Overcoming Working Mom Burnout

A guide to filtering your expectations through a mediocre man mindset

This week’s mini episode based on life and career coach Dr Lara Corr’s advice, provides a guide to filtering your expectations through a mediocre man mindset.  This is not about man bashing. It is about getting perspective. How many of the moms around you admit to being mediocre? My guess is most are like me, wearing my busy badge with pride and enjoying that feeling of being needed by being a martyr. We are not the role models you need for setting reasonable expectations. A mediocre man might provide a more reasonable measuring bar.

Please watch my TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/9YY0gVnVPoQ

Bonus: Expecting companies to Pay Up for moms to return to work with Reshma Saujani

Author and change maker Reshma Saujani describes how being a mother and a CEO pre-Covid worked but the two during Covid broke her. This was the inspiration for her Marshall Plan for Moms, to provide the support at work and at home to allow moms to survive this crisis. Her book Pay Up focuses on what companies and moms can do to create pay equity at home and at work. Despite her achievements in 2021, Reshma is giving up on congress and focusing on companies where she believes we can have real change to support her 2022 goal of subsidizing childcare at work. We talk about why the focus on Moms and why the Greek women’s strategy of refusing sex to end the Peloponnesian war is not the answer. Discussions about paying moms seem to create debate and discomfort – Reshma says bring it on, only then can we find true gender equality.

Please watch my TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/9YY0gVnVPoQ

Using your body to guide your burnout prevention or recovery

I wanted to speak with life and career coach Dr Lara Corr from Australia, because she had also transitioned out of academia due to burnout so I wanted to learn from her experience. She is also a researcher in women's work and mental wellbeing. As I got to know Lara from her emails and online coaching presence I loved her glowing positivity, it’s infectious. She also doesn’t hold back in expressing her thoughts about the lack of paid leave in the US, as an Australian observer. I always appreciate having the perspective and humor that an invigorating coach can bring.

Please watch my TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/9YY0gVnVPoQ

Guide to using an app to track your mental health at work

Following on from last week’s episode with media expert Joangel Concepcion here’s a behavior change guide to using an app to track your mental health at work.

Please watch my TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/9YY0gVnVPoQ

Bonus: Re-imagining power in corporate America in a healthy way

Deepa gave a powerful talk at TED Women 2021 about women of color at work and her book The First, The Few, The Only has just been published. I was honored to be sent a pre-publication copy to read and to be part of Deepa’s book launch. As you’ll hear in our conversation burnout and healthy power are central to her work.

Please watch my TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/9YY0gVnVPoQ

Moving on from toxic workplace burnout

I wanted to speak to Joangel because I had heard her story of workplace toxicity and thought her experience also sounded like burnout. I was also totally impressed that Joangel had developed and launched an app to track workplace toxicity and connect it with daily mental health, based on her experience. Joangel also provides insight into her experience of burnout as a Latina from an immigrant family.

Please watch my TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/9YY0gVnVPoQ

Guide to learning to self promote

Following on from last week’s episode with women’s career expert Jess Galica here’s a behavior change guide to learning to self promote

Please watch my TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/9YY0gVnVPoQ

Embracing transition

I wanted to speak with women’s career expert Jess Galica because of the stories she has been collecting for her project Reclaim Your Career from women who experienced a career pivot. Jess’s own career pivot came through motherhood. And she provides a lot of great advice about how to plan and create a mind shift that moves you forward. Having experienced my own career transition due to burnout, I would have benefited from the stories Jess collected to realize that I was not alone and that many mothers experience meaningful career change.

Please watch my TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/9YY0gVnVPoQ

Guide to advocating for safe spaces for physical activity

Following on from last week’s episode with researcher and community advocate Dr Melicia Whitt-Glover here’s a guide to advocating for safe spaces for physical activity

Please watch my TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/9YY0gVnVPoQ

Understanding communities to prevent burnout

I wanted to speak with Melicia because her experience of burnout had guided me to know when I was ready to leave academia. But I also knew how hard she still worked to do her research and support her community and I wanted to understand how she coped. I particularly wanted to hear her ideas about systems change and how communities can lead change. Her description of a training program to reduce bias in healthcare was an added bonus I was not expecting and relevant because burnout in physicians can also lead to bias.

Please watch my TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/9YY0gVnVPoQ