Burnout isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a full-blown epidemic. 75 percent of women report feeling burned out. Almost 3/4 of women report carrying the emotional stress of their family and friends. For working moms, it’s worse – research of nearly 200,000 mothers found that 1 in 12 rated their mental health as poor or fair. This is on top of the demands of leadership and career-building. Combine that with the persistent “invisible load” of managing household logistics, emotional caregiving, and high-performance expectations at work, and it’s no surprise that so many are running on empty.
As a coach, trainer, and advisor to high-achieving women, I’ve seen this firsthand: women who are deeply committed to their careers, families, and communities – but who are slowly unraveling under the pressure. Burnout doesn’t show up overnight. It creeps in gradually through sleep disruption, decision fatigue, emotional numbness, irritability, and eventually, disengagement.
The good news? It’s preventable. With the right strategies, both working moms and the leaders who support them can create sustainable success without self-sacrifice. I believe that resilience isn’t built through major overhauls. It’s constructed by stacking tiny, strategic shifts – daily small moves – that compound into sustainable energy and clarity over time to create a big life.
1. Redefine Productivity to Include Recovery
Traditional notions of productivity focus solely on output: more hours, more deliverables, more hustle. But that model is both outdated and damaging. The most effective leaders know that recovery is not indulgent; it’s strategic. Physical rest, mental decompression, and emotional reset are essential to maintaining long-term performance.
Encourage working parents to block “white space” in their calendars. That might be a 15-minute walk after school drop-off or a midweek morning with no meetings. Normalize breaks. Normalize boundaries. Normalize saying no. And as a leader, model it yourself.
Remember, movement relieves stress, sharpens focus, and boosts resilience. Busy working moms don’t need 60-minute gym sessions to feel better. A 10-minute express workout or dancing while making dinner can be enough to lower cortisol levels and shift mood.
2. Lighten Your Mental Load with Simple Systems
The mental load – the invisible labor of remembering to buy the birthday gift, schedule the dentist appointment, or reply to the teacher’s email – disproportionately falls on mothers. And it doesn’t disappear at the office door.
Organizations can reduce this burden by creating more predictable, flexible work structures. Clear communication, transparent expectations, and team-based accountability all help working moms shift out of crisis mode. Leaders can also proactively ask, “What can I take off your plate?“ and truly mean it.
3. Measure What Matters Most
Many working moms operate under the pressure of perfectionism: needing to prove they’re always on, always capable, and always available. Self-talk drives self-concept. The way you talk to yourself shapes the way you see yourself. Yet many high-achieving women carry a harsh inner monologue: I’m not doing enough. I should be better at this. That narrative accelerates burnout. Instead, working moms must practice speaking to themselves with the same encouragement they give their teams and families. Leaders can ease this by realigning what success actually looks like.
Rather than rewarding hours logged or hyper-responsiveness, recognize outcomes: quality of work, strategic impact, and ability to lead under pressure. Praise creative problem-solving. Let your team know they’re valued not for burning the candle at both ends, but for bringing their best energy to the work that matters most.
4. Prioritize Psychological Safety
When burnout hits, many women stay silent, afraid they’ll be seen as weak, ungrateful, or incapable. That silence costs teams dearly. It leads to turnover, absenteeism, and disengagement.
Leaders must foster a culture of psychological safety, where it’s not only acceptable but encouraged to be honest about bandwidth, boundaries, and burnout. This starts with language: Ask how someone feels, not just how they’re doing. Celebrate vulnerability as a leadership strength. And don’t wait for a crisis to offer support – check in proactively and consistently.
5. Empower Women to Reconnect With Their “Why”
Working moms are not just surviving; they’re leading. They’re innovating, building, mentoring, and driving results. But in the fog of burnout, many lose sight of their purpose.
One of the most effective antidotes to burnout is meaning. Whether it’s sending an email that’s been looming or keeping calm during a chaotic morning, acknowledging micro-successes builds momentum and motivation. Encourage your team to reconnect with their core values. What part of their work energizes them? What legacy are they creating for their family and community? As a leader, help make space for those conversations. Meaning fuels motivation and allows women to stay grounded in what really matters.
Burnout may be widespread, but it’s not inevitable. With thoughtful leadership and a willingness to challenge outdated norms, we can build workplaces where working moms thrive, not just survive. The question isn’t if we should support them; it’s how soon we’re willing to start.
