Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a commission at no expense to you. Affiliate links are marked with the asterisks (*)
Burnout as a work at home mom is real, and it can’t be ignored. Here are the seven signs that you’re burning the candle at both ends.
Being a work at home mom* is a dream for many. That dream does come with some challenges, especially if you have younger children who need more of your attention.
There are chances that you’re burning the candle at both ends. You want to be there for your family, but you need to be there for work. It doesn’t matter if you’re working remote for an employer or you’re running your own business.
Burnout is more than just a mood killer. It affects your personal time with your family, and it will also affect your overall health. Here are the seven signs that you can’t ignore.
Watch out for chronic fatigue as a work at home mom
Chronic fatigue is one of the most common and noticeable signs of burnout as a work at home mom. This is far more than “tiredness.” A good night’s sleep doesn’t fix the situation. You need to take full time off work, off life, and off everything in general.
You’ll be exhausted in a way you’ve never felt before. Even when you sleep, you don’t feel rested. This leads to being cranky and not feeling the ability to do anything on a daily basis. You can struggle with productivity levels and focus while you’re working, and your children will notice that something isn’t right.
You can’t keep your emotions in check
I hate it when people say that as women were “too emotional.” For the most part, we’re just frustrated, angry, or struggling to deal with a very specific situation. When it comes to burnout, the emotions become overwhelming. It’s difficult to regulate them all, and this often comes down to the chronic fatigue.
You’re feeling drained, which makes you irritable. There are mood swings, and just the slightest thing that goes wrong can seem like the end of the world. A lot of people will laugh this off, but it is a sign that you need to take a step back in your work. Prioritize yourself.
MORE: How to be a positive role model for your kids when you work from home
You’re not getting through as much work as normal
Are you struggling to complete tasks at work? Burnout leads to a decrease in productivity levels. This immediately affects your work, and if you’re working for someone else, you can end up being pulled up for this in a review. It could even mean a move back into the office if it’s proving to be an issue. If you’re self-employed, you know your time is money. This can lead to stress as you struggle to get through your workload.
As you start to miss deadlines or struggle with focus, you end up feeling more stressed. This then leads to feeling more burnout as you try to get through the workload. You end up in a vicious cycle. The best thing you can do is look at the tasks you have, prioritize them, and see what can be held off while you get the rest you desperately need.
Work creeps into family life with burnout as a work at home mom
You will find it much harder to stick to boundaries that you set at home*. You’ll want to make sure you balance your work and family lives. You need to keep the two separate as a work at home mom, especially if you work for yourself. As you suffer with burnout, it’ll take you longer to get tasks done. This can lead to struggling to stick to the boundaries around your time.
It’s usually your family life that suffers. You will cut into family time by 10 minutes at first. And then you’ll move that up to 30 minutes or an hour. You may find yourself checking your phone more often while you’re supposed to be watching a movie with the kids. They notice, and you don’t get the break you need.
You end up with physical symptoms
If you allow burnout to get worse, you will start to experience the physical symptoms. Headaches are the initial common one, and then you will get muscle tension and digestive issues. Your immune system is weakened due to the stress, and that leads to you being more susceptible to illness.
This can also be a problem due to other health issues. You’ll want to make sure you check them out, especially if they don’t go away when you deal with the burnout.
MORE: 5 tips to create a routine as a work at home mom
You have no creativity or motivation to work
A lack of productivity isn’t just a problem with burnout. You also end up completely unmotivated and uncreative, which are problems when it comes to work. It’s not just about work, though. You end up with no motivation in your general life.
You don’t want to go out and do things with the kids. You just want to relax, because your body needs the break. These can be tasks that you know you will enjoy, but you’re just not in the right frame of mind. When it comes to work, you can even end up hating a job that you once loved, and that can lead to making rash decisions. Don’t make decisions when you have signs of burnout as a work at home mom*.
You’re completely disconnected from life
As burnout gets worse, you can end up feeling disconnected from everything in life. This isn’t just about no motivation to do things with your kids or no productivity to work. It means that you don’t feel like you’re even living your own life.
Nothing seems to matter. You don’t feel like the goals and aspirations you once had are even yours anymore. You can feel lonely and even isolated, thinking that nobody gets what you’re feeling or why. The truth is a lot of people have felt this way. If hostility at work has contributed to your feelings of burnout and affected your health, using medical records to document this impact can be an important step. You don’t need to push through it. You need to deal with the burnout first, especially if using medical records to prove hostility at work has affected your health is necessary to address your situation.
MORE: How to make the most as a work at home mom
What are your signs of burnout as a work at home mom? How have you dealt with burnout in the past? Share in the comments below.
