Overwhelm & Burnout for Working Moms
If you’ve been counting down the minutes until the end of your workday… only to feel like your real work is just beginning… this is for you.
When Your Workday Ends… But Your Real Work Begins
Chances are, before you’ve even left your office you’re planning for the “2nd shift” as a working mom and anticipating everyone’s needs. You’re asking yourself a dozen questions, trying to create a vision for the evening as CEO of your home and family.
The Mental Load You Carry Before You Even Get Home
My own mental gymnastics sound something like:
- Got to pick up Kid 1 at 3 PM, ugh – and traffic is bad!
- Did I tell Kid 2 to take the bus or do pick-up? (Call school, leave a message.)
- Will Kid 1 need a snack? Do they have the capacity to do grocery pick-up with me?
- Kids want to go to Laser Mania – am I spoiling them or celebrating them?
And that’s just in the first 40 minutes since I left the office!
Never mind any guilt, shame or doubt I feel about spending money on a treat, letting them watch TV so I can cook dinner without interruption… and the confusing feeling that sometimes I just want to be single and childfree, even though I love my children and partner with my whole life.
When people talk about being a working mom, they often emphasize the “working” part. The part where you make the decision to be away from your children. And that part certainly deserves attention.
The Part of Working Motherhood No One Talks About
But the often overlooked piece is the entry phase. The switch from working mom to coming back home, and the difficulty in making that transition.
The truth is that you aren’t coming home to relax after a long day on your feet, or managing your team, or pouring yourself into clients and customers. You’re coming home to continue a whole new kind of labour.
Why Working Moms Feel So Overwhelmed After Work
This isn’t about not loving your family.
It isn’t about not wanting to be a mom. Or not wanting to work.
It’s not just physical tiredness—it’s:
- Never being “off”
- Always being needed
- No space to reset
There’s no clear moment when you get to say, “I’m done for the day.”
And your body feels that, even if you keep pushing through. Because, of course you do.
“I’m the One Who Has to Adjust” — The Weight of Being the Default Parent
At my therapy practice in St. George, UT, I hear from working moms all the time who tell me:
- Whenever something happens with the kids, I’m the one that has to adjust my schedule.
- I can’t ever seem to get caught up – there’s just always more to do.
- I love my partner, but they just don’t seem to understand.
- My mother in-law just moved in. I couldn’t say no…
- I dream about selling everything and moving us into an RV. I just want simplicity.
Mom to mom (but also as a licensed therapist), this isn’t about being busy.
Working Mom Burnout: It’s More Than Just Being Busy
It’s about the constant responsibility without relief.
It comes from being “on” all day long… for everyone… without a place to land.
It’s about being the default parent:
- the one that get called first
- Receives the text messages
- Adjusts her schedule when the unexpected happens
- Who falls back on “I’ll just have to make it work…” again and again
You weren’t meant to be an engine running all hours of the day. Thinking about what you did, and what you still have to do, even as you fall asleep.
The Hidden Patterns That Keep Working Moms Stuck in Overwhelm
At this point, we need to get curious about the overwhelm and anxiety you’re feeling. We’re not looking for where you’re failing or not doing enough. We’re not here to shame you for not finishing that book about minimalism or the 30 Day Declutter Challenge you got for free on Pinterest.
Those things likely didn’t have the answers for you anyway.
Because this goes deeper than time-management and organizational skills. Even the ones marketed specifically for working moms.
So take a break and answer gently. Do you have a habit of:
- Taking on more than your share?
- Feeling like you “should” be able to handle it all?
- Not asking for help? Or defaulting to “I’ve got this’?
- Pushing through instead of pausing
How Overwhelm Turns Into Burnout for Working Moms
Falling into these patterns lead to real consequences over time. Maybe you’ve already experienced most of these:
- Irritability with your kids and partner
- Feeling like “I just don’t care anymore…”
- Wanting to go to bed and not talk to anyone
- Frustration or ‘going blank’ when people ask what you do for fun
- Resentment (that you might feel guilty for)
- Shame for parenting on autopilot
Now that we’ve put finger the pattern of this problem, let’s do something different.
Before You Try to Fix It… Pause Here
Before we jump into trying to fix anything… I want you to pause here for a moment.
Take a breath.
Because if you’re seeing yourself in any of this, the goal isn’t to immediately do more, try harder, or overhaul your entire life.
You’ve already been doing that.
What If Your Day Actually Had an Ending?
Read that one more time: The goal isn’t to immediately do more, try harder, or overhaul your entire life. Because, you’ve already been doing that.
This is about something different.
It’s about noticing what you’ve been carrying… without questioning whether it’s “valid enough” to put down.
It’s about letting yourself consider—maybe for the first time in a long time—that you weren’t meant to hold all of this on your own.
Because this isn’t something you’re going to solve with another motherhood tip or trick.
You’re not behind on a system.
You’re not lacking motivation.
And this isn’t a battle of willpower.
Truth: You Can’t Out-Organize Overwhelm
You can’t out-organize overwhelm.
What you can do… is start by getting through the hardest moments in your day a little differently.
That transition from work… to home.
That moment in the car before you walk inside.
That wave of pressure when everyone needs something from you at once.
A Simple Way to Get Through the Hard Moments
Instead of pushing through it (like you’ve always had to)… what would it feel like to have a way to actually support your body in those moments?
To take the edge off… even just a little?
That’s exactly why I created this free guide.
It’s called “How to Get Through a Tough Moment”—and it’s designed for real life.
Short. Simple. Something you can use in the middle of your actual day… not something that adds more to your plate.
Because right now, we’re not trying to fix everything.
We’re just giving you a place to land… even for a few minutes.
And if you start to notice, as you slow down, just how much you’ve been carrying… that’s something we can gently work through together, too.
But for now—start here.