Podcast Summary: Girls Gotta Eat

Episode: How to Enjoy Your Life Even if You Hate Your Job feat. Guy Winch
Date: February 9, 2026
Hosts: Ashley Hesseltine & Rayna Greenberg
Guest: Dr. Guy Winch

Episode Overview

This episode explores how work impacts our lives, especially when we hate our jobs, and how to find enjoyment outside of work. Psychologist and author Dr. Guy Winch joins Ashley and Rayna for his third appearance to discuss key findings from his new book, Mind Over Grind, focusing on burnout, work-life boundaries, and practical strategies for reclaiming your emotional well-being—even in a toxic or unsatisfying work environment. The conversation is candid, insightful, and sprinkled with the hosts' trademark humor.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Work Has Taken Over Our Lives

[27:36] Guy Winch:

• Work has invaded multiple aspects of our lives beyond the workplace.
• Increased research shows many elements of our personalities and lives “get amputated” due to over-devotion to work, toxic workplaces, or simply being overly driven.
• Dr. Winch wanted to examine (and address) how work impacts us both at work and outside of it, and how we can start to break free.

“How is work impacting us in the workplace, but especially outside of the workplace? And what can we do to counter that and break free?”
— Guy Winch [00:00]

2. How Work Stress Infects Home and Relationships

• Work stress is contagious; one partner’s chronic work stress can cause the other to develop burnout symptoms ([28:57]).
• Our unconscious brain over-prioritizes work because it sees where we spend most of our time and what provides financial security ([29:38]).
• Preoccupation with work can make interactions feel like intrusions, freezing us out from meaningful connections with family and friends.

“When one partner is really chronically stressed, the other partner will start developing symptoms of burnout. That's how much that transfer happens.”
— Guy Winch [28:57]

3. The Current State of Work Culture and Burnout

• Despite greater awareness of burnout and the importance of self-care, burnout and stress still reach new highs ([32:12]).
• Job hugging: People stay in jobs out of fear that finding a new one will be worse or too hard.
• Transition to work-from-home erased boundaries—emails and tasks bleed into personal hours. On average, people do an extra 8 hours of “off-hours” work email per week ([33:11]).

“You know, the phenomenon of job hugging... people are just staying in the job they have because... who knows if that one's going to be any better?”
— Guy Winch [32:14]

4. Work-Life Balance Is (Mostly) in Your Head

• Rituals, boundaries, and how we define ourselves play a big role in countering the stress spillover from work ([39:49]; [40:57]).
• For non-entrepreneurs, work may not allow self-expression—think: creativity, humor, goofiness—that is crucial to personal fulfillment.

“It starts in your head. It starts with, where is the clarity? Where does work end and you begin?”
— Guy Winch [39:57]

5. The Myth of “Having It All” and Toxic Hustle Culture

• Millennials were raised on hustle culture, girlbossing, and the message that your job is your identity ([41:17]).
• Instead of letting job define 100% of who you are, actively cultivate “what else” defines you. Ask: “If your job disappeared tomorrow, what would be left?”

6. When to Stay, When to Go: Work Change Guidance

• Dr. Winch cautions against direct negotiation in toxic workplaces—it often makes people a target for layoffs or retaliation ([45:10]).
• Focus on what you can change for yourself first—outside interests, boundaries, reframing stress.
• Only make a job switch after securing another job; being unemployed makes job-hunting harder and personally demoralizing ([46:42]).

7. Fighting Work Encroachment: Techniques and Rituals

End-of-Day Rituals

• The “workday ends when you stop thinking about work”—not when the clock says so ([34:30]; [55:07]).
• Ritual helps: Change your lighting, clothing, and scent when the day’s over to train your brain to “switch off” work ([52:47]).
• Make transitions multi-sensory; showers, walks, playlists, and physically changing clothes all help.

“The more senses you involve, the deeper the ritual resonates... You are signaling your brain that I'm done with this part of the day and I'm starting that part of the day.”
— Guy Winch [54:15]

Framing After-Hours Work

• If you must deal with email or tasks at night, mentally frame them as "an intermission" from life, rather than “still working”—this allows easier disengagement ([52:48]).

Using Calendars

• Block off “personal time” in your calendar. The brain takes this seriously and commits to the boundary ([55:56]).

8. Sunday Scaries and the Dreaded Workweek

• The feeling of dread before Monday reveals just how much stress you face ([56:12]).
• Antidote: Schedule something enjoyable for Monday morning that you can look forward to—coffee, workout, favorite podcast (such as Girls Gotta Eat!), meeting a friend ([57:14]; [57:31]).
• Try to avoid Monday morning meetings as a manager, for yourself and your team ([59:42]).

9. Talking About Work at Home: The Emotional Toll

• Beware of venting or discussing work excessively at home—your unconscious latches onto this narrative and keeps you in a stress mode ([65:20]).
• “Be more accurate”—don’t overgeneralize (“my whole job is awful”); specify, appreciate positives, and acknowledge both the good and bad ([66:45]; [67:25]).

10. Supporting Stressed Partners

• If your partner continually brings work stress home, ask them what’s actually helpful—set agreed times or boundaries for venting ([72:03]).
• If they’re too depleted to even consider help or change, they may be truly burned out; intervention or professional support may be necessary.

11. Rest, Recharge, and Your Battery

• The body doesn’t distinguish well between physical and emotional/mental fatigue ([75:01]).
• Just “relaxing” isn’t enough—you must actually recharge by doing activities that fulfill you, whether social, physical, or creative.
• To feel energized, balance your day—if work is draining, seek restorative activities in your downtime ([77:29]).

12. Vacationing Wisely

• A 1-week vacation is better than a marathon 3-weeker—multiple short vacations provide more total benefit ([79:23]).
• Prepare for vacation by resting up beforehand, packing in advance, and organizing your travel—don’t arrive exhausted ([80:26]).
• Triple dip: Anticipate and plan in advance, enjoy while there, and then relive via photos and organizing memories after the trip ([81:14]; [83:03]).
• Don’t let documenting override living your vacation—get “the shot,” then put the phone away and truly enjoy ([84:49]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On partner stress transfer:
  “When one partner is really chronically stressed, the other partner will start developing symptoms of burnout.”
  — Guy Winch [28:57]

• On overworking and hustle culture:
  “It's not your job defines you, but what else defines you? Can there be aspects that are not about the job?”
  — Guy Winch [41:37]

• On job-hopping vs. job-hugging:
  “Job hugging... people are just staying in the job they have because, you know, it's just too difficult to find another one. And who knows if that one's going to be any better.”
  — Guy Winch [32:14]

• On creating separation from work:
  “You are signaling your brain that I'm done with this part of the day and I'm starting that part of the day.”
  — Guy Winch [54:15]

• On Sunday scaries:
  "A lot of people get, right, the dread on Sunday of, like, the work week is about to begin. First of all, what that shows you is how stressful your job is..."
  — Guy Winch [56:12]

• On positivity at work:
  “Make sure that when you're doing the things, even if it's daily, you're expressing the appreciation again to yourself. ... it lifts you. It gives you some ability to exhale.”
  — Guy Winch [69:19]

• Ritual advice:
  "Change your lighting when you get home. Change your clothes... The more senses you involved, the deeper the ritual resonates."
  — Guy Winch [52:47]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro / Anniversary Reflections & Banter: [00:24–13:00]
• Rayna’s Stand-Up Tour and Conquering Fear: [07:27–10:58]
• Guy Winch Introduction & Why He Wrote Mind Over Grind: [26:13–27:36]
• How Work Stress Spills Over at Home: [28:46–31:47]
• Current Workplace Culture & Increasing Burnout: [32:12–34:30]
• Remote Work, Boundaries & Extra Work Creep: [33:11–34:30]
• What Is (and Isn’t) Work-Life Balance: [39:49–40:57]
• Negotiating Job Change & What to Do First: [45:10–46:42]
• Toxic Workplace Incivility and Effects: [46:42–50:29]
• How to Truly End Your Workday – Rituals: [51:06–54:41]
• Sunday Scaries & Monday Rituals: [56:03–59:26]
• How to Talk (and Not Talk) About Work at Home: [64:53–66:45]
• How to Support a Burnt-Out Partner: [71:29–74:32]
• Recharging Physically vs. Mentally: [75:01–77:43]
• Vacation Planning, Triple Dipping, & Presence: [78:48–85:08]

Final Thoughts & Resources

Dr. Winch’s advice resonates for anyone who feels overwhelmed, undervalued, or simply "over it" at work, but powerless to change. His core message:
You may not be able to change your job, boss, or industry overnight—but you can change how you manage your energy, rituals, and the boundaries between your work and your real life.

Book:
Mind Over Grind by Dr. Guy Winch
Available everywhere (audio, ebook, print). More info: guywinch.com

Girls Gotta Eat:
Instagram & TikTok: @girlsgottaeatpodcast
Tour info: Raina Greenberg
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Closing Wisdom

“Do things that scare you, run towards them. Like, it will feel like the greatest accomplishment that you ever have in your entire life to accomplish, to just climb that mountain, you know?”
— Raina Greenberg [13:58]

This summary captures the core guidance, memorable quotes, and practical takeaways from the episode. Skip the burnout—enjoy your life, even if you hate your job!