally proud of who I am.
46:09 So I am Georgie Smith and that's what I want for the women I've worked with, that they're proud of to who they are and they stand up and be proud about that.
46:16 So I'm on all the socials. I am Georgie Smith. Um, I would love for anybody who's interested to know about this more so people are getting in touch with me and we can have a A reclaimed new call-fower session where we can look through the Wheel of Life and look through values together and I can point
46:31 people in the right direction. If that's something that resonated with them, if that's something they'd like to learn about themselves, more than happy to do that, or if there's some values that they want me to send out to them, a list of values, or a list, you know, the Wheel of Life, I'll send that
46:43 out if people just get in touch with us make. That's where I am at the moment. Amazing. Thank you so much, and that's so generous as well to offer that to the listeners.
46:53 I really, really do appreciate that, Georgie. Um, okay. Anything else that we haven't covered that you would like to share?
47:03 Um, what have you did ask me a while ago, what the mantra is that I use, and I would like to say this, because I think it's the thing that when I made up, um, comparison is the theme of you.
47:16 We all hear comparison is the theme of joy. People hear that a lot, and yeah, that's true. But comparison is the thesis you as well, because when we compare ourselves to other people, when we compare our journeys to other people's journeys, we dim ourselves, we make ourselves smaller, because we think
47:29 we should do what they're doing. And I'd like everyone to not do that, because the world needs you, it needs you as you are, it doesn't need, we're not a monolith, it doesn't need a lot of the same of the other people, it needs you, and I just like everybody to be really comfortable with who you is and
47:45 not compare themselves. I love that. I really do love that. Yeah, and that's a great sort of, yeah, little mantra to take away as we sort of come to close.
47:59 Yeah, amazing. Thank you so much, Georgie. I really, really do appreciate your time and you coming on to chat with me and I'm sure we'll connect again soon.
48:10 I really hope so. It's been lovely. Thank you. Thank you for joining me on another episode of Own Your Time.
48:19 If you enjoyed today's episode, please don't forget to subscribe, rate and leave a review. You can connect with me on social media for additional resources, community engagement and updates.
48:31 I was going to say you'll find me on Instagram, but I'm actually taking a sabbatical from Instagram at the moment, and so the best place to find me is LinkedIn, and I am I think my handle is Sarah Stewart Glasgow.
48:47 I will double check and put it in the show notes. Um, and then also hop into my newsletter if you haven't done so already.
48:54 So you can download my free time audit workbook on my website. It's www.sarasturet.co.uk forward slash time audit workbook.
49:05 And if you download that, you'll get put into my email newsletters. Okay, until next time. Bye for now.