How to Recover from Mom Burnout

3 Ways to Recover from Mom Burnout:

1. Complete the Stress Cycle in Your Body.

Your body doesn’t know the difference between being chased by a lion and planning Thanksgiving dinner. When you face a threat—whether that’s an actual predator or just meal planning—your brain activates a stress response and your entire body shifts into survival mode. But today, we don’t run from our stressors or fight them—we just sit there, stressed and tense, and our bodies never get the signal that we’re safe. That’s why telling yourself to “just calm down” doesn’t work—your body needs physical proof that the danger is over through things like movement, deep breathing, crying, or a long hug.

2. Lean Into the Motherhood Activities You Actually Enjoy.

When you’re burned out, everything in you wants to run away from your kids—they feel like the lion. But here’s what I’ve learned: your children aren’t the lion, and there are things you genuinely enjoy doing with them. Make a list of one-minute, 15-minute, and hour-long activities you actually like doing with your children, and keep it somewhere accessible. On the hard days when a break isn’t in the cards, you can look at that list and choose to run toward your kids instead of away from them—and that reconnection can remind your spirit why you’re doing this in the first place.

3. Write Down Your Flecks of Gold.

Your brain is Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones—the hard moments stick while the good ones bounce right off. Over time, those “slowly accumulating residues of lived experience” shape your implicit memory of your motherhood, which is why you can have a beautiful morning but only remember the grocery store meltdown at bedtime. The remedy is to intentionally foster the positive experiences by writing down one golden moment from your day each night. 

If you’re heading into the holiday season already feeling burned out, I want you to know: it’s not because you’re failing. It’s because your body is stuck in overdrive, your brain is holding onto every hard moment, and your spirit has forgotten what lights you up.

Grab a Flecks of Gold Journal and start noticing the good—even when it feels impossible to find. It’s on sale right now, and I promise it will be one of the best investments you make in your motherhood.

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What did you think of this episode? Have you experienced mom burnout? What has helped you recover? Comment below!

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Announcements:

• Free worksheet! Download the Recovering from Mom Burnout worksheet with reflection prompts at 3in30podcast.com/recover
• ✨ Our annual Slow-vember Sale is happening now! Get $5 off all Flecks of Gold Journals—including the new camel leather edition (it’s absolutely gorgeous!)—through December 15. Slow down, savor the season, and notice the good in your motherhood.

Related Episodes like this one on Partnership in Parenting:

• 441: The 4 Types of Self-Care Every Mom Needs // Mia Hemstad
• 413: What to Do When You’re Juggling Too Much // Amy Wilson
• 398: How to Plan for an Energizing (not Exhausting) Holiday Season // Dr. Amber Price

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