Hi everyone, I’m Maria! I am a Bulgarian-American, living in Washington, DC. I have an M.A. from Johns Hopkins and 18 years of experience working as an antitrust economist

Over the past 4 years, I have also been working as a burnout and time-management coach, helping perfectionists and overachievers tackle their tendency to people-please, overcommit, and generally work themselves into the ground in order to keep everyone (but themselves) happy

I spent the vast majority of my life pushing myself to overachieve and overdeliver, because to me those were inextricable parts of my identity

As a result, my to-do list was often overpacked with things that all seemed extremely important and non-negotiable (they were not), and my brain was often overpacked with worries about upsetting other people

And flexibility, fun, or having any breathing room in my days seemed like a pipe dream

Not surprisingly, I felt stuck in a cycle of constant stress, exhaustion, and anxiety

Let Me Give You a Few Examples:

During my first semester in college, I remember seeing the movie Office Space for the first time and being so intensely jealous of the main character when he allowed himself to sleep in one weekend day instead of going to work. Having a morning to just relax and sleep in seemed unfathomable given my unbearably overwhelming to-do list

 

I once spent an evening sitting on the bathroom floor at my job, crying and trying to battle a debilitating migraine so that I can go back to my desk and keep pushing through a few more hours of work to meet an internal project deadline

During another intense period at work, I remember getting a stomach ache a few weeks before a deadline and dreaming that it would be appendicitis and I would have a legitimate excuse to not work on my project anymore until the deadline had passed

What coaching helped me realize is that pushing myself to constantly finish every last thing on my to-do list and say “yes” to every request that came my was, all the while de-centering everything that brings me joy, is actually making me less productive and much more miserable

And cleaning up my schedule, while re-prioritizing my joy, self-care, and relationships is the best way to accomplish more while working less, being much happier, and feeling more fulfilled

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I want to teach you how to do the same!

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Ready to get started? Schedule a coaching consultation today!