The Mental Offload Podcast

There's a particular fantasy that many working moms have when they're burned out. Maybe yours involves opening a bookstore. Or moving to a cottage by the sea. Or starting a business. Or just walking into your boss's office and saying, "I quit." For me, when I was deep in burnout in my own corporate career, I remember telling my coach I just wanted to quit my job, sell my home, and go live off the...

A core promise of AI adoption in the workplace: get more done, and free up time. So why, then, do so many of us feel more underwater than ever? It's not your imagination. And it's not because you "need to use AI better." New research out of UC Berkeley came to this stark conclusion: "AI isn't reducing workload. It's intensifying it." It's not apparent at first. Usually, there's a honeymoon period,...

In many companies, there's a shift away from remote work. Leaders continue a push to "return to the office". And for many working mothers, that's not good news. Because remote work is more than a perk. In many cases, it's the thing making a demanding career compatible with home life. It's how you manage school pickup without panic. How you stay in a high-pressure role without outsourcing your enti...

A client of mine recently raised some thoughtful concerns about her company's AI rollout.  Her boss's retort was firm: "You need to get on board the AI train. It's already moving." And there it was. The thing so many women in leadership roles are quietly navigating right now: the pressure to perform enthusiasm around AI. Even when your actual leadership instinct is to ask the smart, hard questions...

You already have the right degrees. A good job title. A salary that took years of relentless effort to earn (even if it's a fraction of what you're worth).  By any measure, you are someone who is successful. And yet, somewhere between the school run and the performance review and the meal you planned on making from scratch, there's a nagging voice that you're still… failing . Lots of people will o...

If you're balancing a big job and small kids, your time likely falls into three categories: Work. Family. Keeping it all running. Work deadlines. School logistics. Laundry. Groceries. Emails. Exercise. Trying to sleep enough. Maybe squeezing in something that technically counts as self-care. Your days are often overstretched.  But they're productive. Responsible. When was the last time you did som...

When you hear the word "networking," do you feel yourself cringe a bit? Maybe you feel awkward networking. Or maybe you tell yourself "I don't have time for networking", although deep down you know you're avoiding it.  Most of the working moms I talk to don't actually hate networking. They hate what they think networking requires of them. Pushy. Fake. Transactional.  Needing to pretend how confide...

You're doing the job. Delivering results.  And yet, when it comes time to ask for more, there's a lump in your stomach. Whether it's salary, flexibility, or even your day-to-day workload, the conversation suddenly feels…tricky. You don't want to come across as difficult. You don't want to alienate an ally. You don't want to push "too far." So you soften your ask. You apologize for even asking.  Or...

Life admin. It's one thing no one can escape from. Even in the busiest seasons of work and life, you can be sure that someone, somewhere, has another form they need you to fill out. I stopped counting one day last week after twelve emails came through. All from different sources: School. Sports teams. Doctors. Taxes.  I even got a nudge about a yoga class I signed up for in an attempt to offset so...

If you recently had your 2025 annual review, you're probably in one of three places: You're relieved. You're frustrated. Or you're thinking, "what do I have to do to get the recognition I deserve?!" Maybe you worked your butt off…only to be met with a "meets expectations" rating. Maybe you were told you're "an asset to the team" and "a real team player" — but the raise made you feel like a bit pla...

I'll be honest, I've never found much success with New Year's Resolutions. And I know I'm not alone - most resolutions get abandoned by this point in January.  So, what can you do if you love a good goal, but the idea of resolutions feels…tired. There are seasons when ambitious, detailed goal planning feels energizing. And there are seasons when it feels completely disconnected from reality. When...

Look just about anywhere these days, and it's hard to escape the tradwife-lite look. You know, the perfectly curated content that seems designed to sell us on the lie that women should be managing the home and child-rearing without any help.    Or that, if we do get some kind of support – paid or unpaid – we're lucky.    It's a narrative that's, frankly, disturbing.    And yet, it can make even mo...

Cinderella syndrome is the ultimate corporate fairy tale. The belief that if you do your work perfectly, take on more responsibilities without complaint... ...one day, Prince Charming (aka a powerful leader in your company) will discover your talent and rescue you. With the glass slipper of a promotion in hand. Women have been fed a version of this corporate fairy tale since childhood. If you want...

If you've ever walked into a performance review expecting a gold star, and walked out feeling rattled, or even a little angry, you're not alone. In fact, you'd be in good company. Many highly competent women have had a review in their career that left them questioning their abilities, their reputation, or their future at the company.  Sometimes, it's a specific piece of feedback that stings. But o...

Tell me if you've seen this play out before: You get handed a seemingly impossible goal, and you want to prove you're up to the task. But as soon as you start making the tough calls…you realize you're on your own. No support. No boss backing you up. No signal from anyone above that your decisions are good. It's a situation that can leave you feeling exposed. And alone. Soon, you're choosing your w...

It used to be the case that, if you were unhappy in your job, friends would tell you, "maybe it's time to look for a new job." But these days, people will tell you "hang onto whatever you've got." Because a lot of people are getting burned in the current job market.  The job market in 2025 looks dramatically different from what it did 2 years (or even 12 months) ago. So, if you're feeling stuck in...

If you manage enough people in your career, I guarantee that at some point, you'll have an underperformer on your team.   Sometimes underperformance is glaring. But most of the time, it's smaller stuff: a missed deadline here and there, work full of typos, or a subtle bad attitude.    Working with someone like this can be positively maddening .    You start out patient. You give feedback. You remi...

You can run a high-stakes meeting without breaking a sweat. You manage a team like a boss. At work, you seem to know how to keep cool, even when fires are burning around you.   But when you walk through your own front door?   Why does it feel like chaos is reigning?   Small requests turn into battles. Small kids expertly push your buttons. Half the time you're not sure who's going to meltdown firs...

Any way you slice it, Back-to-School is a sprint.    The extra load?! It's real. And working mothers typically feel it extra hard.    And yet, there can be an unhelpful temptation the moment that back-to-school week is over…to immediately jump back into "real life", without a moment to recover.   This will leave you spent. And contributes to burnout.   You might think "recovery" means preparing we...

You've been angling for a promotion. And it should be yours. You've got strong results. Good performance reviews. You get along with your colleagues. And yet…that promotion still hasn't come. What's going on here? Is it bias? A boss who's not advocating for you? Some hidden secret handshake you haven't mastered? Let me be clear: You're probably not imagining it. Vague, coded feedback like " be mor...

You're presenting your big recommendation. You've prepped. You've practiced. You've got the room's attention. And then… Someone pushes back. Challenges your approach. Questions your recommendation. Suddenly, you find yourself on the back foot. Nervous. Stammering. Feeling defensive. But unable to defend yourself well. I see this same pattern with so many brilliant women.  They're strong on offense...

Even the most capable leaders fall into this trap: You evolve professionally—get promoted, shift roles, step into a new organization—but keep showing up the same way you always have. You end up trusted for execution. Valued for your solid judgment. Respected for your work ethic. But still, something's off. You're not quite getting the traction you expected. You're recommendations are getting overl...

There's no sugar-coating it. Most jobs are relentless. Even greedy.  You're not imagining it. It's very real. (In fact, Claudia Goldin won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics for her work highlighting the impact of demanding jobs on the careers and earnings of women.)   One potential solution: going part-time. For many women, this is the holy grail of work arrangements.  A little less pressure at wo...

If you're a working mother with a demanding job, you've probably asked yourself:  Is this sustainable?  Am I doing enough?  How do successful moms make this all work? One journalist has some answers to share. This week, I'm joined by Joann Lublin, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Wall Street Journal contributor, and author of Power Moms: How Executive Mothers Navigate Work and Life. Joann has be...

As kids finish off the school year, I'm looking back in awe how much they've grown and accomplished this year.  And then, the proud reverie is interrupted. It's like a split screen where I see my own stalled progress. And feel a giant ugh in the pit of my stomach. I see the goals I meant to prioritize this year — consistent exercise, healthier meals, getting to bed by 10pm. On some of them, I'm do...