Summer can feel like a pressure cooker for working moms. The camps, the childcare scramble, the disrupted routines, the pressure to make magical memories, the guilt of being behind at work while also feeling like you’re not fully present at home — it’s a lot. In this conversation, I’m sharing the real reason so many ambitious working moms burn out during the summer months and the one shift that helps you stop running yourself into the ground trying to do it all.
In this episode, we unpack:
Why summer creates a unique kind of burnout for working moms
The mental load behind camps, childcare, and “making memories”
Why balance is not a destination — it’s an active practice
The hidden danger of treating your own needs like an afterthought
How to reclaim control over your time, priorities, and energy this summer
Work with me:
Ambitious & Balanced:
www.rebeccaolsoncoaching.com/ambitiousandbalanced
Book your Break Free From Stress Strategy Call (with free Quiz!): www.ambitiousandbalanced.com/break-free-from-stress
Referenced podcast episode on “If, Then Commitments”:
https://youtu.be/Ib7LjGFtybM?si=XxYQ238eonZ1dJ5F
Transcript
Hey, hey, working moms. Real quick, before we dive into today's episode, the July cohort of Ambitious & Balanced is already starting to fill up, and there's only seven spots left. If you've been thinking about making this year the year where you finally get balance figured out, then I want you to book a $9 Work-Life Balance Strategy Call with me.
In 30 minutes, you're going to walk away with crystal clarity around exactly what has been blocking you from sustainable balance and have a clear next step to achieve that balance this year. That is Work-Life Balance clarity for the cost of one large vanilla latte.
The link is in the show notes to schedule that call.
All right, working moms, let's get to it.
Welcome to the Ambitious and Balanced Working Moms podcast, your go to resource for integrating your career ambitions with life as a mom, I'm distilling down thousands of coaching conversations I've had with working moms just like you, along with my own personal experience as a mom of two and sharing the most effective tools and strategies to help you quickly feel calm, confident, and in control of your ambitious working mom life. You ready? Let's get to it.
Summer Burnout for Working Moms Feels Different
Hey, working moms, I will never forget that feeling of sitting in front of my computer, trying to get some work done. It's the middle of the summer. I've picked up my daughter a little bit early from daycare because I want to try to spend some extra daylight hours with her, or maybe go on a walk, or take her to the park, or something like that.
But I get back home after picking her up, and I feel trapped in front of my computer, right? Like, I thought that I could pull myself away from it, but it just feels so, so hard.
And my daughter, of course, wants nothing more than just to play with me and spend time with me. And I feel so, so torn. It just feels like no matter what I do in this moment, it's never going to be enough. I'm going to be failing no matter what I choose.
I'm not spending enough time with my daughter. I'm letting her down. I'm not getting everything done. I'm letting work down. And so I just constantly feel like I'm failing.
I spoke to a working mom just today that I think said it so perfectly. She said, "I just don't feel like I'm cutting it at either place."
And I have found with my clients that summer just sort of brings a unique challenge or pressure to sort of make use of the daylight hours, right? And to make it more fun, particularly for the older kids, to find cool summer camps for them that they don't dread going to every day.
There's, of course, vacations to juggle, and so no week sort of feels the same. And then balance just feels exceptionally hard because rhythms are off and the pressure to sort of make time and make the time count just feels even higher.
The One Thing That Will Help You Avoid Summer Burnout
So today on the podcast, we're going to talk about summer burnout. And there's just one thing that I want you to focus on that I guarantee is going to ensure that you won't burn out this summer if you do it. And you might actually even experience some unplugged rest and fun as well.
Okay, so we're going to get into that as we get into this episode a little bit later. But I want to dig into a little bit more about why this summer can feel so darn challenging, right?
I think there could be some really unique challenges sort of based on the age of your kids. But regardless, there's sort of this pressure that we put on ourselves over the summer, right? So that's kind of reason number one: daylight pressure.
The Pressure Working Moms Feel to Make Summer “Magical”
I remember when my daughter was like three during the summertime when it was warm outside. And I think my son must have been like a baby under one. I used to love to pick her up from daycare, like I said, early.
But sometimes what I liked to do was take her into the backyard. And we'd have like a splash table set out for her and have a glass of wine and enjoy the sunshine. And there was like this beautiful sliver of time that we could do that based on when we picked her up and when dinner was and when her bedtime was, right?
And I just always felt this pressure to try to make that little window of time really special for her and for me. Like it had to be an everyday, memory-making, photo-taking moment. And it was just like a lot of pressure.
And if I didn't do that for whatever reason, I just felt like I was sort of wasting time. I felt like a failure, right? And I know I'm not alone in that. So many working moms experience that.
And so that's pressure number one, right? We put on this daylight pressure.
Why Summer Feels So Disruptive for Working Moms
I think another reason why summer is particularly prone to burnout is because you're completely out of rhythm. The school season brings a bunch of structure, and there tends to be other activities that sort of orient themselves around the school calendar as well, like sports that you may take off during the summer.
And so summer is a little bit more of this sort of free-for-all when it comes to your schedule. And those rhythm changes are really, really hard.
I know for myself, I've sort of been a little bit anxious about this transition for easily like a month or so because my son really, really thrives in structure. I mean, all kids thrive in structure. I know that my son thrives in structure.
And I swear it has taken us easily six months into the school year to finally feel like we're in a good rhythm, that we can get out the door without resistance. And it's so much easier than it was in the beginning of the school year and the first several months of the school year.
And it's about to change with summer, right? And then all of a sudden, there's like 10 weeks of summer that is never the same. Summer camps are different. We've got a couple of week-long vacations that we're taking.
And so I know that we're going to get into this rhythm that is going to be really difficult to get out of once we get back into school. And so I already feel this anxiety from that, which can cause some of that summer burnout.
The Summer Camp Scramble Is Real for Working Moms
And then reason number three is, I mean, for me, having school-aged kids, like, this is really prominent for me. But I know if you don't have school-aged kids, you deal with this a little bit less.
I just had no idea until my daughter was in kindergarten what this experience was even like. But if you have school-aged kids, the summer camp scramble is real. And the cost of childcare over the summer is, like, exorbitant.
And I know for so many of my clients, they question if it's even worth working because of how expensive it is to find childcare over the summer, particularly if you don't have family nearby, as we didn't.
And so even if you don't have kids that are in school and you're participating in that childcare scramble, like, I remember when my kids were in preschool, they used to take the week off before school to sort of transition from summer and into the school year, which, of course, feels very logical and reasonable for the school.
But for us as parents, it was like, "What am I supposed to do during this week?" I don't know. My kid is so little and I don't have family around.
Like, it really does create this pressure and anxiety that adds to this sort of summer burnout when childcare is kind of up in the air, as it tends to be over the summer.
Why Summer Mental Load Hits Working Moms So Hard
So look, if you're listening right now and you're sort of just feeling anxious and pressured just listening to me talk because you can relate, I want you to know that you're not alone.
There is exponentially more mental load that takes place over the summer, and primarily it is women that take that on, whether that is finding childcare for our kids or whether it is the pressure we put on ourselves to make the summer fun and build memories. A lot of that is on us.
And beyond that, what I know for all moms, every single one of you listening right now, is if you are not doing right by your family, meaning like they're not getting the best of you, your best energy, your best time, it doesn't matter how successful you are feeling in your job, it will always feel like you're failing.
Your kids are more important than anything else. And sort of the summer just highlights the pressure-filled moments that we put on ourselves to make that happen.
In other words, we're not really set up for success in this way over the summer.
The Real Reason Working Moms Burn Out During the Summer
Okay, so there's the problem sort of laid out for you. I hope you sort of can recognize your own summer burnout challenges within that. But that's not really the whole problem.
Sure, the summer brings a lot of additional logistical pressure and challenges. I feel it. So many of my clients feel it. But I also see women cancel their workouts when it feels logistically hard, or feel so much pressure to say yes to every request that your kid has, every ice cream request, every "play with me" request, and they just schedule right over any personal time that they have.
Or likely because you have a vacation this summer, there just feels like so much pressure to get everything done in a particular timeframe that you're likely overcompensating for that PTO that is rightfully yours to take.
The Working Moms Who Sustain Balance Don’t Abandon Their Priorities
Look, I have been coaching women in the Ambitious & Balanced program for several years now, and the ones that have been able to sustain balance, they are the ones that did not let go of their personal priorities, even when it was hard.
They adjusted them. They doubled down on them, even when it was challenging.
Those workouts, those moments away from your kids and your family to like rest and have some fun for yourself, those aren't nice-to-haves. They are a part of the equation of what it takes to feel sustainably balanced in all seasons of life. Whether we're talking summer or winter in this case.
Because it is not the seasons of the year that allow you to keep to your priorities. It's not like it's your job or your boss or the age of your kids or if it's coming to the end of the fiscal cycle. It's never life that allows you to decide to keep your personal priorities.
It is you.
Sustainable Work-Life Balance Requires Ongoing Choices
Now, again, I'm recognizing that summer brings its own challenges to do that, but you still have choice. So putting it bluntly, in order to avoid the summer burnout and the exhaustion, you need to take back your ability to choose.
We like to think that deciding our priorities and getting to a place where we feel more kind of regularly balanced is sort of a one-and-done kind of deal, when in reality, what my clients tell me time and time again after our three months together in the Ambitious & Balanced program is they didn't realize how active balancing life truly is.
And it's why in the last couple of sessions that we have together in the cohort, we start talking about maintaining balance after the program, because balance really isn't an arrival. It's not a destination. It's sort of a way you operate within your life.
No matter if it's summer or the school season, or it's the busy last quarter, or if you're a lawyer and you're in the middle of a trial, or you're a CPA and it's tax season, or if you're a teacher and it's the school year, right?
What I teach here in the podcast and what I guarantee as you work with me in the Ambitious & Balanced program is that you will learn how to start implementing sustainable work-life balance practices.
What Can Actually Change for Working Moms
My clients tend to rate themselves around a 3.5 on average when we start working together in terms of balance. So that's like a 3.5 out of 10.
When we start, I have everybody rate themselves where they're at. That way we can see where they're at at the end of the program and kind of gauge it, right?
And so at the end, on average, my clients rate themselves an eight. That's a huge amount of growth in a really short period of time. And at the heart of that growth is taking back their choice, their decision-making power over their own life.
Your “Me Time” Cannot Be an If-Then Commitment
Well, what does that really look like? Like, what do I mean by that? Like, 'cause this really is step one of my three-step process, right? It's clarity, which means getting clear and deciding ahead of time what you wanna be prioritizing.
And let me just tell you, one of those priorities has to be you. It could be you and your health, or it could be like you and rest, or you and your friends. But one of the priorities that has to happen in order for you to avoid summer burnout is time for yourself to literally fill your bucket.
I've said this before on the podcast. I'm gonna say it again right now. This is not a nice-to-have, right? This isn't, "If the kids get to sleep, then I'll do my workout." Or, "If I get through my to-do list, then I'll leave work a little bit early and pick my kiddo up and take them on a walk."
It's not an if-then commitment. I did an entire episode over the if-then commitment. I'll actually find that and put it in the show notes and link to it because I think it's such a powerful episode.
This is not — your me time is not — an if-then commitment. Okay?
It’s Not a Time Problem — It’s a Priority Problem
I was speaking to a woman last week who is interested in joining the July cohort of Ambitious & Balanced. I hope she does. And she said frankly, "I don't have time for this."
And I, without missing a beat, said, "You're right. You don't magically have an hour on Wednesdays to take our calls. But if your son needed that hour on a regular basis for something like a PT appointment or something like that, would you figure out how to make that time work?"
And then, of course, without missing a beat, it was, "Of course I would. Sure. If my kid needed it, I would do it."
Yeah, this is never a time problem. It's a priority problem.
Yourself and your priorities, the things that matter most to you, have to be at the top of the list. They're non-negotiables. I know in different seasons it's harder to hold to those commitments, but you have to make time for them no matter what.
Decide Your Summer Priorities Before Summer Decides for You
So step one of the Ambitious & Balanced process and in avoiding the summer burnout and the summer overwhelm, whatever you wanna call it, is to clearly decide your priorities ahead of time.
Your schedule and priorities look different over the summer than they do during the winter. Every season, every rhythm change is an opportunity to clearly decide your priorities for that moment, for that season.
I don't want you to just get to the summer and assume that you can't do those workout classes anymore or you can't take time for yourself or there's no opportunity for rest or to go to that splash pad in the backyard with a glass of wine. Of course there is.
But it's not magically gonna fit into your calendar. You're going to have to decide ahead of time.
So what do you want your non-negotiables to be this summer? And of course, you gotta be reasonable, right? If you haven't been in a rhythm of working out, for example, don't try to commit to five times a week. Just do two.
If you haven't been seeing your friends lately, don't assume you can do that every single week. Just do it once a month.
The Four Priorities Every Woman in Ambitious & Balanced Focuses On
Part of the magic of the Ambitious & Balanced program is that together as a cohort, we have decided four priorities that everyone in the program is keeping together.
There's me time, as we've already discussed. That's a non-negotiable. There's off-work time. There's uninterrupted work time. And there's kid-focused time.
Every one of the 10 women in the cohort has these priorities. And then, of course, some choose other ones as well. And I teach you how to hold to those priorities no matter what.
How Working Moms Create Sustainable Balance in Every Season
So if you're heading into the summer and you're like a three out of 10 on the balance scale, just like my clients often start with this program, then you may need to consider the July cohort of Ambitious & Balanced so that by the time summer ends and fall begins, you are setting yourself up for success not just today, but through every season of life.
Because you're gonna create for yourself a new vision of what work-life balance is, what success means to you, and you will learn the process of holding to those priorities no matter what.
So over the next several weeks right here on the podcast, you're gonna be hearing from some of my clients that have graduated from the Ambitious & Balanced program. They're gonna share their experience, things that they've learned, things that they've sustained over the past months, maybe even years of working with me.
And so I hope that you feel inspired as you hear other working moms that are maybe just a step ahead of you in the process and feel inspired by their stories as they come up.
But look, I don't want you to feel any pressure to join this program before you work with me. I think actually getting a taste of how I teach and how I coach might be really, really helpful for you to make sure that this feels like a good fit.
And so if you've sort of been on the fence and have thought about reaching out, I have a really special call for you.
The $9 Work-Life Balance Strategy Call for Overwhelmed Working Moms
It's a Work-Life Balance Strategy Call. It's just $9. And what we're gonna do in this call is I'm gonna help you better see what's getting in the way of sustainable work-life balance in your life.
I find women fall into four categories, and so we're gonna identify which one you fall into. And then I'm gonna highlight a very specific tool that I give to all of my clients in the program so that you can start using it right away.
And then from there, if it feels like a good fit, we could talk about the next cohort, but that's an entirely different call that we can schedule and usually decide on at that time.
To book your $9 strategy call, go ahead into the show notes, click on that link. I can't wait to talk to you and help you figure out exactly what sustainable work-life balance looks like in your life.
All right, working moms, let's avoid the summer burnout, take back your choice. And until next week, let's get to it.
Why Working Moms Feel So Out of Control — And How to Get Balance Back
If you're listening to this thinking, "Yes, I want this kind of balance, but I have no idea how to get there," I want to personally invite you to join the next cohort of Ambitious & Balanced.
This is my signature group coaching program for working moms who wanna stop overworking, stop people pleasing, and finally start prioritizing themselves without sacrificing their ambition or success.
You'll walk away from this program with tools to switch out of work mode and be fully present at home, to make decisions without any guilt, to enjoy time for yourself without checking your inbox, and finally to feel like you're in control of your life again.
One of my clients that graduated from the program recently said, "This is the first time I felt like me since becoming a mom." And that's the power of this program.
But listen, materials are going out Monday, August 17th, and we start in September. Only 10 women will be accepted, and once it's full, it's full.
If your whole body just said, "Ugh, I need a program like this," then go to www.rebeccaolsoncoaching.com/ambitiousandbalanced to get all the details and to save your spot.
Balance isn't just possible, it's closer than you think.
Are you ready? Let's get to it.
